Our bedtime routine has changed a little over the years,
but for the most part we’ve done PJs, teeth brushing, potty, a book, hugs/kisses,
a song, and then we say goodnight, we love you no talking. Then the talking begins and lasts usually
30-60 minutes. But what’s new to us is
what starts at around 10pm, a few hours after lights out, the Dim Sum night
terrors. We find Summer screaming in the
dark, echoing throughout the house inconsolably (Ezra still out cold), only to
be calmed by a brief conscious bout of time with Mom and sips of water. We haven’t sensed a pattern of when or why,
only that it happens a few times a month these days. Fortunately that has really nothing to do
with the rest of this post, just a fun Joseph fact of the day, and a nifty thespian
title. Gotta start somewhere…
Wow we love the summer.
It stops raining every day and there’s time to see the world. We’ve been a part of so many outings, from our
annual camping at Salt Fork State Park to a Grove City College visit to see the
Children’s Theater. We had a 2-dad-5-kid
backpacking trip (which was partially foiled by the closure of nature due
to storm damage, thanks a lot Mohican Memorial SP) and a bunch of girly
birthday parties. Dance classes and
softball games turned into cooking camp and art camp and Squad camp and swimming
camp and VBS 1 and VBS 2, so we’ve stayed busy.
Fortunately not with filthy apartments, just filthy kids.
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| Softserve vs Sunshine, race against the melt |
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| VBS #1 |
Then
there were the bigger calendar items, like a week at OBX Tarkle Taphouse, full
of sand, sunscreen and eczema. We
explored fine waters aboard the Fancy Nancy and the smaller kid-friendly versions—kayaks
commandeered expertly by our oldest 2 captains.
The flies were scarce and the water and sun were perfect, even preparing
a warm tide swamp for the beach babes, where they rode boogie boards and quarried
for shells.
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| Pistachios and giggles to warm the soul |
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| Swamp Monster #3 |
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| "Blue Steel" @ Jockey's Ridge |
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| I wet my pants! And not how you think! |
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| Please carefully observe Summer's expression. |
Our
family also won an all-inclusive stay for 6 at the Joseph Inn & Sweets in
Greensburg last month, where we made our own adventure with Mimi and Grandpap
all week. Creek slides, lake pools, playgrounds
and frisbees around town formed the base while other events like a Fourth of
July bash, the Carnegie Science Center, and Idlewild rounded out the top. Threats of rain subsided into perfect weather
for games and books on the back deck and the crisp cool of a frozen cookie and
IBC root beer.
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| A new way to play in nature @ Linn Run |
Dad
also managed to fly away to New Hampshire and Mexico in that time, while some
kids enjoyed extra weeks of vacation here and there, so it’s been a trip-filled
half-summer! When we weren’t tripping
out, we’ve settled in even harder in our new home—campfires, Sushi night, even
pizza dinner with our neighbors George and Shirley. Erin has painted half of the house, and we’ve
maximized use of every room, making us question how we ever had empty rooms in
previous houses. On those rare and rarified
2-parent homebody night, you’ll find us pairing board games or Dad books with nursery
rhyme TV to pacify the younger fledglings.
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| Sushi/Spa Night, a cautious compromise between parents and children |
Elia
has turned 8.333. She has 106 dollars, 8
stuffed animals in her sheets, and approximately 4 hours and 56 minutes until
bedtime. It’s summer but math is never
over. The girl makes her own eggs, she calls
her own naps, she reads her own stories, the total package. Never the sluggard, she drew up marketing
materials for her first business, Elia’s Weedy Friends, and secured a service
order from a neighbor for weeding their garden bed in the spring. She makes all kinds of crafts and loves
singing, pretty much anytime she’s not talking (in the shower, on the potty). Loves water—the beach, the lake, the pool,
the mud—and monkey bars. We see a lot of
ourselves in her ferocity; she is nothing if not a formidable challenger to the
status quo.
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| Make. It. Rain. |
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| Seems familiar... |
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| Oh that's right. |
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| Definitely worth the 7 miles |
Sophia,
partial to the swings, camouflages her maturity with those around her like a
chameleon on a branch. Around Ezra she’s
all poop and sillies, around Elia there’s sister competition and sister friendship. And around parents she finds all the stuff we’ve
lost in the house and answers our tax questions. I hope our annual Waffle House date extends
well into adulthood (or as long as our intestines can handle). She’s always the first to ask how she can
help, frequently helping out in ways without being asked. She and Ez are always excited to watch/help
me woodwork on the weekends and have learned the shop well. Bay So is slowly making strides with piano
and art, but has moved leaps and bounds in reading, excited for 2nd
grade.
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| Bar building buddies |
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| WH, where you can slurp the jelly right out of the packet |
Ezra
the 4-year-old boy is really just a cover for his true identity: SpiderBatMan (I’m
glad to see him take to his own hero costumes now that the play wardrobe is not
100% dresses). He finished pre-school
part 2, and somehow he’s still not quite Kindergarten age, so we’re imagining a
homeschooling “lite” curriculum for him soon.
It’s hard to remember the full extent of that long ago speech deficiency,
but being the high energy individual he is, sometimes his brain still powers
into a conversation way before his mouth can catch up. I turn him upside down for fun, tickles and
giggles every day. His favorite
playground activity is the telephone tube that is broken/clogged 90% of the
time, but he’s a great pretender. Our
slowest eater, fastest runner (size-adjusted), and perhaps most medium-personality
kid. Gotta have one.
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| A Whisper of Solace, by Ezra Joseph |
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| Like, for real, I can go ahead and eat it? At church? |
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| The stuffed bunny is his sidekick |
Dim
Do, lover of all slides, brings up the rear with a vengeance, and we’ve been trying
hard to bring her rear up to snuff with the rest of the clan. While our house is by no means an accident-free
work environment with the other kids, our Operation Dim Diaper Ditch is on a
rough bridge to nowhere. Another Joseph
head, another set of ears to tube—Summer just got hers recently, and it seems
(finger-crossed) that the ear infections have waned? She a cute 3-year-old boogins now, emotional in her love and
war, but loves friends, books, toys, water, and life. Most-used phrase is, “Can we watch a movie?”
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| Wait a second... |
Oh, right again.
Half-summer
part 2 is perhaps just about here, but homeschooling unleashes a tidal wave of
freedom upon summer that we may just surf until it fizzles.
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