Seasonal Changes/Transitions

This week I think I was suffering from post-Olympics fatigue--from staying up until 11pm every night to watch the primetime tape delayed events. That meant that I was in bed by about 9pm every night, about an hour or more earlier than the rest of the year.

One important thing that happened this week--our new air conditioners arrived and were installed. Yay, no more box fans and no more of Patrick watering down the air conditioner outside to get it to cool the upstairs. The installation took two full days--one for each air conditioner. After Wednesday, though, we were happy because the upstairs air conditioner is the one that was giving us so many problems for the last two months. They still have to install the furnace, but we won't need that one for several months.

Also on Thursday, Patrick took the kids to Costco. This is not such an unusual event, but he was using our yearly Costco credit or "cash back" that we get from shopping there the rest of the year. We had to spend it by the end of the month. Among other things, he got a new kitchen trash can, one of the fancy ones where you can just step on the pedal and it will open without you having to touch the lid. Eric didn't realize it and was still using his hands--and leaving his little fingerprints on the lid. When I showed him how to use the pedal, he had a little trouble opening it at first, but then he "practiced" and was able to do it easily. I documented the event with a photo.

We also had a taste of our fall schedule this week. Alex began soccer practice at the usual time he'll be practicing this fall--Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-7:30pm. Unfortunately, our potential carpool families in our neighborhood have changed their practice times and we still won't be able to carpool this year again. Natalie is still swimming Mondays through Thursdays from 5:30-6:30pm, and that will switch to 6-7pm in September.

This time of year, there are a lot of people coming and going at work. The military tend to move on to other assignments during the summer. We had a work get-together called a "Hail and Farewell" to say "hello" to all of the new folks and "goodbye" to the outgoing folks. This was held at a local burger place called Bigz. There's a big yard area for the kids to play.

We only took Alex and Eric there because Anthony was at a soccer game and then he spent the night at Alejandro's. Natalie was at her friend Lucas' house for a pool party, an all-boy pool party--more on that later. Alex and Eric spent a few minutes playing with a soccer ball but then they basically just sat around. It was pretty hot outside and they didn't feel like being active.

When we got the food, I made a comment to Eric about how that burger bun was as big as his head. At that point he held it up to his face, and sure enough, it WAS as big as his head! He ended up finishing most of that burger! He had to take a couple of breaks where he said his tummy hurt and he sat in my lap so I could rub his tummy, but he surprised us by eating some more each time.

This morning, Natalie asked to go to Starbucks for breakfast. I'd been teasing Patrick because he went to Starbucks on his own a couple of times this week. He went right after bringing Anthony to cross-country practice around 7am. He likes the Bacon and Gouda "Artisan" breakfast sandwich there. He used to never go to Starbucks unless he was with me. Today he wanted to go too. Since I didn't really feel like making waffles, it was a good idea.

We sat outside because the inside was cold from over-airconditioning. Eric looked so relaxed after finishing his scone that he started putting his arms up behind his head. I had to take a picture, of course. He actually wore a shirt with no sleeves today, along with shorts. He has been wearing short-sleeve T-shirts with jeans for much of the summer. We think he might be following after Alex who will wear jeans even in the heat of summer.

All the kids will be going through transitions this school year. Eric is starting kindergarten. Natalie will be in fifth grade and in her final year of elementary school. Alex will be in eighth grade and in his final year of middle school. Anthony will be a senior and graduating from high school (eek!). I'm trying to enjoy this little bit of rest before the school year starts a week from Monday.