Our Super Fun Summer Schedule

Last summer I was so excited to have the kids out of school, mostly because I didn't have to wake up early to get them up anymore.  We had a kind of lazy summer and that was just wonderful.  It was wonderful for about the first half of the summer and then I wished we had a little more structure but it was too late to really do anything about it.

But not this summer!  About two weeks before school got out I started planning.  The boys were going to get all their work done in the morning and they wouldn't be able to get on the computer until after lunch.  First they were going to read their scriptures, and then read another book.  This works out because they tend to get up before I do and this gives them something quiet to do until Brigham and I are up.  Then, they practice the piano and their instrument.  Then they have a chore to do.  This is the best part, I think, because my house has never been cleaner.  I'm still in charge, largely, of the kitchen, but rooms are getting dusted and vacuumed, floors are getting swept and mopped, and toilets and bathtubs are getting cleaned.  It's wonderful!  We had a FHE before school got out to introduce the boys to our new schedule.  Nathaniel thought for sure that this was going to be the worst summer ever.  Jonathan complained a little at first but quickly got into the routine.  He loves to check things off as he finished them.  I've been using myjobchart.com to organize, assign, and print out jobs.  It's been extremely handy.

On top of our busy morning schedule, they also have activities that they are involved in.  This keeps us kind of busy, but it's worked out that they are mostly on the same days so we have "off" days where we don't have to leave the house, which is nice.

Nathaniel attends Summerhays Summer Music Jam Camp.  It's twice a week in the morning for six weeks.  We drop Nathaniel off and then head to a nearby park to play during his rehearsal.  We have two weeks left and he's already played at the Utah Arts Festival downtown by the library and City County Building.

He was really nervous at first.  Because of the performance, and because it was outside around a lot of people at the busy festival.  Also, the wind was blowing pretty hard and he needed clothes pins to hold his music down.  All this made for a somewhat stressful situation.  But once he got playing, I was really proud of how he pulled it together.  He even had a solo.  The festival was fun and we looked around a bit.  It's not something we would go to by choice, but it was a fun experience.  We even went over to the Salt Lake Library and rode the elevators.  Brigham loved it and was so sad when it was time to go.  Nathaniel doesn't like fast elevators but these elevators are glass and he seemed to like being able to look out and watch as we went up.

Jonathan just finished his tumbling class for the summer, and he even went to Cub Scout day camp.  It was two days in a row and both days he came home looking like this:

He was so dirty!  The first day I made him take a shower, but the second day I told him he didn't have to take a shower if he played in the sprinklers with Brigham.  He chose the sprinklers.  He had a lot of fun and I'm glad he could go.  Even though I had to wake him up at 7:00 in the morning!

He's also practicing the trumpet.  I can't really teach him like I could with Nathaniel but he's so excited to learn so we've been practicing blowing.

He loves it and says he gets better every day.

He and Nathaniel have really been into tall buildings lately.  Ask them what the tallest buildings in the world are and they can tell you all about it.  We took them to the Church Office Building so we could go up to the observation deck but apparently they're closed on Saturdays.  Jonathan was so disappointed.  Luckily, I knew we'd be able to go to the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Even though it's not as tall, he loved it.

He also loves to look at all the temples on Google Earth and see if they have an Angel Moroni on top.  So while we were downtown we went over to the Church History Museum.

I figured he'd get a kick out of seeing an actual-size Angel Moroni.  I was right.

Brigham has a speech therapist that has been coming to our house.  It has been immensely helpful for him.  During the summer, his therapist does horse therapy with her clients.  So we've been driving out to Herriman once a week for his therapy.

He was so shy in the beginning.  I had to hold him to get him close to the horse.  He wouldn't even touch it.  So Beth, our therapist, held him and took him into the corral.  She was really patient and he warmed up relatively quickly.

Soon, he was riding the horse like a pro!  Good Heavens, is it cute to watch!

This activity is for the whole summer and it's also the most demanding.  It's a half hour drive out there and the session is an hour long.  It's a big chunk of our day.  It's also during lunch time so I have to pack a lunch for us to eat after his session is over.  There's a park close by that we've been going to.

It's a fun park and even though by then I'm worn out and tired of being outside, the boys can always play a little longer.

So that has been our summer schedule and activities.  It's definitely keeping us busy.  I'm actually getting less sleep than I did during the school year, and I have less free time.  Although I don't know why I thought I'd have more free time.  It's wearing me out, but so far it's a good worn out because I feel like we're accomplishing a lot.  So, I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to school starting again, but I will be okay when summer is over.