We've already been pretty busy this summer - and we've hardly left our neighborhood. We've been to the pool a few times, Ryan is working with a reading tutor twice a week while Luke and I go to the library, and the boys are also taking tennis lessons. Overall, it has been nice and fairly relaxing. For the most part, the boys are getting along ok - better than last summer, so that has made things more relaxing and less stressful at home.
Ryan and Luke took tennis lessons the first 2 weeks and liked it so much that we are continuing for the next two weeks. Ryan has a really good backhand and he is having a lot of fun playing.
Luke is doing pretty good - he is not very athletic at this point in his little life - but he is willing to try anything. He likes tennis and he improved quite a bit over the course of the first session - but he doesn't like to be hot, so he tends to fade the last 15 minutes of the lesson.
Luke prefers the pool. Both boys need to take another round of swim lessons - but they swim well enough to jump off the diving board and swim to the side. I'll feel better when they can tread water more consistently and swim the full length of the pool without stopping. There are kids in their class who can do that, so I know that they are capable of it, we just need to practice more.
Ryan wouldn't have even stepped 10 feet of the diving board last summer - but this year, he climbed right up there and jumped off with little hesitation.
We had a playdate planned for Tuesday, but Luke's friend got sick, so we had to change our plans. I had 2 tickets to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science that a friend from school gave me - so we headed out there for part of the day. I knew Luke would also really want to see the snake and lizard exhibit - he was very excited to see this giant boa (sorry Nana, but he wanted a picture). Here is a link to a funny picture that they took at the museum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmns_photo_booth/7402027654/
Luke was really in his element at the museum. He told me that when he grows up, he wants to work at the museum and help to create more exhibits for kids to see. We also saw an IMAX movie about the Arctic. Luke got very upset during the movie. He became depressed and teary because of the melting polar ice caps and what they are doing to the polar bears. It didn't faze Ryan too much.
As long as we stay busy and stick somewhat to a schedule, we'll have a fun and relaxing summer. We plan on going to Texas in a few weeks and then somewhere up in the Pacific Northwest at the end of the summer. We'll also add in some hikes and hopefully a camping trip at some point if the fire ban is lifted - and then whatever else comes our way - I like that summer is relaxed enough that we can add things and change our plans when something else comes up. And as the boys get older, it becomes easier to do that than it was in the past.
