summer dreaming

The coo of woodpigeons reminds me of summer afternoons outside revising, sprawled out on the grass surrounded by books and drinks trying to absorb facts and quotes and details and longing for a time when exams were no longer a part of my life... when I was free to live as I wanted ~ to be adult seemed so magical, so wonderful, so unattainable.... so far away.

In the here and now, revision is over, exams are finished, the first full week of them has been and gone.... we survived - thats the whole family ~ it is a whole family thing.
We reached the weekend exhausted, needing to collapse and recover but instead momentum carried us forwards, and so we start another week flying!
Now we're counting the weeks until the sumer holidays and time to stretch out with a drink listening to the birds again...

before then summer concerts and school trips, activity weeks and swimming galas... Whoever said Summer days were lazy didn't mean these days!
I managed to miss sports day for S because it was called 'house athletics' and not plain old 'Sports day' so it didn't jump out at me and I had rearranged a training day which clashed with it...! The only sports day I have ever missed.
If only people would say what they mean instead of making it sound more than it is.

Hayfever has set in this weekend, which, together with some kind of sumer throat/ear thing which brings back memories from earlier this year, is stretching my patience which I really hate.

Too soon we'll be saying goodbye to junior school completely ~ thats a strange feeling...
a whole era.
Memories, fond memories thankfully...
it is very hard to process that fact - we live through it, experiencing it and then wonder where it has gone and where were we while it was happening? How can I have missed it happening?
How can I become more sponge like, more absorbent?

My life turns inwards when holidays approach - am looking forward to being able to do that this year without having to always be conscious of and attentive to the distractions of holiday makers around the place.

The quest for independence is being felt - mates calling round for bike rides, trips to the beach together without adults around., meeting up in town... the first steps on the road to not needing us around as much.
We work to let them go.... thats what we strive towards.... baby giant steps....
An invitation for S to go away with a friend in the summer. It would be a great adventure - almost famous five like I imagine... but one person has pulled out, so we'll have to wait and see. Enid Blyton may have been great to read but it's nothing to living it for real....

Our Summer is full and full of promise - it stretches ahead of us like a long and unspoilt beach waiting to be explored, waiting for the first footprints to be made, castles to be made, treasure to be discovered, dams and bridges, holes and steps to be made and dug...

adventures to be had...

the sun is out, suncream is on, hats in school bags... and the air is full of anticipation...