Summer Diaries: Part I

As July is quickly coming to a close, summer feels like it’s flying by in a blink, but we’ve also packed an incredible amount of life into the past few weeks.  Life can be a wild ride, but none wilder than summers spent shuffling back and forth to baseball, beach weekends with family, birthday celebrations, fireworks, sleep away camps, friend sleepovers, pool play dates, staying up late, sleeping in, and about 100 half gallon containers of ice cream.  For real.  Every summer, I vow to “slow down” and enjoy the time, but at this present phase of my life, the pedal is pressed to the metal and we feel the wind in our hair and sun on our faces as summer flies along.

We added a puppy to our crew a little over two months ago, a Portuguese Water Dog named Bennett.  He is a wild, sweet, energetic pup, who manages to get his little puppy teeth on every surface in the house.  The boys have holes in their t-shirts, so thank goodness for dog training, I think we are finally out of that phase.  He comes to us as a “companion dog” in training for our 12 year old son with ASD.  At least, that was the plan. But he’s been experiencing some neurologic issues (balance and eye wandering) that have been difficult to diagnose and by all accounts of specialists either are harmless (for the most part) or something lethal.  We just don’t know.  To say this has been a rollercoaster is an understatement, especially the unknown ahead and having to explain that to three young minds who don’t understand that the world isn’t always black and white.  In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to carry on as normal, but with a little extra spoiling for Bennett (who loves carrots and hates lunch meat . . . what a guy).  

Here’s what we’ve been up to.

We finished school.

We slept in.

We celebrated a very special birthday. 85. When someone throws spit balls, she fights back.

We hit the boardwalk.

We hit the beach. Boys draw penises wherever they go. I just look away.

We swam in the ocean.

We dove in the pool.

We spent time with family. Which includes a lot of candy runs.

We played hide and seek. In gross places.

We went on the rides.

And it’s not over yet! Cheers to summer, the best time of year.