Summer Update On Us

Summer is now in Full Swing.

Last week was Free Week 1. That means nobody had any formal anything to do. Usually I try to keep the guys super-busy, but with Joey being already out-of-sorts, I did my best to give them time to settle. We went to the Richmond Zoo, which was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. The boys got to feed giraffes, play with free-flying parakeets, and get up close and personal with free-ranging chickens and peacocks. (Friends Who Visit, the next time you come this way, I have The Perfect Place To Go).

We also spent some time at Colonial Beach, with our good buddy the Awesome Neighbor. So far, so good.

Then my business trip was upon us and Joey started freaking out a bit. Fortunately, I knew he might, so had planned closer-to-home activities and lots of pool time. Also, we have been joined by Evan. To make a long story short and sweet, we have my adopted brother here for the foreseeable future, which is A-OK with my boys, because they think Evan is awesome. He's been getting used to our routines and quirks.

Mom going away for two days is not a good thing for boys. We made it through, and here I be again.

Joey has a theater camp this week, designed for kids with communication and speech issues. He seems to be enjoying it. On Friday, the group will put on a play, and he seems happy. The only thing is, he has decided this week to be Quack instead of Joey, so I'm worried he might be a little anxious. We sign the kids in and out of the camp, and they each have their own "coach" as well as the adults running the programs. Joey has two coaches (he ran during orientation, so they decided to double-team him just in case). The coaches come out and take them in, then bring them out at the end. Yesterday, Joey signed himself in as Quack. Today, the coaches bid him goodbye, saying "See you tomorrow, Quack!" Hmmm...

Andy has been having "Nature Camp" at Grandma's while Joey is at theater camp. Andy's been very into the Wild Kratts, so he seemed keen to be into nature stuff. I thought we'd be doing some wading in teh river, but he hasn't been keen on going into the woods. We had a nice nature walk on Monday, and yesterday Grandma found an awesome chemistry set so we ran some simple experiments. Today we skipped it in favor of picking out fireworks for the Fourth. He seems happy, though.

After camp, we have lunch and then go to the pool. I decided to have this routine for the summer, so that Joey could stay oriented and not freaked out like last summer. He's picked right up on it. Today, Andy needed a little sit-down before pooltime, and Joey was pretty upset. I told him to get his suit on, and I got mine on, since he likes it when I swim with him. Then I came downstairs and discovered no Joey.

Back upstairs... no Joey.

Apparently, I forgot to lock the door when I brought the fireworks in.

I popped out but didn't see him looking down the street, but that was also likely because he was behind a car or something. Awesome Neighbor's grandfather came over to tell me was, indeed, headed down the street, and was far enough along that running wasn't going to cut it (he had seen me pop out and call for Joey, so he started looking, too). I hopped in the car, and was off to catch him. He turned up a street, headed for the pool himself. When I caught up with him and asked him where he was going, he clearly said, "The pool! It's pool time!" So I explained that he needed a towel, and had no money for the snack bar, and they won't let him in without an adult! And he hopped right into the car, no complaints or anything.

Whew.

This might be a long summer.