Picking the beans she planted
Helping Daddy stack wood
We put them to work young here in New Hampshire
Myrick enjoyed it and didn't react too strongly when the Wicked Witch of the West made her big entrance
Past his bedtime, but what a trooper - he loved it!
Waiting for the show
Past his bedtime, but what a trooper - he loved it!
Waiting for the show
Pender before "The Wizard of Oz" in Prescott Park
Berry stained mouth
Nate and Myrick having tent time
First time camping out in the backyard - just a tad excited!
Tub time
Playing among the birches
Pender enjoys the blueberry buffet
Ready for a romp in the berry patch
I was reading an article in today's local paper about how kids these days spend their summers versus kids in the past. The article contrasted today's kids as being over scheduled and overstimulated to those in the past as having hours upon hours of free, unstructured time. I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but the simplified 'moral' of the article was that there is much to be gained from providing kids with both: the structured time and activities do keep them physically and mentally active while the unstructured free time opens up their creativity, self-motivation, and imagination. I liked how the article talked about striking the right balance during the summer with your kids. Looking at how our summer has shaken out, I think we've done a pretty good job with this. We've had lots of family time while away on vacation, Myrick has some structured summer activities like swim lessons and tee-ball/soccer camp, and we've had several playdates to keep her socially engaged. At the same time, I cannot even begin to count the hours we've spent among the wild strawberries, raspberry patches, blueberry bushes, and blackberry patches just wandering, searching, being amazed at the sizes, shapes, smells, and tastes of the things we 'harvest'. Both Pender and Myrick have spent a great deal of time outdoors this summer occupying themselves among the blueberries or playing with sidewalk chalk in the driveway or building canals and castles at our local beach. One thing that has amazed me is how Myrick has managed to occupy herself with books this summer. She started waking up pretty early and was waking up Pender, too - this was not good for Pen, so we devised a strategy to get her out of their room and into ours if/when she woke up early. We made a cozy book-nook on the love seat in our bedroom and leave a stack of books next to it. She has regularly spent an hour reading to herself quietly in our room, and around 7am she will walk over to my side of the bed and kiss me to tell me it's time to get up. Amazing that she can do that and that we get extra sleep! Anyhow, here are some shots of summer around the house.
Ready for a romp in the berry patch
I was reading an article in today's local paper about how kids these days spend their summers versus kids in the past. The article contrasted today's kids as being over scheduled and overstimulated to those in the past as having hours upon hours of free, unstructured time. I'm leaving out a lot of important details, but the simplified 'moral' of the article was that there is much to be gained from providing kids with both: the structured time and activities do keep them physically and mentally active while the unstructured free time opens up their creativity, self-motivation, and imagination. I liked how the article talked about striking the right balance during the summer with your kids. Looking at how our summer has shaken out, I think we've done a pretty good job with this. We've had lots of family time while away on vacation, Myrick has some structured summer activities like swim lessons and tee-ball/soccer camp, and we've had several playdates to keep her socially engaged. At the same time, I cannot even begin to count the hours we've spent among the wild strawberries, raspberry patches, blueberry bushes, and blackberry patches just wandering, searching, being amazed at the sizes, shapes, smells, and tastes of the things we 'harvest'. Both Pender and Myrick have spent a great deal of time outdoors this summer occupying themselves among the blueberries or playing with sidewalk chalk in the driveway or building canals and castles at our local beach. One thing that has amazed me is how Myrick has managed to occupy herself with books this summer. She started waking up pretty early and was waking up Pender, too - this was not good for Pen, so we devised a strategy to get her out of their room and into ours if/when she woke up early. We made a cozy book-nook on the love seat in our bedroom and leave a stack of books next to it. She has regularly spent an hour reading to herself quietly in our room, and around 7am she will walk over to my side of the bed and kiss me to tell me it's time to get up. Amazing that she can do that and that we get extra sleep! Anyhow, here are some shots of summer around the house.
