The Mercado Family



Tuesday, September 2, 2014

An Amazing Summer

This was one of the best summers I have had as a mom. One of the main contributing factors to that was because Victoria was enjoying the summer vacation. It's not that she hasn't enjoyed summer break in the past, but for the past 5 years (since she started school) it was hard for her to have so much down-time at home and she would often be liked a cooped up tiger ready to pounce on anyone who rubbed her wrong. She also had trouble sleeping in previous summers because of how light it is here at night and the warm/humid temps. I never knew how to help her because it's not as if we'd just sit and do nothing all summer, in fact, if you know me, you know that I like to get the kids out of the house at least once a day.

What was different this summer? I think many things made a small difference and contributed to the whole. First of all, I was prepared. I had purchased lavender oil to help the girls settle down and fall asleep easier. We keep the house cooler during the time the kids get ready for bed. Victoria having her own room with a fan has helped as well. The other factors were probably the timing of our vacation to Colorado at the beginning of the summer and then the way I had spaced our other activities for the rest of the summer. Also, Victoria's being older and more responsible really had a lot to do with it. I was able to get her to do her job every day, including her piano practice and some school work. Mostly she accomplished those tasks in the morning, with some exceptions. Being helpful makes people happier and it worked for her too! The ironic part is, she didn't end up using the lavender oil or even melatonin (like last summer) like I thought she would. Karissa did though!

Here are some of the things we did after returning from our Colorado vacation.
Karissa made huge strides in swimming lessons!
Austin did too!

Victoria, in the deep end
Hiking
Pioneer Day activity
Painting boats
Soccer sign-up picnic
The bird was the highlight of the picnic.
Ward camp-out.

It's nice to have kids help set up now.
Roller skating
Erik wanted to try and did great!
Bike rides
Play dates (this was a special one since Karissa couldn't go to her BFF's b-day, so we celebrated here with her).
beach at the lake
 splash pad
Play groups

Raspberry picking

Detroit's Eastern Market
Labor Day activity at the Park

 Of course I didn't include pictures of the older three at Canton Activity Crew that went on through July and the first two weeks of August. They went to a playground for a few hours and were supervised and engaged in activities there. We also went to the community pool a lot with our "Healthy U" pass. Our trampoline is still damaged from last fall's storms and the parts for it are on back-order, so we survived without it. Hopefully, we'll have it next summer!

Austin's first day of Kindergarten was today! He has Mrs. Mifsud and was so excited to go. He was disappointed that yesterday wasn't the first day! (that's a K in sign language)
Victoria is in 4th and has Mrs. Jewett.
Karissa is in 2nd and has Mr. Anderson. 

 We're ready for the school year!



2 comments:

  1. Kiddos to you for out smarting your children,,,,they are really growing up so nicely, You are one GREAT MOM

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  2. What a fun summer! I'm especially envious of your raspberry picking. Yum!! Here's to a great school year!

    ReplyDelete