Fun o' Plenty in Week Two

June 11th--Because it was O's BFF Jeff who staged this shot, I'm pretty sure one clone trooper is telling the other clone trooper some kind of poop joke. Just a guess...

June 12th--These clowns were my lunchdates. Then O & I headed to the First Ladies' National Historic Site for a(nother) tour of the Saxton House. Happy Birthday to Mrs. McKinley!

June 13th--Where else can you get face-painted with a Village People fumanchu moustache and retrieve giant Pez from a paper-mache Barack Obama Pez dispenser?

Parade the Circle+festival+the Hursts=GREAT FUN!!

June 14th--O got to have tons of fun today, but all we got to do was paint the dining room.

June 15th--Who ya gonna call? Your buddy Alex, whose grandpa has a friend who owns THE Ghostbusters car. O and pals got to go on the ride of their lives!

June 16th--Checking out the swimming lake with Baba.

Verdict: squishy and stinky. Digging in the sand on the shore is tons-o-fun, though!

June 17th--Maggie's SpongeBob birthday fiesta!

Week One, Summer of Fun II

This year I want to better document our Summer of Fun II by taking a picture everyday that sums up where we found our fun. Here is week one...

June 4th--Nothing says summer like a big pile of dirty shoes by the door :) O had friends over today for a fun day of Legos, Star Wars & backyard ball.

June 5th--First dip in the FOHA pool. Very, very, very cold!!

June 6th--SandO at Niagra Falls

June 7th--Chatting with President Millard Fillmore in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY.

June 8th--Celebrating a great play. Go Giants!

June 9th--Watching Journey to the Center of the Earth. The 3D glasses didn't last long, but we enjoyed the show anyway!

June 10th--Hiking Chippewa Rail Trail

When did this happen?!?

Life's pace seems to be quickening. I blink and the school day is over. It seems like days have passed, but in reality it's been a month. Christmas was just yesterday, but all of a sudden it's June. Every year seems to move faster, and faster, and faster. It wreaks havoc with my to-do list, and when the passage of time suddenly catches up with me, it wreaks havoc with my heart.

Today was one of those times. I have no idea when it happened, but there is a fourth grader living in my house who ...

• is nearly up to my shoulder in height
• routinely remembers things better than I do
• says "please" and "thank you" when ordering in a restaurant (without prompting)
• gets my jokes without explanation now and only occasionally rolls his eyes at me
• pays attention through an entire baseball game, gets base hits more often than strike outs and makes awesome plays at first
• can use a jump drive to save his webpage project from school so he can independently work on it at home, too... as if I'd be any help with that, anyways...
• cries on the last day of school because he doesn't want it to end

These are the days I want to freeze in time. To put the cork in the bottle to save for later. It is the sweetness of life in balance with the bitter of knowing that time is fleeting. I know that soon I will have blinked again and there will be a teenager living in my house. But for now, I am so thankful for the awareness of The Here. The Now. The Today.

And today meant that O became a fourth grader. We celebrated the end of third grade with good friends and big smiles. With limbo and cheese puffs and Hawaiian nametags. With fond remembrances and sad goodbyes. With bunny ears, big hugs, and deep, deep gratitude.