♥: Growing Attached

Summer is here! Finally! Fairfax school district seems to drag on, and on, and on... June 23 was the last day of school. Bridger finished up 1st grade and Myra finished Pre-K the week before. BANG! The playing started!

I picked Bridger and two of his friends up from school and we walked straight to the pool. I can't think of a better way to start off summer than hitting the pool. We were there with my good friend Emily and her kids, and she also invited another of my good friends, Heidi, and her kids, and Nicolina was in town visiting with her crew so we all met up at the pool, swimming and playing. The pool had a slide and a diving board and Bridger passed the swim test so he could frequent them. Myra was a little fish, so happy to be swimming with her friends. Sawyer tried out his floaties for the first time and was thrilled with his independence. We ate popcorn and watermelon and us moms tried at conversation while we chased our littles around and successfully kept everyone from drowning and left while everyone was still happy and having fun.

I plucked Bridger straight out of that pool, drove to our neighborhood pool, and dropped him back in the water for swim team. I love having a neighborhood pool. Even more I love being a part of swim team. We have a small team, even smaller than last year, so when it comes to meets there is a lot of parent responsibility... But for the kids it is amazing. Every day there is practice. While school was still in Bridger would go just after he got home off the bus, and now that we are in summer he goes at 9AM every morning. Myra and Sawyer are in beginning lessons and they go before noon every day. They improve quickly and they are learning their strokes. This year Bridger has competed in Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and a Freestyle Relay. It teaches perseverance and dedication, its fabulous exercise (Bridger has been telling me how his arms hurt, I think its the first time he's experience muscle soreness and I think its great), and to be a competent swimmer is a wonderful life skill. I love how it is a team sport. When Bridger is in a race his teammates crowd around cheering him on... And it is also very individual and I notice his improvements from meet to meet. Practices are Monday-Friday, there are two meets per week, and the kids don't always appreciate the frequency of it. In fact, Bridger has a particular love-hate relationship with it... especially hating the cold water in the mornings, but loving swimming... mostly when we go later in the afternoon. It is such a good part of our summer. I think the kids will look back with fond memories on these summer days.

In our neighborhood the kids have many friends, it feels safe to roam, and Bridger is old enough that I let him run around a little more on his own. Shauna (Sawyer's best friend, and also a good friend of Myra's) lives in the next pipe-stem so those two often run over to play with her. All of the kids have learned to ride their bikes without training wheels and our cul-de-sac is such a fun spot for racing around and playing their own version of cops and robbers. Like the Sandlot, this home town has a fun group of kids to run with, they feel a degree of independence, use their growing imaginations, and feel the promise of a wonderful summer ahead.

Today in fact, Bridger, Myra, and Bruce attended a dog wedding. Hilarious, but taken seriously by the kids. The invitations were printed and delivered months ago, another mom even told me of the decorations bought for the occasion. Roxy & Ranger were married in the neighbors backyard, with all their dog friends in attendance, and their favorite humans. It's been a funny little thing, Jr., a friend of Bridger's, would come over to get Bridger and Bruce, and his older sister and her friends would take them with their dogs all to go play at the tennis courts. Sometimes they would play in our back yard or at another friends yard. And so this wedding ensued.

In the past I regretted the fact that my kids would not have the same growing up experience that I had or Devin had as a kid. But these days are so good too. Virginia is so good to us. It's not perfect, and my kids show up with bumps and bruises, even stitches, and sometimes we all end up grumpy, but... overall these are happy days and I feel so content here, and so grateful for all the goodness God has offered us.