Working Our Way Through The Summer 2014 Bucket List

We've been rocking that Summer 2014 Bucket List, Tate and I!  And it's been great fun.  I love making these awesome (I hope!) memories with him.  I hate that I have to work and not get any real summer day time with him, so I'm trying to make it up to him on the weekends.  I also try really hard to be really present with him when we do do these things.  I also have to remember that we don't *have* to do everything on the list.  I was stressing a couple of hours ago, looking at our summer schedule, trying to figure out "When are we going to get to go to the beach???  If I do this here, and that there, we can race down to the beach for a couple of hours, will he sleep on the way?  What will he do in the car for 3 hours for just 2-3 hours in the sand?  Who will go with us?  How will we get clean?  I hate the beach, and I hate sand, but I'll do it."

And I realized...'Stop Jennifer.  Just stop.'

If I hate the beach and sand; if I'm going to be a basket case of nerves racing like a mad woman to get down there before traffic is hideous, how is that fun?  This is supposed to just be fun.  Fun stuff to do with my son.  My blood pressure rising because we can't get out of the house at a decent hour to beat the traffic does not make the beach and all its disgusting sand any fun for anyone, least of all me.  And I  should have some fun too, not just Tate.  So I've got to work on chilling out.  Which will be hard for me.

Because I am a task master.  I've made a list, and I will not be happy, I will not feel complete until each and every task on said bucket list is crossed off.  I LOVE crossing items off lists.  It's what I live for.

I need to change what I live for.

I need to live for the moments like this morning when Tate scored 2 goals in soccer and was just over the moon.  Or when as he ran off the field towards me, he shouted to his teammate who scored 4 goals..."R!  You did a great job!"  And when he got to me I was beaming with pride and he said "It's nice to be kind to our friends."  My heart was full.  That's what I need to live for.

I'm going to work on it.

In the interim though, I am gonna cross some things off our list :).  I just can't help myself.

Last Saturday we ventured to the zoo and rode the zoo train.  Surprisingly, Tate was not overly thrilled about the idea of the train ride at first!  I was shocked!  And disheartened.  I've loved his love of trains, and for some reason the fact that he seems to be broadening his horizons upsets me.  I can't put my finger on why, but it does.  It's almost like I feel like I'm losing the little boy that I love.  It's weird, but I was so sad he wasn't excited.  

But once we got to the train he was thrilled.  Then I convinced him that we needed to go to the zoo.  This took some convincing...he just has absolutely no interest.  The promise of feeding the giraffes made him happy, so we were off.  

He loved feeding the giraffes!!  We then went on a quick carousel ride!

Then my little Texan proceeded to tell me he was really hot and he wanted to leave.  Sigh.  It was only 90 or so degrees and he was hot.  He is not going to be happy come August or July.  However, I insisted (as per the Summer Bucket List) that we see at least one animal.  He grudgingly acquiesced and we visited the monkeys.  And then he was ready to go.  So homeward bound we were!

Sunday we back to the splashpad with his friend M and his mom.  We were there a couple of hours and the kiddos had a blast!

He started his summer camp this past week.  I've decided to enroll him in a couple of camps...a kids' camp, soccer camp and zoo camp.  He'll also do a week at my parents' church for VBS and he'll do 4 weeks in total at his daycare.  I just wanted to get him used to going to different places, meeting different people and trying to make new friends.  I dropped him off on Monday on my way to work for the before care and the counselors were just awesome.  Of course I'm worried beyond belief that he'll have an allergic reaction while not in my care, but they really put me at ease.  Or as at ease as I'm ever going to be when I'm not with him.  Goodness this is so very hard.  My parents, who are AMAZING, picked him up each day and brought him to my office, so he wouldn't have to do after care thus enabling us to get home at a decent hour.  And to cross another item off our Summer Bucket List, my dad took Tate to the library 3 days on their way to my office...a different library from our regular one.  But I don't think I'm going to count that as a different library since I wasn't there.  But, note to self, it will be good enough if we don't make it to a different one together :) 

Goodness my parents are just so wonderful.  They are just fantastic.  How come it took me having a child of my own to realize how blessed I am with the parents God chose for me?

Splash Day at camp!

Today we went to soccer for the start of the summer season.  We then went to a new-to-us restaurant, a la our Summer Bucket List!  We loved it.  Of course Tate ate what he normally eats...grilled cheese and french fries, but it was a new place!  That's all that matters!!!!  Good food and good company.  His friend M from soccer and his mom came with us.

We then all headed off to the model train exhibit at the mall that Tate loves so much.  Tate was in heaven.  The boys played at the train table for what seemed like forever.  We then went to ride the train in the mall and returned back to the model trains.  Tate would have stayed forever, but M wasn't nearly as into as Tate was.  So I'll definitely take Tate back, so he can get his fix :)

My child was out by 740 this evening.

I also must express how lucky I am with this child of mine.  He woke up this morning at 5:30am. I told him he had to go back to sleep for a little bit.  He gamely laid back down and closed his eyes and slept off and on until 6:05.  He then asked if he could get up and go play!

I said rock on little dude.  He happily went downstairs and started playing.  A while later he came up to tell me he had to go potty.  A bit later he came up to tell me he had made the train all by himself with his playstix.  Even later he woke me to tell me he built the plane from playstix by himself.  (This is not easy!)  Those stix were by far the best gift he received last year on his birthday!  My dad picked them out!  Later on he came to tell me he was hungry...I told him to get some yogurt, cheese and applesauce.

I dozed on and off, but finally got up around 7:15 as I heard the Blu-Ray player 'reading' a story to Tate.  Come to realize he found the 'Cars/Planes' 4 story read-along book I had bought for our Disney trip. (I have to start really hiding stuff, not hiding it in plain view!)  I looked over the railing and he was happily ensconced on the couch listening to the stories, just happy happy happy.  I did some laundry and finally made my way downstairs.  

My boy had gone into the pantry, brought his chair in there to stand on, gotten two boxes of milk and the cheerios (He told me it took three trips :) ).  He opened up the brand new box of cheerios, poured himself a bowl, added milk, had a box of milk to drink and a stick of cheese for breakfast.  With minimal spillage!!!  For four hours, 6-10am, Tate played with his toys, read some books, played with the cat, ate his oatmeal, got himself dressed for soccer and just hung out in our house while I did laundry, emptied the dishwasher, cleaned up, fiddled on the computer, took out the trash, got myself dressed, made up and hair done and organized his stuff for the day complete with change of clothes and snack.  Four hours.  Without one tear, one complaint, one whine or one electronic device or screen.  Our home was quiet, yet abuzz with the sound of contentment in mother and child.

I love this child!!!!

He is just awesome!  How blessed am I?  

Who needs a bucket list when life as we know it is just about perfect?