As school starts, I reflect on the events of this past summer and quickly realize that we had a pretty good one.
Summer Intern -- For most of the summer, we had the privilege of home and lives with Sarah Thompson, an InterVarsity summer intern. She bonded well with the kids, especially Allison. It was certainly nice to get a little extra income over the summer, but the true rewards we received were a newfound friendship and a small glimpse into the not-so-distant future when the ability for our children to be independent will have caught up to their desire to be.
Good-Bye Diapers! -- Yes, Allison is finally potty-trained and our pocketbooks are feeling the relief. She was motivated this summer by a combination of threats and bribery. Through this process, I've learned that it's amazing what people (in this case, my own child) will do when properly motivated. It was a difficult learning process for her, but, to be honest, I think I learned more than she did when all was said and done.
Camping Trip -- Unlike many friends with young kids, I was pretty reluctant to take our kids camping when they were young, but now that they are six and four, I felt safe about it. We had the privilege of camping at Willow River State Park, located just a couple miles inside the Wisconsin state line across from Minneapolis, with our close friends and neighbors. The kids had a great time and, as always with everything they enjoy, they didn't want to leave. The highlight for me during the trip was taking the kids out in a canoe for a while and then it started to rain. The kids hated it and wanted to go in, but they were stuck. They were forced to sit through something that they did not enjoy, but was not punishing them, not hurting them, not doing anything wrong to them. They got through the situation unharmed and better for it. After we got back to shore, Cindy and I took one kid each out in a kayak. Not a lot of room for two people, but it was great. The kids enjoyed that as well.
Noah's Ark -- No, we didn't travel to the Middle East in search for a boat. We did however travel just an hour north of Madison, Wisconsin to what is claimed to be America's largest waterpark. For those who know our children, you will already know that they had a great time and did NOT want to leave. We will likely make a trip to Noah's Ark (or some other waterpark) an annual event because our children just LOVE to be in the water. I am pretty sure we were the last people to leave the waterpark. And I can't forget to say a big THANK-YOU to our great friends, Arun and Caroline, who paid for our tickets into the waterpark. What a blessing you are to us in many ways.
Drive-In Theatre -- The last weekend before school started, we took the kids to a double-feature drive-in movie theatre. It was great. The first movie was Wall-E, a movie the kids had already seen before, but Cindy and I hadn't. There is really nothing like robot love. Two words: Kleenex. The second feature was the new Batman movie, which we had no intention of our children watching, so they watched a DVD in the back of Steve while Cindy and I (for the third time) watched Batman. Cindy was unaware of how long the Batman movie was. It was 2am before we set foot in our house afterwards. What a great time.
There are likely more "good times and accomplishments" I could write about, but I just can't think of them now. The new school year has started, so we look forward to good times and accomplishments this fall as our children continue to grow and learn new things.
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