Summerama

We've had a fairly uneventful week. It literally took a couple of days for me to get back into the swing of things, what with the grocery shopping and with the regaining of energy. After a couple of days, though, we were all ready to being with the summer fun.

Chelsea is here for the summer, and so far, we're all enjoying ourselves. Well, my family is enjoying having her here, but she's a teenager, so I can only guess that she's having a good time. When she comes down for short stints, we always do it up and take her all over the place, but with the plan for her to be here most all summer, I'm having to exercise some discipline and adjust my thought that hanging out together is not enough, when I know realistically that it is. Some of my sweetest memories are times I spent doing nothing with my Aunt Laura or Aunt Ruby. Chelsea's so level-headed and doesn't need constant entertainment. It's me having a hard time shifting my mindset of viewing her as a family member instead of a guest.

So far, we've avoided extravagance and limited ourselves to things that we would already do, like going to the pool and using our season passes at Six Flags. We've done a bit of shopping, played video games, and swapped some novels. I've been teaching her a few things in the kitchen (like how to make guacamole and mashed potatoes) and she'll play Bunko with my group on Monday. We have plans for some weekend road trips, group classes at the gym, and trips to the library, and other than that, we'll just hang out.

It's been sweet to watch Gracie emulate her and love on her -- it's like having a brand new big sister. Bub really couldn't care less about Chelsea being here, but having someone else to entertain Gracie leaves more time for video games and pogo stick bouncing. As for James and I, we always have fun with Chelsea. James keeps telling her she was our kids' age when he met her for the first time and she tolerates his wandering down memory lane. I'm enjoying our great conversations. She is a real blessing, and I just love having her here. I'll be sad when the day comes that she goes home for good.