Where Did The Summer Go?

There are so many cliques to express how quickly life passes before us....and even sayings to help us remember to enjoy the present. "Time flies!" or "like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" or "stop and smell the roses." However you choose to say it, really no words can express the helpless feeling one experiences as time slips through your fingers, never to be reclaimed. How quickly it gets away from us, needing to be savored and enjoyed!

I am frustrated nearly every day, that I cannot DO something about the passage of time. Maybe it's my control-freakishness, the micro-manager in me, or perhaps my desire to get my own way, but it annoys me that the clock continues to tick, when I wish to pause the hands and sit to reflect on what is happening around me. I tend to have a busy mind that whirls at cyclone speed. It doesn't take a rest until it either 1) crashes, or 2) is harnessed with extreme effort and forced to cooperate on a task. My mind would rather travel into thoughts of the past or the future, instead of focusing on what is important...the present!

So, once again I am saying to myself...where did the past few months go? It now seems a blur of activity in my mind. Thankfully, someone invented a way for us to capture our moments on film so that the images aren't lost forever (or more likely, distorted) in the abyss called the mind.

FINALLY, I am forcing myself to slow down and review the fun we had this summer. Twas not all fun and games; but as I look at these images I am reminded that a mom's exhaustion equals a child's fun and is the way to create happy memories, rather than a dull recollection of dreary chores and constant work. Bottom line...we did have fun this summer! Sometimes it took lots of effort to have a joyful spirit, but we did a lot (which was a goal), I spent nearly every moment with my munchkins (which was another goal), and I spent a lot of time reflecting and rejuvenating so that I can press on (which was the ultimate goal of the summer) :))

Pics...Jack really liked his art class at the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum. He has his Dad's talent for creativity and artistic abilities (and the patience to create). He made some great sculptures and paintings and we are waiting to see if his project will be put on display at the Museum.

While he had class, the other three and I had to find ways to entertain ourselves at the Plaza...not too difficult (when everyone is cooperating). A few things we discovered 1) you can walk from the Art Museum to the McDonald's on the Plaza, have a Coke and an ice cream and walk back with tons of time to spare (with breaks by the fountains too), 2) it is fun to picnic under the gigantic Badminton birdie sculptures that rest on the lawn, 3) the Kaufman Memorial Garden is an extremely beautiful, peaceful, and solitary place to whittle away the hours nearby(the kids loved the fountains and shoots of water that chased them through the foliage...I loved the thought of returning there without any kids to sit in peace).

http://www.powellgardens.org/default.asp?page=KauffmanMap#VisitorInfo

July also offered a camping trip with Anika's and Andrea's families...lots of work, but fun! Camping and floating with 9 kids is a challenge, but we made it! Here Emma and Jack enjoy their S'mores.

This pic is a rarity for sure...all four sound asleep, and in the middle of the day! The floating and camping exhausted us all. The six man tent that Jason got was a hit...I enjoyed the cabin with my sisters (except we got stuck with the 2 year-olds as usual).

The float was really nice..I've never gone on a float trip believe it or not. It was beautiful and peaceful. Sam was my canoe partner most of the way, and I must say....that boy can paddle! He looked like Merriweather Lewis (or maybe what's-his-name Clark) at the front of our canoe scouting for wildlife or examining the terrain, with his paddle slowly, but steadily, dipping into the quiet water...a very quaint scene from the back of the boat. He was surprised that his momma could maneuver us out of some swift current and actually was impressed by my amateur canoeing skills.

No summer is complete without a trip to Fritz's Railroad Restaurant, where the food is questionable, but the atmosphere is fascinating and helps you overcome the doubts in your mind about what you are putting in your mouth! As usual, the boys loved to watch the trains deliver their food and were all smiles for an entire hour. Afterwards, we headed to the chaos in Kaleidoscope, where we tried to do some art amidst the hundreds of kids in there :)

We also made it to the Lego exhibit in Crown Center, where there were fabulous displays of some guy's Lego art. The kids built with bricks and we marveled at the creations. Lydia almost pushed over a display that was a 7-foot tall pencil made of thousands of Lego's...thus, time to exit before disaster!

Upstairs we found a sweet Chinese lady who has a shop of imported Chinese tea (directly from their family farm in north-central China, she informed me) and jade jewelry. She and Lydia chatted about their Chinese names while I scoped out a cool Jade medallion....again, time to leave when the boys started wrestling around the displays of necklaces and teapots (images of bright green shards of broken jade and shattered Terra Cotta pots on the floor prompts one to leave in a hurry!)

One final destination in the last couple of weeks of July, was our trip to Science City and the Narnia exhibit at Union Station....I really love that place. Science City is somewhat lame once you've been there before, but I could sit in the old train station forever, staring up at that beautiful ceiling and imagining the place packed with the bustle of travelers lugging their bags several decades ago. So much history floats around in there that you can almost feel that energy embedded in the tiles and spiraling through the dome and archways. We enjoyed a little greasy lunch in the diner (also with grand tall ceilings and oozing with a past). The Narnia exhibit was awesome (no pics allowed) and left us with a feeling that we had actually met Aslan the Lion and talked with Peter and Lucy :)))

Overall, July was packed and filled with fun...I won't discuss here the trials and traumas...as that is the type of junk that should be pondered and then dismissed (or shoved) to the deep corners of the gray matter....so what remains? The happy images of my kids laughing, creating, imagining, pondering, and learning; and THAT, my friends is what we did this summer.