Summer Routine

I have been enjoying these lazy summer mornings. No hasty breakfasts or last minute lunches to pack; no schoolbags or homework or matching pairs of shoes to find. 

Evangeline wakes me each day with her tiny kicks and wiggles to indicate she is ready to play. She silently watches her Mama’s closed eyes as the remnants of dreams disappear with the morning light.

The twins wake soon after, stumbling into my room and shaking sleep from their hair. They climb into bed with us and slip under hte sheets. They don’t talk much. They just hold Eva’s tiny hands, or mine, as I watch the morning news to find out what weather to expect for the day. Although it doesn’t matter much about the weather.

We spend many of our days outdoors, lounging on the deck. Reading, swinging, drawing, chasing butterflies and other random bugs, watching clouds drift by, inventing new games to play or dreaming of new things to do. 

The oldest girls take turns rocking Evangeline to sleep. The youngest will shout for their turn to “hold her a little bit, too!”.

We water our vegetable garden. A baby bunny has taken a liking to our sugar peas and ate every last vine to the ground. We did happen to eat one saved pea. We shared that one tiny pea pod among more people than you could imagine. It was delicious!

So far we have eaten one huge cucumber and one awesome tomato. The girls also picked two zucchini which I will make into bread as soon as I get to store to buy some more flour. There are many more veggies ripening. We just hope the bunny will be kind enough to save us some.

The girls generally get along with each other splendidly. There is our fair share of bickering, though. She did this or she said that! Nothing to get too upset about. Within moments, the fight is resolved and they are off playing together again. Just like that.

After dinner, our girls gather with the other neighborhood children forming a line for their turn on the Slip 'N Slide that Mike sets up on our lawn. A whirlwind of water and giggles that can turn any hot summer day into the “best day ever!”. 

As the sun sets, we get an occasional treat from the ice cream truck that plays its musical trip through our neighborhood at least twice a day. We sit outside with friends, talking, watching the girls ride their bikes or draw whole worlds on the sidewalk with chalk until the mosquitoes are too much to bear.

Sleep comes fast for the littlest ones, tired from their day and the sun on their skin. The oldest girls climb into their bunks. When I peek in their room, they have their bed lights on, reading or telling funny stories to each other. 

Sometimes I linger a bit to listen to them, join their sister circle for a while until I say good night and close the door behind me.

These summer days are being good to us. If only they could last forever!