Fare Thee Well, Summer

Saturday marked the first day of our second annual at-home vacation. It poured rain outside all day. Pepper had her first vet appointment and was given a clean bill of health. Matthew and I spent the morning baking peach pies with homemade crust.

Sunday was more excitable by all means. In the morning Pepper aka “runaway bunny” escaped from our fenced in yard. Now she is only allowed to roam the yard on her leash and harness. We went to Bob’s parents house for a family party celebrating; his parents new house, his brother moving to college, his aunt’s birthday, our wedding anniversary later this month, and not one, but both of his grandmother’s birthdays. The cake simply said “Congratulations.”
Matthew got to eat M&M’s for lunch, play football, and catch frogs in the backyard. He slept the hour and a half drive home after the party ended.

On Monday I thought I was just going to get my oil changed but it turned into a grand inquisition. The mechanic asked me, “What kind of oil do you use?”, “When is the last time you had your transmission oil changed?”, “Look at this air filter, do you see what I mean about Ford and these cars?” Normally, I go to places where I can read a magazine and nod when told what needs to be done. Bob claims that said places are overpriced and told me about this place. Thankfully he was with me and having known to study my old car repair receipts beforehand he was able to answer the questions for me. I know that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you that I was the one who taught him how to change a tire many years ago.

We took Matt to the park and then to the lake. Where the lifeguard chairs usually are there was a sign warning us that the waters were unguarded. Translation: Summer is over, folks. Matt waded in the water, dug holes in the sand, and then we had a picnic lunch. On the way back to the car we saw the fall leaf on the ground.
In the nighttime Bob and I went out alone on a date to dinner and then to see (500) days of Summer, which is a really great movie if you haven’t seen it. On the way home I complained that our staycation was already going by too fast and we should really move to someplace more boring to drag it out more.

On Tuesday we went to the EcotariumWe rode the train, looked at exhibits, and had a picnic lunch by a stream. Then we took Matt to story time at Barnes And Noble where he mostly played with a train table there. That evening we had an end of summer celebration dinner with grilled haddock and veggie kabobs.

Then after dinner I took Pepper for a walk and at night Matt and I laid in bed reading all his favorite bedtime stories, ignoring the minutes ticking past his bedtime. “Hop. Pop. Hop on Pop,” he recited when I finally carried him to his crib, “Red, Red, they call me Red.”

On Wednesday we played t-ball in the park.Matthew loved running around real bases and sitting on the bench in the dugout to cheer. We saw friends of ours at the park for the second time that week. “I still think this week is going by too fast,” I told Bob on our way home.

On Thursday we went to the ocean for what is probably the last time this summer. The older kids are back in school so it was nearly empty and the shore was lined with shells and sea glass not yet picked over. Matthew and I pretended to be pirates collecting treasure. Not that he has much reference to pirates outside of the Backyardigans. Maybe to him that is what we were pretending to be. We filled an empty grape bag with all our ‘treasure’ to bring home with us. After another afternoon or wading, digging holes in the sand, and a picnic we headed up to the boardwalk to walk around before heading home. On Friday we went to a U pick farm. Bob asked me to note that it was his first time ever going. Matthew and I usually go two to three times a month so we showed him the ropes. We picked raspberries and then played on the playground where Matt climbed to the top of a child sized rock wall for the first time. That night we had a family game night and played Cootie.

Saturday was the last official day of our at-home vacation. Matthew and I missed the beach so we built a sandcastle in his plastic turtle shaped sandbox.

On a whim we decided to attend a fair that was a couple towns over from us and spent a few hours there. There were kiddie rides there which seem to be a prerequisite for vacations these days.
That evening we painted leaves, pumpkins, and acorns that I cut out of construction paper. . Once our masterpieces of work dried we hung them on our glass deck door. In doing so we said goodbye to summer.