Summer Recap

Somehow, I find myself a week and a half away from the end of the summer (i.e., the first day of school), and I'm not sure where it went!

Vacation(s)
We started off the summer with a bang, leaving for our Hawaiian vacation on the last day of school. I already covered the Hawaii trip in detail, so I won't say anything else about that here. Suffice it to say, it was awesome. :)

We also spent a week at Smith Mountain Lake again this summer with BFF and her kids, as well her her boyfriend and his kids. Everyone got along great, the house was in a perfect location and worked well for our group, AND BFF's boyfriend has a boat, so we got to do a lot more water skiing and tubing this year. With the kids all getting older, we're not sure how many more years we're going to be able to do the week at the lake, but we're going to try our hardest to keep it up!

Hockey
Keeper Boy had dry land training for the team he was supposed to be playing for both right before we left for Hawaii and the morning after we returned. Other than that, he hasn't done much this summer as he strained his chest wall right before he was supposed to be in hockey camp for a week and had to pull out. We found out a few weeks ago that a goalie from the Bantam Upper A team (Silver) had left the club, and as a result, Keeper Boy was asked to join the Lower A team (Black) as one of the Black goalies moved up to take the vacated slot on Silver. So we've been figuring out the new schedule and getting used to the idea of a different team. It's all good though. He's played with more than half of his teammates on other teams, and we really like the coach. Keeper boy also gets along really well with the other goalie on the team as they were the goalie team on Pee Wee Silver last year. So all-in-all, it's a good move.

J-Mav did a week of power skating camp in July and wow! We went to a public skating session soon after and were amazed at the difference. Of course, he hasn't been on the ice since, so we'll see how he is when the season starts. He will be playing Mite House again this year.

Keeper Boy participated in the Capitals Shootout competition a few weeks ago, though he hadn't been in his pads in about two months. He did really well, and looked good; however, he didn't advance out of the preliminary round. It was weird, he was the shortest goalie out there! There's a big difference between Pee Wee and Bantam/Midget!

Oh, and Keeper Boy got new leg pads last week. Cha-ching! :-( Hopefully he won't outgrow these anytime soon!

Culture
For my birthday, Hubby, Keeper Boy, and I went to see Rock of Ages at National Theatre. What a great show! J-Mav would've LOVED the music, but I'm glad we didn't take him. It was a little risque for him. Actually, it was a little risque for Keeper Boy, but we thought he could handle it.

Camps
J-Mav did power skating camp for a week (full days) and tennis camp for a week (half days). Not a camp, but Keeper Boy spent a week in Annapolis with his best bud. Both of the boys went to VA Tech for sleep away camp for a week (Keeper Boy's fifth time; J-Mav's first as an overnight camper). They both had a great time, and weren't even phased by the five-hour lock-down they had while there because of a possible gunman reported on campus. I can't say it was as fun for Hubby and I. Anyway, Keeper Boy studied Rocketry and Digital Music for a week, and J-Mav studied Lego Robotics and took the Dangerous Class for Boys. Last week, J-Mav did Treks and Tours camp. They went somewhere different every day: The Air & Space Museum, a water park, a reptile/amphibian place, a park... And Keeper Boy did Water Adventure camp. They also did something different every day: white water rafting, white water kayaking, tubing, Kings Dominion, and a water park. This week they are at "Camp Grandma and Grandpa." J-Mav has one more day camp next week: Basketball and Flag Football at the rec center.

House
We hired a contractor and had the upstairs hall bathroom gutted and re-done. It's beautiful. Hopefully the boys won't trash it. :) We are in the process of picking out tile to have just the shower in the master bath redone by the same contractor.

Family
We spent lots of time with family this summer, some for good reasons; some not. Either way it was a blessing.

Overall, it was a wonderful summer. As always, it went by too quickly. I am not quite ready to deal with the stress of getting the kids to do their homework before they have to leave for hockey practice in the evenings, needing to plan dinners and actually eat by 5:30 or 6, and keeping a more rigid schedule. Things are much more loose in the summer, which leads to a lot fewer arguments with Thing 1 and Thing 2. The first couple weeks of school will be a rough transition to earlier bedtimes and earlier wake times, wearing real shoes, and going back to the no TV/Wii on weekdays rule. But we'll get through it. We always do.

And hey... there's only 310 days until the last day of school!