Summer goals

Summer's now in full swing in the Chicago suburbs with the requisite thunderstorms and beautiful days and the lawn that needs mown constantly. Did I mention that our lawn here in Palatine is probably three times the size of our Davenport lawn which is great, but we just have a little push mower that is self propelled only by using your legs. In fact, Karl is out right now after getting the kids in bed trying to get a decent start on the mowing before the sun goes down. Last week I mowed two sections during two of Iris' naps and Karl finished the mowing and trimming later in the week. So goal #1 is maintaining the house to some decent standard of care that includes the inside of the house as well, but neighbors can't see in so it doesn't matter quite so much.

For the kids, I feel like this is the first summer where I need to set some goals for myself and for them so we can really celebrate the fact that it is summer after our long school year of transitions and hard work. I'd like the goals to include some learning things, some creative things, some things to avoid (like the inevitable tomato-red sunburn), and a lot of really fun, adventurous things. I'm not setting out all the goals right now because I'm not that type A but each week I'm trying to do something new and fun as opportunities arise.

We've already enrolled the whole family in the summer reading program at the library. The kids and I already collected our halfway prizes so I think we'll probably finish shortly after our trip to the Lake. June is especially hooked. We've read the whole "My Father's Dragon" series together and I'm looking for another series with short chapters and pictures on most pages to start in on. Her reading comprehension is really pretty good once she gets into the story. I find it helpful to ask her a lot of questions and involve her verbally for the first chapter or two as the scene is set and characters introduced. Once the plot thickens she is entranced. I love that my daughter is already showing signs of loving literature as much as I do.

Ruben's big adventure for the summer so far has been his trip to a Cubs game with Uncle Blake, Aunt Sarah, and Karl. They took the train into the city and then public transit up to the stadium. I assumed he would focus mainly on the train trip as the excitement of the day, but that night as I talked to him in bed, he really had a firm grasp on the game of baseball even though they spent very little time talking about it while at the game. "The one guy throw the ball. The other guy, like, bat the ball. He hit it really really hard. And then the guy with the big thing on his hand like get the ball." yep. sounds right to me.

My goal for Iris revolves around sleeping. Last week she slept through the night five out of seven nights. I'm not publicizing this too much to avoid the wrath of all those other parents out there who have infants and babies that don't sleep. I know I'm lucky and I thank God every day for a daughter who sleeps because no parent should have to function without sleep. But I know plenty who do.

For myself, I'm experimenting with food this summer. We've joined a CSA and I'm getting a half bushel of veggies every week as well as a half pound of some variety of cheese. We've had one week so far and I've made arugula pesto (okay), radish/nectarine fresh salsa (quite tasty), pea and asparagus pasta (standby), roasted sunchokes and purple potatoes (sunchokes - okay, purple potatoes - really purple!), scallion and corn quinoa salad, beef lettuce roll ups (fresh cilantro and mint - super super yum), Southern Fattoush (Israeli bread salad - super yum), and rhubarb upside down cake (ready for when Karl comes in from mowing). I love cooking especially when I get to use such great fresh ingredients. It challenges me to have new ingredients in rotation and I hope to find some new favorites. (Oh, and I'm hoping that all these fresh veggies can help me get back to pre-pregnancy weight sooner rather than later)

My other goal is to be able to run a 5K by the time I leave the Lake. The circuit at the Lake is just over 3 miles with a really decent hill. I have run 2.4 miles so far all on flat ground and try to get out 3 times a week to run at least 1.5 miles. By the time I leave the Lake I'd love to be able to run the whole circuit. I had the same goal last year and would have made it but the last few days of vacation were interrupted by Typhoid Levi and running didn't sound so fun when I felt like I should puke. Let's hope this year we'll avoid communicable diseases altogether.

My other goal is to do a lot of "projects" and "boredom busters" with the kids. June lives for "projects" and Ruben can be convinced if the project involves food or cool materials. So far we've made gak, cookies, bleached shirts with cutouts, made Karl's birthday present, made edible dirt, and colored lots of pictures. Thank you Pinterest for unlimited ideas for this goal.