Back to school but not for long

I realized this morning as I was seriously enjoying my early morning time alone, that there are 3 weeks left before school lets out. This is good and bad. I always look forward to having the kids home and not getting up so early, eating breakfast together, doing stuff around town, etc. But then for some reason the younger kids never do sleep in when they should. It seems like on the days they don't have school, they get up earlier. It's a pattern I've learn to accept. My teens on the other hand would sleep until noon if I let them, and I do sometimes.

Flor (my mother in law) asked me what we had planned for vacation. I always feel a little awkward answering this because I think she thinks we should do something. Apparently it is an American tradition to plan a vacation away from home during the summer months. Growing up in the Dominican Republic, where I was born, when school let out for the summer simply meant that the kids would play all day outdoors, eat fruit ripened on the tree, make home-made helado (like italian ice),go down to the river for the day, hang out with the neighborhood kids and come home before the sun goes down. There were no major trips planned, no money sucking adventures to go to, just a simple summer. We did occasionally go to the beach, which for us was about 3 hours of away. We also visited family members who lived a little further away but that was it.

We have gone a few summer vacations, the American way, summer house rented by Flor and Dulce and another time we rented a Condo in Florida and it was fun, I will admit to that. Although I felt like I needed a vacation after my vacation. I don't ever feel the need to begin planning a week-long summer trip. I just take each day as it comes and if I see an opportunity for us to go do something fun and we have to spend a couple of days there then we go, if not, we're not too far from the beach, 2 major rivers each with a beach area as well and a few amusement parks.

Then there's our back yard. it's not huge and it's not fenced in but we have great neighbors and a lot of kids in the area. So this summer I plan to turn on the water sprinkler, fill up the water balloons, fill up a kiddy pool, and enjoy the outdoors right here, where it's free, fun and full of smiles.