Every other day Ruby has been asking "is it summer?" My answer has been something along the lines of: "Well, it's summer vacation because school is out, but the season isn't quite summer yet." It must have been hard for her to remember that answer, since she asks all the time. Thankfully, now we can just say YES! and cut that discussion short.
Ruby has a very inquisitive mind and asks questions so ambiguous, yet oddly specific that it's near impossible to answer.
Like when we're in the car driving and she says "Mom, where are you going to be right now?"
Or when Maia and I are talking about going to the pool and I say "I think we're going to try out the Northwest Y today." Ruby chimes in "Wait. What northwest Y?"
I don't even know how to respond. I've begun to stay silent and let her figure out what she wants to know and then she usually tries asking in a different way.
We've been going to the pool a lot and checking out the different YMCA swim parks. Maia said she wants to try out all the YMCA indoor and outdoor pools and once we've done that summer can be over. We've been to quite a few and here's the verdict so far:
Andover YMCA (our regular one): Lots to do, lots of space (doesn't feel crowded very easily), Ruby is too short for the water slide.
North YMCA: Wave pool! Aleks doesn't like this one as much, and I get it. The pool is kind of small and as soon as the waves start, it gets stressful. But the girls love it.
East YMCA: No outdoor pool, but there is an indoor water slide that Ruby is tall enough to use.
South YMCA: Rock wall and diving board, the girls loved it, but Aleks and I had a hard time enjoying the experience. To be fair the day we went was really hot and I think everyone who lives on the south side of Wichita was at the pool. It was extremely crowded, which made it hard to do much of anything other than stand in one place and bob up and down.
Norhtwest YMCA: Maia loved it, Ruby didn't. It was basically the equivalent to the Andover Y. Ruby was feeling particularly frustrated that day because she wasn't tall enough to do any of the slides or the lily pad.
There are 2 YMCAs left to visit: Downtown and West.
With all the sun, my girls are turing into little brown bears. Maia is getting the cutest freckles on her nose and cheeks. They begged and begged for swimsuits that show off their belly buttons and I finally gave in. I can't help but look at my girls and think how beautiful they are with their long, lean, tanned limbs looking so grownup, yet still tiny compared to all the teenagers rough housing and sunning themselves. While its still a process, I long ago decided to stop feeling self conscious about my body in a bathing suit because the immense pleasure I get from swimming is infinitely more important than caring about what other people think of how I look. Ironically, the girls are now completely sufficient in the water and don't need me to tag alongside them. I think I'll still get in the pool. It's where all the fun happens!
It took quite a while for us (and me in particular) to decompress from the school year. Right away many new and exciting opportunities came my way, barely allowing me to catch my breath before diving into the next thing. I'd say that I had quite a bit of anxiety and stress during the first part of this month and felt like I wasn't getting anything done.
Just recently I've set my alarm to go off an hour before my family wakes up. The night before I grind my coffee beans so that I can have a hot cup as I sit down to my computer. I'm finding that I'm significantly less stressed and feel quite productive by the time mid-morning rolls around. I am more tired throughout the day, but I'd rather be tired than stressed.
I've been working a lot since the semester ended and haven't had a break. Which has made me so very excited for the vacation that our family is about to take! Several months ago we made a conscious decision to take the entire month of July off: no work for me, no piano, dance, or gymnastics lessons for the girls. We're going to take an epic trip to the west coast and wind our way back home through Utah. The girls are finally at an age that will make traveling less exhausting and I'm anticipating that we are going to be able to make a lot of wonderful memories. It will be so refreshing to leave Kansas for a bit see the ocean and mountains.
6 more days!
