We've tried to fill it with fun things. We made a list at the beginning of summer of things we might like to do. Of course, half the list consisted of restaurants we want to eat out at ... something we rarely do since we tend to only eat out once every other week. Thus, this summer we've eaten out far more than usual. We've tried Five Guys for the first time (a man there could tell it was our first experience and brought us a basket of peanuts and then offered up his remaining fries for the boys), gone to the local Dairy Bar, and had Jack-in-the-Box shakes. We still have to get to Orange Leaf, Sonic and I-Hop.
The boys had their annual trip to Holiday World with Daddy while I was away at music camp and they are scheduled for a trip with him to Indiana Beach at the end of this month. We visited our local high school pool about six or seven times in June for their reasonable $1 open swim times. Plus, we drove all the way to the nearest community pool where there are slides and a lazy river (almost a half hour away, but well worth the trip). It is a far cry from the days when we lived in DeKalb and Bryce and I visited the community pool twice a day throughout the whole summer. We are no longer pool rats.
Of course, Bryce barely spends any time with us at all. He is busy with work at Papa Johns and also spends the majority of his time with his friend Madi (he assures me that although they like each other, they are not boyfriend-girlfriend because he is going off to school in the fall). I think John was a bit put off that Bryce would rather spend the entire day with Madi and her family instead of spending any time with his own family for the 4th of July. What can you do? He's a teenager and friends usually come first. It is like we already miss him and he hasn't even left for college yet.
My requirement for a half hour of daily reading seems to have gone by the wayside, what with my absence at camp. Although, I have read several chapter books to Sean, who begs to be read to, especially while he soaks in the bath. I did manage to read the first Harry Potter book to both Trevor and Sean and we watched the movie once we finished the book.
Last Sunday, I went to The Salvation Army because our local corps is welcoming new officers. It was great to greet them. I noticed in the bulletin that the deadline was coming up for registering for Adventure Club camp so we went to the Hidden Falls website to learn the dates. While perusing the camps, Trevor noticed a Bible camp which started on June 30th. Of course, he decided that he would far rather attend a Bible camp (which would be more like CBLI) than the Adventure camp (which would be more like a boy scouting camp, earning badges and the like). We called the corps on the morning of the 30th and the officer placed a call to the camp to see if we could send Trevor despite missing the registration deadline. They said yes and within a few hours, Trevor was packed and boarding a van with 15 other kids to go to the same camp I just returned from.
The camp ran from Monday to Friday and when I picked Trevor up, he said they were the longest five days of his life (he's never really been away from the family on his own). He only admitted to one day of homesickness, and apparently had a wonderful time. We relished the quiet house and Sean cracked us up when he said, "It's like a five day date with Mommy!" Sean and I went to see two movies. The first, Earth to Echo, was a bust. We both gave it two thumbs down. Thus, to redeem the experience, we went to see How to Train Your Dragon 2, the following day with much better results.
I was thrilled to discover that Trevor brought home everything he had taken (I promised him $5 if he returned with all of it). When I asked him what he learned he informed me that there is a story in the Bible where a donkey talks. He was stoked to learn that the Bible camp offers up scholarships to CBLI for a winning teen (I'm guessing he's going to make this Bible camp an annual tradition and hope for one of those scholarships).
Now we have three more weeks until Trevor and I leave for CBLI (Central Bible & Leadership Institute). Sean is supposed to stay with Grandma, but we're feeling a bit apprehensive since her knee has been really bothering her and she is scheduled for an appointment with her Indiana doctor over here (she lives in IL but comes here for her surgeries) on July 15th. We're somewhat worried the doctor will insist on immediate surgery and then she will have to recuperate here at our house, unable to tend to Sean. I'm guessing we would just take him along to CBLI after all, but I don't know how it will all turn out and we won't know anything until she goes for the doctor appointment.
After the ten-day CBLI, we will be home for two days before the boys head back to school on August 6th. So, like I said, I don't know how the time has slipped by so quickly but it feels like it is almost over. Hopefully, we'll pack more fun activities into the final three weeks of freedom. Then life will settle back down to routine. Bryce will head off to Purdue. Trevor will move into Bryce's room. I will get back to working on my writing on a daily basis. Routine is good, but the freedom of unscheduled time never seems long enough.
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