Summer is almost OVER!!!

[YepBrook]

ACK!!!

I can't believe summer is coming to an end already! Yikes! I have so much planning and stuff to finish before the school year starts up again. This will be our first year "officially" homeschooling.

So, what are your plans for what's left of the summer? Anything you haven't done yet that you're hoping to do? Anything fun planned for the end of summer? And... how ready are you for the school year to begin? Happy or sad to see summer end?

We have a 2 week vacation coming up on August 9th. We're going to visit family up in NY. I'm excited! But I have to finish all of my school prep before then because the week we get home school starts! Today I am meeting friends to plan our science Co-op, which is really the last big thing I need to get sorted out.

One thing I haven't done yet is a trip to the local water park. We usually go at least 3 times in the summer and we haven't gone a single time! It's just been SO rainy this summer.

[Lyd]

Our school doesn't start until after Labor Day this year, so we still have plenty of summer left. I need to go through the boys' closet and get rid of all the clothes they've grown out of or worn out so I can figure out what they need for school. I'm still hoping to do another session of swim lessons. And, I have a host of other smaller projects that need to be tackled.

[Nikki Epperson]

I just want to keep my head above water before school starts. It's absolutely crazy how much having extra kids here wears on my nerves.
I love all the kids, but it's too hot to do anything outside so we've been stuck inside for weeks!

[mariewilcox]

We still have 5 weeks of summer left and lots going on

August 1st we're meeting up with friends from Florida for a couple days at a water park/campground.

Then the next week after that Cheyanne is off to her Ecoventure camp week (survival skills, kayaking, sailing, hiking, rock climbing, etc.)

Then she's home for 1 day and we head to Boston for 4 days. Then we have a week or so of nothing.

Then it's off to Portland for a couple days of shopping and another water park for Cheyanne's birthday.

Then school team soccer practices start for Cheyanne the week before school at the end of August, and then school starts!

[LeeAndra]

The SSD Chicago meetup is next weekend!! Majorly excited to take Monkey to MOSI and hang out with some of my fave chicks. My mom is throwing Monkey a bday party the following day.

Monkey's bday (3) is the 17th. I think we're going to take her to the State Fair.

Oh, and some of my coworkers (and their spouses) and I are going to catch a Cubs game on August 25th. I've never been *gasp*, and it'll be a blast. They even have GF beer and snacks at the game, so Hubs won't feel left out.

So, yeah, there's actually lots going on next month!

[maryinaz]

My younger 3 boys start August 6! We just got back from our last vacation, so no more fun. My 17 year old gets to go to the beach in California with his friend's family on Friday. He has duties next week at school though so he is flying back by himself next Tuesday. Boy, does he think he is a BIG MAN for getting to do that! LOL

And I'm trying to deal with the realization that my college boy will be moving into a house with a couple of roommates in a week or so and probably will never come back home to live now. Ack.

So, I'm having a lot of mixed emotions about being ready for school to start. It's so hard being a mom right now.

[Sherri Tierney]

Mary, that would be kind of hard. I don't look forward to mine growing up and moving out.

We go back to school the 23rd. I have a day of prep coming up at some point for work but I don't yet know when that will be, likely closer to the day we start.

We are going to Tulsa (not far from us, just a couple of hours) for a few days and have a trip to a small amusement park in Joplin planned but that is about it. We keep summers low key. When my step-son was little and he visited us in the summers we did a lot more but that was because we were cramming a year's worth of quality time into a 2 month visit. With these guys we tend to take vacations in the spring or fall (either spring break or over Thanksgiving) so we just take it easy in the summer. We have been doing some exploring of things in our area which has been a lot of fun, but no big trips.

[maryinaz]

There's an amusement park in Joplin? LOL

[webseitler]

Summer is almost over? It's like 100 degrees today. LOL!

I did most of my ordering and shopping this week, so it's like the first week of school around here (we go year round so that we can take our "summer" break when the weather is nicer). I have to schedule my evaluation before Sept. starts, so that will put an official end to the school year in my mind. But at the same time... we've kinda already started the new school year this week. LOL! I couldn't wait. I'm excited for the NEW stuff.

[nun69]

Playing the SSD SUmmer Games
Building my bike riding distance (since I just got a bike yesterday and my DD wants me to ride with her EVERDAY)!!!!
Hoping to take the kids to see the King Tut Exhibit in Seattle
Taking the kids to the beach for at least a day
Hoping to take the kids to the Great Wolf Lodge for a Day or 2
Taking the kids here to Wild Waves
Back To School Shopping in OR labor day weekend and visit with Matt's famiyl!

(oh and trying to pass the 3 -5 credit courses I am currently taking)

[LibbysMommy]

It is so hard to believe that school starts up again soon...I'm having Libby start on the 13th this year...I think...maybe the 20th? haha. I love that I can be flexible with our school year!! I'm completely caught up in planning...just have to make sure I have the supplies for our first few science projects and clean up the school room...it's become the playroom this summer and it's always a mess!!

So excited for this weekend...Nate and I are going to Kansas City with my brother in-law and sister in-law...we're going to Schlitterbahn water park on Friday and going to a Sporting KC soccer game on Saturday. It will be our first kid-free trip EVER!! Even if it's only a weekend, I'll take it!!

[navaja77]

School starts for us in a week and a half. Next week, we find out who my son's 2nd grade teacher is as well as meet him/her. I did the school supplies shopping. Just need to do the clothes shopping. Wish there was more of summer left

We are planning a weekend trip to Cali just before school starts to spend a day or two at the beach.

[ayaandjudah]

Brook,

where in NY?

We don't start school here until September 5, so we have tons of summer left.

[Milmomma]

We have 22 days left till school starts I can't wait!
I still need to go through their closets, register them for sports/ballet, and buy school supplies. I'm procrastinating till after their open house event next week.

[heathergw]

Our summer break just started today actually lol, since we only take a month off for summer, yet take more breaks through the year, and a month for Christmas so our summer will consist of working on the home renovations, prepping for next year's schooling and going to the Chicago meetup next weekend

[Lizzy257]

Summer has yet to begin here!! School finished at the end of June, and it's rained every day since. It has started to get a bit warmer this week - but still raining! I have one kid back to school August 30th, the other is Sept 3rd, so we have a month left and I'm really hoping the weather picks up so we can do some outdoor stuff before school starts back.

[taracotta7]

Well school starts Aug 22nd here. I still have to do supply shopping for that. I am not doing clothes shopping though until the weather gets a bit cooler for fall clothes. I may get one outfit for the first day of school but other than that......we wait.

As for what we will do until school.........Landon just left me to go on a trip with my parents for 5 days (I am a little emotional but trying to deal. LOL). We also have our foster son's 2nd birthday (Aug. 10th) and party coming up that I am planning for. We have court for our foster son and a few meeting with the workers for him. I am enrolling Weston (FS) in a mother's day out program next week! SO excited! Also my oldest son leaves for boot camp on Aug. 6th.

Activities.......we still have a few things on our to do list around here. We have a few museums we wanted to visit in our area, a couple of movies we want to see and a couple of crafts at home (tie dying shirts is one) to do.

Just trying to relax as much as possible before the crazy schedule starts back up.

[pewtertm]

Rachel has dance camp the week of August 6, and then she goes back to school on the 16th.

Between now and then, we've got to try and find some pants (hopefully a few jeans) that will fit her long-waisted body. Very little luck so far. We also need to get new tennis shoes, but that's not a biggie. Hoping to get in a movie day and maybe a trip to the science museum before we head back to school.

[julifish]

We start back to school on August 21st so only a few more weeks.
Next week Hannah (9) has Jr. Lifeguard camp. Next weekend both girls leave to visit my in-laws in Miami for a long week. When they get back it will be last week of summer. So we'll be school shopping and meeting teachers, plus it's Hannah's 10th birthday. Wow...this summer went by entirely too fast!!!

[YepBrook]

Lydia: I hate going through the kids closets! I just dread it. They grow so fast it's like a never-ending battle to sort out the clothes that don't fit them anymore. It always motivates me when DH dresses them and puts the small pants on my son or the shirt that rides up or something LOL!!!

Nikki: I know what it feels like to be stuck inside so much in the summer! Things get CRAZEE.

Marie: Wow the rest of your summer sounds awesome! I loved Boston when we visited there. And Cheyanne's ecoventure camp sounds like something I would have loved at her age.

LA: Have fun at the meetup!!! Sounds like so much fun being able to meet other friends from here.

Mary: Oh my goodness college!!! (((HUGS))) I can't imagine that day when my kiddos move out *forever*. Although... there IS a possibility he might move back in... many do!

Sherri: We take it easy too. This 2 week trip coming up for us will be our only "vacation" type thing all summer. And, btw, did you ever do a school-type lesson thing with your kids over the summer like you asked about a few months ago?

Nicole: I mean Summer BREAK... smart guy. I am kinda excited to start too... major nervous butterflies going on here! Someday I will be brave enough to not follow the typical Aug-June school year.

Angie: You are going to rock at the summer games, I have a feeling!!! We saw the King Tut exhibit while it was in South Florida, it is AWESOME. I definitely recommend going. We loved it.

Laurie: A kid-free vacation sounds like bliss. DH and I will be celebrating 10 years this October and I am hinting big time that I want to take a trip away.... far away hopefully. We'll see.

Ophelia: We visited CA in 2010 (Burbank) and I wish we had enough time to go to the beach... which beach do you like??? I'm hoping to visit CA again very soon. We have friends there and I am missing them.

Alisa: My family is scattered a bit in NY, but we will be visiting the Buffalo area where my grandparents live. We're Western NY'ers.

Brittney: "I can't wait" LOL!!! I definitely know that feeling. It's the one voice that screams in my head "are you SUUUURE you want to homeschool???". LOL! And thanks for reminding me about ballet... I have to sign up DD.

Heather: Yeah, I have to do that next year. I think schooling into summer a bit more and taking off more in winter is a better idea. It's logical. Have fun with the home renos... can't wait to see the pics.

Lizzy: Yikes... rainy break from school... that's no fun at all! We have had a lot of rain here, too, more than usual. It is SO hard to keep the kids from going completely looney.

Tara: Tie Dying shirts is sooo much fun. We did a spray-bottle method at DS's birthday party last summer and it was a hit. How are you planning to do it? I want to do it again sometime, but I want to try a different method. I've seen there's a drip method that looks fun.

[YepBrook]

Juli... I agree, TOO FAST!!!

Stacy: We want to get in a movie day, too. I'm thinking ParaNorman looks like it could be a good one... although maybe not for my 3 year old. I think it comes out around the 14th???

[Sherri Tierney]

Originally Posted by maryinaz

There's an amusement park in Joplin? LOL

Route 66 Carousel Park You can check them out on facebook. I think they have a webpage as well. Not a lot there (not like Worlds of Fun or anything) but perfect to keep my kids occupied for a while. We got half price tickets through Groupon the other day so the kids are excited. We try to go once a season but it's been over a year since we went last.

[Sherri Tierney]

Originally Posted by YepBrook

Sherri: We take it easy too. This 2 week trip coming up for us will be our only "vacation" type thing all summer. And, btw, did you ever do a school-type lesson thing with your kids over the summer like you asked about a few months ago?

Yes... and no... and yes. I've done a lot with them but not quite as structured as I had hoped for. I just wasn't organized enough. The summer would have gone a lot smoother had we been doing lessons all summer. We have done some though. I don't let them get off without some mental stimulation. We've made educational trips and learned a lot but not had the actual 'sit down at the table and study' type lessons. Unfortunately I got hit hard when my iron levels dropped drastically again and I've spent a lot of the summer completely exhausted. An hour at the pool with the kids and I may as well just go to bed for all I'll get accomplished the rest of the day.

[LJSDesigns]

Since my son is in college, I don't really have anything to do to get ready. He is an adult and takes care of all that stuff himself. His 21st birthday is coming up on Aug 7th, so I will make a nice dinner for the family, but he will being going out with his friends to celebrate and did not invite me. I don't know why.

I am bummed that I can't go to the Chicago meet up next weekend, but I promised at Easter to take my niece school clothes shopping and she is coming from PA that weekend to go. I want the weekend to be special for her, so I've planned some fun stuff. We are going to do a make over and facial at a spa, she is 13 and it's time to learn about good skin care and subtle make-up, manis and predis and shop until we drop. She is so excited about the facial and make over and truthfully, so am I. lol

Other than that it is work as usual and hoping for rain. My corner of Indiana is dry, dry, dry!

[kristijoy]

My son doesn't start school until Sept 5. He's in kindergarten this year!

Right now we are in the middle of our 3 week road trip, hanging out at the beach. Next week we make a trek through eastern oregon (& Northen cali) to do: High Desert Museum, Newberry Volcano Monument, Crater Lake, train rides in Klamath falls, Mt Shasta, Shasta Caves, Lassen Park.

When we get home there are 4 weeks left of summer. Most of that will be hanging around home & environs: swimming at the pool & river, a church camp, martial arts class. I'm hoping to sneak one camping trip (close to home) in the week before Labor Day!

[lovely1m]

Our summer is almost over here already. In a week and a half, he will go to stay with his grandparents for 2.5 weeks and come back with only a day left before school starts. So sad, but we have been taking advantage the last couple of weeks of summer. I did plan a trip to Duluth, MN for Labor Day weekend though and I am really excited about that one. We are going do it up big; go on a train ride, a boat ride, see the aquarium, see the lighthouses, waterfalls and the big bridge there and stay in a really fancy motel. We are pretty excited.

[pewtertm]

Originally Posted by YepBrook

Stacy: We want to get in a movie day, too. I'm thinking ParaNorman looks like it could be a good one... although maybe not for my 3 year old. I think it comes out around the 14th???

I have no idea...we still haven't seen Madagascar, so we'll probably go for that one

[YepBrook]

Originally Posted by pewtertm

I have no idea...we still haven't seen Madagascar, so we'll probably go for that one

Oh, I forgot about Madagascar!! My kids would love that one.

[urmysunshine]

School ended exactly one month ago for my kids and doesn't start back up until Sept. 5, so I guess we aren't even half way through! Yay! I love summer. We kicked if off with a 2 week vacation and now my kids are attending various camps and having various sitters in between since I work 3 days a week. I think we are all having fun though.

Planning my twin boys' birthday party since they turn 6 on Aug 7th. They decided on a "Olympic Games" theme so it's going to be fun!

[maryinaz]

Originally Posted by Sherri Tierney

Route 66 Carousel Park You can check them out on facebook. I think they have a webpage as well. Not a lot there (not like Worlds of Fun or anything) but perfect to keep my kids occupied for a while. We got half price tickets through Groupon the other day so the kids are excited. We try to go once a season but it's been over a year since we went last.

Oh, of course! We have passed that many times, I just didn't know the name of it. My parents (now just my mom) belong to the country club out that way so we pass it when we are in town and are going to eat dinner.

There used to also be a little water park that I took the boys to several years ago - I think it was south. Not sure if it's still there.

[jaylensmom]

My son starts school August 29th...which reminds me that I need to register him for school and shop for uniforms and school supplies...

This weekend we are going to hang out with some of his friends from school at an amusement park...next weekend we're going to Las Vegas for a family reunion...I really want to take him to Santa Cruz before school starts so maybe the weekend after we get back from Vegas we will do that...My mom's birthday is on the 9th and my sister's birthday is on the 15th so we'll most likely do something for each of them...Then we're going to Reno for the Labor Day weekend...Dang I just realized I'm going to be busy almost every weekend until school starts...

[rach3975]

We're only about halfway through summer here. The kids have 1 more week of camp, and I can't wait until it's done. With all 3 of them on different camp schedules, all I do is run from 1 drop off or pick up to another. With DS's nap, there isn't even enough time to do something fun with the 2 morning-only kids before we have to go pick up the full day camper. It's the first time the younger 2 have been in camp (brought about because my 6 year old has to do a morning program for special ed students through the schools), and it was too much.

Next week while the kids are in camp, I need to spend my kid-free hour and a half shopping for school clothes and supplies, and with that little time it will probably take most of the week. After camp is over, we have a 1 week vacation scheduled with my family. Then we come home and I have 3 weeks with the kids to go to the pool and do all the fun things that we haven't gotten to yet. Before the summer started I was dreading that 3 weeks, but now I can't wait. Then we end the summer with a weekend trip to NYC for my nephew's first birthday.

[clearskies]

We've been plowing through our summer of fun list.
Still to do:
-Trip to Charlottesville/hiking in Shenandoah Natl Park
-Watermelon Festival
-biking
-catch fireflies (they've all disappeared...hoping they return!)
-Trip to Outer Banks
-Continue making one new dinner per week