S-s-s-summer!

It's 10pm, and outside in the darkness there is a royal orchestra of frog musicians tuning up.  That's summer in our new place, with all of this greenery.  Other sure signs of summer are the kids out in the street playing kickball (at this new place we scored a cul-de-sac - yes!), and "pop-a-scles", getting soaked in the hose with Papai, and a lot of watermelon.

Summer is also about teaching Gigi how to recycle.

And of course, the swimming pool at Tutu's house.  She never even minds it when the water is cold.  I especially love when she sports her sunglasses, which is usually a thirteen second thrill.

But summer also brings with it a bit of dread.  Lately Gigi and I have been having fabulous power struggles as she asserts her independence, and sometimes it only takes three hours before we're pretty much done with each other (and I'm only home half time with her!  Imagine how I'm starting to feel about being home full time starting in October when the baby comes...).  But I feel like planning is going to be my best ammunition.  I just have this feeling that Gigi and I will spiral downward into the heat unless I make some goals for the summer that keep us moving forward with our time.  I'm not an over-scheduler, but I'm thinking that planning a regular day to the library, parks and pools, getting a year's pass to the fabulous local museum, and coming up with some fun yet educational activities to do at home might just save us - not really from the summer, but from ourselves.