winding down

It's true, the tell-tale signs of the end of summer are here. Our beloved beach at the local lake closed for the season at the end of the day yesterday. We weren't there to see it -- it was only about 70 degrees out, certainly not a day that inspires me to go jump in a lake. Besides, we've already begun the frantic push to get our summer projects finished before the intentsity of pre-winter work hits. Fall is a busy time on a farm. So we missed our final opportunity to bask in summer's glory on our favorite patch of sand.

Two sessions of swimming lessons were successful beyond our wildest dreams for J. He became comfortable floating/swimming with a lifevest on. He learned how to use a boogie board/kick board to get around in the water. He even actually put his entire head underwater once. His end-of-lessons report card raved about his progress, and reccommends repeating Level 1 yet again next season, citing needing more practice with floating on his back and going under water. Zoo Boy says he'll do lessons next summer, too, "Because I"ll be 5, and when I am 5, I take swimming lessons." Ok by me, either way. Both boys are swimming independently with life vests on -- that's all I need to be happy.

Zoo Boy will miss the beach the most of all of us. And not just the water and the sand, he loved visiting with the people -- ALL the people. He made his rounds. Watching him on the beach this summer, I couldn't help but start humming Rodney Atkin's "These Are My People". The boy is truly in his element on the lakefront.

But as much as we may try to resist it, the summer is coming to a close. At home, we are rediscovering toys that have stayed forgotten on the shelf all summer. In lieu of an actual set of rally dominos (shhh, he's getting some for his birthday!), J sets up pattern blocks to run his knock-down designs and ideas by. He's discovered that the hexagons and trapezoids are the best choices.

And Zoo Boy continues to work on his pre-reading. His latest favorite activity is to spell out words that he sees and ask what they say. Several times a day I have to set all else aside while he reads through a book's worth of words to me. He's still having trouble with those confusing p, d, b and he's pretty stymied between capitol I and lower case l. But otherwise he's an alphabetic maniac on a mission to spell out every word in the universe.

Meanwhile, I'm putting the final touches on our fall curriculum plans, and am working diligently on getting our physical environment in order. I'm moving furniture, arranging materials we'll be using, packing away things we won't be needing, and sorting through the remainder of our stuff to try to decide whether or not it's worth keeping. Once I'm finally satisfied and the dust settles, I'll post some photos of what I've come up with. In the meantime, it's back to work....