Summer Activities

We have been very busy this summer so far, and we haven’t even embarked on our month-long trek yet! The girls have been in swim lessons for the past three weeks. Isabella and Mythili have learned many new strokes. This was Isabella’s third year of swim lessons and Mythili’s first. They had them four days a week. Each day, Riona and I would hang out at the baby pool while the older girls swam, and then we’d all have a picnic. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours.
In the afternoons, we have been doing lots of fun activities as well. We went to the Museum of Nature and Science, spent a few afternoons at Cherry Creek Reservoir–the Colorado version of “the beach”, rode our bikes to the library to participate in the summer reading program, and played out in the sprinklers. We’ve all been reading lots of books and Daddy has been doing lots of homework, trying to finish as much as he can before we leave on Thursday. I have been reading young adult novels and spending Friday mornings visiting garage sales in search for more–I am trying to stock my classroom full of books to get my students more interested in reading.
We have also been working hard on our vegetable garden, herb garden, and various flower gardens and outdoor potted plants. We’re trying to make our outdoor space more enjoyable, in addition to growing more food. While my dad got the garden started and the girls and I all helped plant the first seeds, Bruce truly has done most of the work, tediously weeding and watering almost daily. We have already enjoyed several delicious salads made with our homegrown arugula lettuce, and some great pizzas with spinach fresh from the garden.
In addition to the gardening, we have been making weekly visits to the farmer’s market at Southlands Mall, and last week in Boulder, as we were visiting my parents and attending the children’s concert at Chautauqua. We have been trying to purchase more locally grown food after I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.
Of course our summer events have included many visits to Elitch Gardens, Isabella and Mythili’s favorite place in the world. This year, we have Isabella’s friend from preschool, Reuben, and his family join us for a day, and last week Isabella’s neighbor friend, Kiara, came along, and then came over to spend the night for Isabella’s first sleepover. She was more than thrilled. he got to stay up late watching a movie, and went over to Kiara’s house the next morning for choclate chip pancakes. We set up a queen sized air mattress for Kiara and Isabella to share, and Mythili and Riona were so upset about it that we had to blow up a twin mattress for them. The next night, the girls were still in the mood to sleep on air mattresses, but only the twin still had air. They all three piled onto it and fell promptly to sleep!
My grandmother is here visiting now, and we have spent most weekends visiting with her and my parents. We went swimming at a pool in Lafayette, went to Cherry Creek Reservoir with them, and last Friday I went up myself to go to a piano concerto at Chautauqua with them. We began the evening with the unbelievably great priced happy hour at Boulder Cafe. Boulder really is the ideal place to live, if only any normal person could afford it!