Update

Tonight was a home swim meet. The girls look so great this year, as always. Today and the past few days have been unbelieveably hot, so I was excited to have a bit of a breeze for the meet tonight, and it wasn't miserable to be there! I took Tye swimming yesterday, and he is swimming on his own for several feet. Tonight I was wishing he was actually ON swim team because he was wearing me out, chasing him all over. He is at one of those ages...I don't think he thinks he is wandering off from me because he is rarely ever very far. When I grab him, he looks at me like...what, I'm right here! He is so independent (maybe even more than the girls, dare I say), and times like these stress me out. He is so comfortable around everyone at the meet that he is perfectly content to just roam around and visit. He wasn't really in trouble, and he wasn't really not listening...so I should be thankful I guess that he was not acting up. Even so, I look forward to the days that I can actually enjoy Rachel and Amberlea swimming, and maybe even help with a meet.

Days like this make me realize how hard it is to be an only parent. There is no tag-teaming, no sending Tye off to run around with Daddy or go fishing with Daddy or play outside with Daddy...I am so thankful that all of my kids are so much fun to be around, and at least when it is just Tye and me, he is very entertaining and makes for great company. This summer, I have found that the only times I haven't been with him have been when I was split between two kids...Rachel playing volleyball in another town while he had t-ball, stuff like that. It is both rewarding and challenging.

I did enjoy a week in Boston with some friends. We went during the 2nd week of June, and although I missed my kids so much, I needed to get away. Boston was great, and of course I loved all the historical stuff. I got to see the ocean for the first time (other than actually flying over the Gulf of Mexico when we were headed to M.D. Anderson). I hope I can go on a cruise someday, way down the road I'm sure. We got fairly cheap airfare and a friend had hotel points built up and graciously shared with us, which made our hotel bill next to nothing. I thought I better not advertise that some Catholic school teachers stayed in Boston at a cheap hotel, but I think it's ok since it wasn't cheap AND sleazy! It was a Double Tree, so we had nice accommodations. We were beat from walking from one end of Boston to the other, and were very thankful to find a harbor ferry to return us from the Freedom Trail. I didn't climb the 294 steps on Bunker Hill, although a few others did. One night we ate lobster at a great place in Plymouth, right on the water....Isaac's if you're ever in the area.

So now I am trying to figure out where to take the kids. I am open for a long several days, or a few days here and there, or even an overnighter. I am 90 miles north of Kansas City, so if anyone out there has great ideas, send them my way. I am thinking of Great Wolf Lodge, just because we have been there and I know the kids would have fun. I haven't been there since Brian thought we should go before he started his treatment in July 2006. We just went spur of the moment, and Tye was young enough that he doesn't remember. I feel like I wouldn't be stressed there, being an only/single parent with my kids the ages they are, and with Tye being able to have a lifejacket. So if you suggest anything, please remember that because I do like to be self-sufficient, and I want to feel like we are safe and that our vacation is manageable. The girls are already going to the Omaha Zoo with their dad later in the fall. I would love to hear your ideas.

Well, Tye just came in with surgical gloves on because he was needing to put neosporin on a bandaid, so I think I better figure out what he needs.