Summer is here!

It's official - the end of the school year has come and gone.  Shouldn’t that mean things start to slow down and we can get lazy?

The last two weeks have been a sprint to the finish line (in some cases literally).  The state of Michigan waived all snow days during our polar vortex/state of emergency/bomb cyclone and just like that it was like thirteen snow days never happened.  So here we are, out of school as originally scheduled.  And here I am - on a Wednesday - updating my blog in peace in quiet while BOTH girls (by some miracle) are napping.  I am so so excited for the flexibility to be taking Wednesdays and Fridays off for the summer to spend some extra time with the girls.  Although...after this morning...when Lily woke up at 6:30am and both girls were having meltdowns by 8:15am, I was seriously wondering what the hell I was thinking.

So here's a quick look at our end of school festivities, and fingers crossed, I'll have some more downtime this summer to stay up on the blog (maybe cross all of your fingers...and your toes too).

Two Thursdays ago Lily’s field day gets rained out and rescheduled for Friday.  I rescheduled some meetings and ran into the downtown office so I could attend the Friday festivities.  Is it terrible I was secretly hoping for rain on Friday??

Friday was beautiful - a high of 77 and the perfect day to throw hundreds of kiddos outside all day.  Lily’s field day is unique (at least in my opinion).  Parents are encouraged to sign up to run activity centers and if you are unable to volunteer, you’re invited to attend the picnic lunch.  How’s the picnic lunch?  Well it’s pure mayhem.  Just imagine 500 kids under the age of 11 and their parents and siblings and teachers sprawled across the lawn of an elementary school eating some healthy things but mostly devouring cupcakes and cookies and downing juice boxes.  And then when it looks like most people have finished shoveling, the music teacher starts blasting Call Me Maybe on his DJ system and things get REAL wild.

We kicked off the weekend with a quick boat ride and an impromptu bonfire and s'mores with the neighbors.  It felt so good to be home for the evening with no plans, watch the kiddos run wild, and just enjoy the view out our back yard.  I can't help but smile thinking about this evening as the first one that finally felt like summer was actually upon us.

Saturday the girls were determined to get out on the river but with severe weather, a birthday party, and a four hour nap, it wasn’t until 5:00ish we were able to head out.  The sun had started shining again and Mike and I were exhausted from furiously cleaning and doing yard work in between storms.  Lily was convinced she was going swimming so we loaded up the whole shebang - towels, floaties, snacks, and beverages - envisioning thirty minutes at the sand bar before returning for dinner.  After one toe dip in and shriek that is was still freezing (DUH) we cruised, socialized, helped fix a boat lift, and got run off the river by another wave of thunder and lightening.  Dinner ended up being at 7:30 (Sundstrand style) and the kids pushed bedtime for the second night in a row.  Sunday morning (with a slight hangover) I boarded a flight to Milwaukee to run our regional summer leadership program.

The next three days are a whirlwind of events before I head back to the airport to return home to chaperone Lily's zoo field trip at 9:00am Wednesday morning.  Tuesday I get myself through security in Milwaukee, take a few calls, answer some emails, and FaceTime with the girls before boarding my first leg of my trip.  After pushing away from the gate on time at 5:30, we are notified the MSP airport has grounded all incoming and outgoing flights due to severe weather and we are stuck on the tarmac, finally getting clearance to get air bound at 7:15.  My connection back to GRR is set to leave in an hour and a half.  What should have been a forty minute flight turned into an hour and forty minutes after we were forced to circle Minneapolis when another front of weather moved through.  When we finally touched down at 8:55, my text messages notified me my 8:40 flight was delayed until 9:05, and I literally sprinted off the plane with my backpack and suitcase, high fived my regional managing partner who was extending his trip in MSP, and screamed excuse me like a madwoman as I raced down the terminal.  When I got to my gate, they were about to close the door, had to issue me a new seat, and the super kind flight attendant was shoving bottled water at me (I think in an effort to prevent a medical emergency).  We pushed back from the gate only to find out the runways were shut down due to debris on the runway.  I won't bore you with the rest of the details but by the grace of God I did land in GRR, ran myself through the McDonald's drive thru at 1:00am (did I mention I hadn't eaten since noon?), threw myself into bed shortly before two and somehow managed to keep track of four first graders at the zoo the next morning.

The last two days of school were half days.  I was able to catch up on a bit of work each morning before getting back on mom duty.  Thursday I picked Lily up from school and we headed downtown to meet my girlfriends for lunch, one of which was in town from Texas.  We hit up the food truck festivities and I paid a fortune for a vegan ice cream sandwich that Lily insisted she would eat.  And WE did - so delicious.

Friday Lily wanted to ride the bus home and I happened to be sitting out on the porch when I heard the bell ring, the shouting and screaming of the fourth grade send off, followed by the bus horns as they circled the parking lot and headed down Cascade road.  We had an impromptu end of school bash on the river with Lily's bestie before we loaded up and headed off to dance dress rehearsal.

Saturday we spent nearly all day at Lily's dance recital.  We've gone through waves of loving and hating dance this year but I'm glad to see we ended the season with smiles on all of our faces.  Mike and I were so proud of Lily - it was so fun to watch her on stage opening and closing the recital - and helping the little ones.  It feels like just yesterday SHE was the little one.  We ended the weekend with a much needed rainy day, catching up on laundry, taking naps, and getting ready for the week.  Lily started off Monday and Tuesday at Appletree's Summer Explorers, having a blast tie dying and her first field trip to the splash pad.

And here we are today, on our first day home together.  I knew I wouldn't get through an entire post without someone waking up.  Lily's sitting behind me now, complaining that she woke up because the neighbor's mowing the lawn (or she ran out of books to read).  So I guess that's all for now!