Summer - What did we do?

The other day someone asked the girls how our summer was and before they could answer, she asked "did you miniature golf or go to Great America or a waterpark". The answer is no, we hadn't done any of those things. I stood there defending in my mind that we did have a fun summer....right? It got me wondering, "what did we do this summer?".

I have a theory about summer. It needs just that perfect balance between active and quiet. It's not easy b/c you also have to throw in some necessary items....like work. And then there are classes - like swimming and keeping up with piano and keeping pace with ballet. Seeing family and old friends. Napping, resting, tanning. Biking, climbing, rollerblading. There are shows to see and music to go hear. There's the city, the county, the beach..... One can see how the balancing act can be tricky.

So I started thinking about the summer of 2011. Some memories came to me right away but to be honest, I couldn't remember a thing about June. What happened in June?
Oh yea - June. Summer started with Lily going to theater camp for almost 2 weeks and me working a lot during that time. Then near the end of the month, we had a little tornado in Mt. Prospect. Wowsy - trees down and such a mess and we had no power for 3 days. Then off we went to camp at the Indiana State Dunes Park. Glorious. AND we had electricity at our site which was more than we were having at home. We will never camp anywhere else again. I was proud to be a Hoosier.

July - What can we really say about July? It started with our annual July 3rd party. We turned right around to host a Mexican dinner with friends. The kids and I headed to Wisconsin to visit friends. We returned to have friends from Louisville visit for a night. We had a week of golf and pool time and then a night of non stop storms and no power. Our beautiful basement flooded. From that point to this very moment, I would say that the summer of 2011 will be marked by that flood and the continual loss of electricity we are still experiencing. BUT let's not forget some really fabulous things happened in July too!
A dear friend's wedding.
A surprise 40th birthday party for a great friend and best night of the summer.
Peter learned to ride a 2 wheeler.
Peter learned to buckle himself in the car seat (with the bribe of 2 packs of gum after 2 continuous days of buckling).
Peter learned he loves golf.
The girls had sleepovers (this is one of those line items that were fabulous for them but painful for me)
We learned card games, went swimming, had play dates, saw The Music Man, and ate a ton of ice cream.

August - still in the works but it's been pretty darn perfect. Friends from Ohio visited, Cubs game, more parties, more food, more beer and band camp. Now next week we head to Door County for one last hoorah.

We haven't played mini golf. I doubt we will make it to a water park and I know we won't be going to Great America. I do feel a little guilt about the mini golf thing....add that to the list of things to do in Door County!! I guess I am one satisfied summer customer who set out to strike a balance and might just have accomplished it!