Stuff I've Learned This Summer (So Far)

It's July 15. Our summer vacation has about a month left. It's been a busy summer thus far. Last night, I was thinking about what we've done so far, what we have left to do before school starts, and what I've learned from our summer experiences. Some are really thought provoking and some are just down right humorous. So her goes.

1. Nick Jr.completely changed their daily lineup to include five thousand episodes of Sponge Bob. Our daily Dora/Diego/Kai-lan/etc. have been taken over by Sponge Bob. I'm not a Sponge Bob fan. Especially when he takes the place of the sweet, innocent pre-school programming on Nick Jr. I mean come on. A sweet little hispanic girl teaching sequence, Spanish, and how to be nice to mean people (Swiper) versus a sponge (what? weird.) who burps and poots. It's a no brainer for my 3 year old and my 20 month old daughters.

2. The caterpillars really are kinda gross. As part of my "let's keep some education going and not turn into worthless dummies over the summer" plan, I bought the "Bugville Butterfly" set for my girls to experience. They sent us a jelly filled container with 5 teeny cute little caterpillars that were about the size of a grain of rice. Then over the next 2 weeks, those cute little caterpillars turned into silk spinning, pooping, jelly eating, size of your pinky finger, disgusting, yucky bugs. Then they climbed to the top of the container and became cocoons. That part was pretty cool. Then we waited a week for the butterflies, which were born (hatched?) on Sunday. Right now, we have 2 butterflies and 3 cocoons, which should become butterflies really soon.

3. Butterflies bleed. Real, red blood. They actually bleed when they hatch out of the cocoon. Freaked out my 7 year old. The instructions that were sent with the kit say that the butterflies will bleed and will excrete meconium, too. Am I having babies or butterflies? Mary Emma named all of them when they were the size of rice. She gets very attached to anything, so having bleeding butterflies wasn't exactly what I envisioned with our summer "stay smart" plan.

4. The kids mysteriously get sick all at the same time. Yesterday, I was dealing with the whiniest 3 year old and 20 month old in the history of mankind. By dinner, I was ready to put "free to a good home" sign around their neck and take them to the local flea market. When I let my rational self take over my "my nerves are shot" self, I started checking for reasons for the whining. 103 fever. Both of them. No other symptoms. Just fever. And tempers. There's a 24 hour bug going around that I'm hoping is all they have. We might be making a trip to the pediatrician tomorrow if they're not better.

5. VBS has TOTALLY changed since I was a kid. Mary Emma is going to VBS - or Summer Bible Camp, as my church calls it - this week. It is a loud music, flashing lights, rockin' good time. There are no more snacks that consist of "orange drink" and generic cookies that you put on your pinky finger. There are no more sessions that consist of pledging allegiance to the American Flag, Christian Flag, and Holy Bible. There are no macaroni/popsicle stick crafts. It's an upbeat, crazy, Jesus worshipping, praise song singing time and she LOVES it.

6. Traveling with 3 kids is getting easier. Now that we're out of bottles and don't have to pack formula and a million jars of baby food, packing is easier. Soon we'll be out of diapers (Praise Him!) and out of cribs and travel will get even easier. Can't wait for that time.

7. One cannot have enough pb&j, apple juice, and goldfish crackers in the house. I've always said that the inventor of Goldfish crackers should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The brainiacs who determine who wins that award obviously haven't been grocery shopping with a 7 year old, a 3 year old, and a 20 month old.

4 week till school starts back. I can't believe how much time has flown! I have 2 family vacations between now and the beginning of school - one to Atlanta to visit the American Girl store and the Aquarium, and the other to Gulf Shores. I'll let you know what other mind boggling, earth shattering stuff I learn in the next 4 weeks.

You know, because I'm all about keeping you informed.