The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My second installment of my blog (long overdue!) and I am saying goodbye again! I am not all that thrilled with goodbyes, who is? Change, I guess, is never easy, right?

I have always loved the fall. I waited with anticipation for the season to creep in. The crisp air, the changing leaves. The colors could stop me in the road and I would gladly breathe it in. The football, the birthday (mine), soccer games and Halloween. Ahhh, fall is like nothing else and has always captivated my soul. But now as my old friend autumn is slowly approaching I find my usual longing absent. My heart has been stolen ... I have fallen head over heals with summer. The season of summer was always a close second to my fall fascination but for some reason or many reasons or simply just one this year I have fallen in love with the summer.

I must disclose that I am fairly spoiled and my summers, to say the least are pretty cushy. I have the reward of being able to spend my summers in a lap of luxury. There are most likely some laps more luxurious than the one I find myself in during these lazy, hazy days but for me it is just fine. I have the luck of the Irish on my side in the way of my parent’s pool just a couple miles away. I get to while away the hours poolside. My favorite place for a humongous sandwich is just feet away and a stocked fridge and cold water at the ready, my every wish granted. The other joy of being at my parent’s pool is the grandparent factor. My kids love to be there and my parents enjoy having us, win win. The kids can easily entertain themselves in a big pool to splash around but playing with Tud (grandpa) or chatting with Branny (grandma) makes the days that much more full of fun and the famous summer refrain pleading boredom is never heard.

This summer we also have the impending arrival of a new addition to our family. Being pregnant during the summer is typically a fate wished only on your worst enemy or skinniest friend but I entered this summer five months into my gestation and feeling fine. This summer started out atypical, very rainy and then unbelievably comfortable, breezy days and no humidity. Perfect weather for my raging hormones and burgeoning belly. And there is definitely something I was fond of in this state of baby housing and that is sleep. The ability to sleep in or take a midday siesta while pregnant is a true gift from Mother Nature, so maybe being pregnant in the summer isn't so bad. Think of it, besides the sleeping I could eat ice cream or ice pops at will. And this summer I was particularly fond of that juicy summer gourd the watermelon. I think I consumed half a farm acre of the pink summer fruit again at any and all hours of the day, I ate watermelon until I was sick or it was gone, which every came first! Gluttonous but healthy! And as my belly grew bigger we felt the baby move, planned for her arrival and discussed what to call her ad nauseum (and still up for debate!)

No summer is complete without a trip to the Jersey shore! A weekend away in Ocean City, New Jersey where the living is easy and the pizza is to die for! Roller coasters and waves were conquered by the kids till there was little energy left to spare. And I refer again to eating because being pregnant summer and eating is a perfect match, when else do you eat funnel cake for breakfast and then again for an afternoon snack. Sinful I suppose, but that is what summer is, a time to give into innocent temptations that we ordinarily avoid for various reasons.

What’s not to love? Fireworks, fireflies, the smell of Water Babies or freshly cut grass, the feel of sand, the sound of waves or splashing pool water, sleeping in, staying up late all good and abundantly enjoyed during the lovely summer months. But that is not what really pulled me in and made me fall so hard. The part of summer that cast a spell on me was time with my kids. Pure and simple. No friends play dates, camp or activities to detract from just being together.

This summer my kids spent a good deal of time on one of my greatest joys of the season, reading. They read and read, by sunlight and night light and I could see the joy in their eyes each time they logged another book on the list, they were really hooked and I relished in it, knowing how lucky I was, so many other kids don’t pick up a book unless they are forced. I also read and read some of their books. We talked about characters and commented on ideas, it was such a wonderful new horizon that we shared within the pages of books, where all worthy adventures are alive.

The kids also spent time playing video games, a lot of time, I rationalize it the same as the food consumption, just what you do in this free wheeling season of no holds barred. I am not a video game fan but this is a time when they are playing together and having fun, no fights, no problems. But the Wii was not the only time spent together, the kids made rock bands (The Evil Penz) and eraser villages, string bracelets, diving board competitions (judging was stiff) and manhunt marathons with cousins. They mastered flips off the board, swimming with no tube and tye dying, as well as attended rock concerts and trendy burger joints. We watched the Yankees and the War Eagles (my oldest’s softball team). Trips to the library and the basketball court sprinkled in the weeks.

And all through these moments I was falling. Falling hard for this time of nothing, this time of blue skies that were endless and night sounds of crickets beyond our imagining. I fell in the midst of the laughter and the ice cream. Laughter that flowed so freely throughout the house (as did the ice cream). Smiles, so many smiles that just naturally filled the faces of my children. These smiles that I know will look slightly different next summer. The oldest’s smile, bright and gorgeous, nearly perfect. The middle child’s smile, as large as the sun and completely contagious and the boy’s, the youngest, his smile is pure and sweet and full of mischief and charm. Each one ignites their eyes and melts my heart. These smiles that I have seen change from the very first one. Smiles that these children give like flowers give pollen.

But it wasn’t just simply the smiles or the laughter that captivated me it was the abundance and the ease with which it all flowed. I was engulphed in this world my husband and I created, this family. This tiny community that for better or worse would always be together. There was comfort. The comfort of just being together and liking each other. Of course there were plenty of moments that I had to play referee between the three powerful personalities but for the most part I witnessed this summer, as I do throughout the year, the beauty of sibling love, family love and felt the purest joy just being amidst it. Summer is a gift, a time when we can do nothing and just be and for those of us that have such treasures to cherish that time is priceless.

So it is Labor Day. The backpacks are filled with fresh new school supplies, waiting by the front door. Uniforms pressed and shiny shoes ready to be scuffed. And here I sit scarfing down what could be my last binge of watermelon with my feet up because they are swollen beyond recognition awaiting this newest family member. With tears in my eyes and anticipation in my heart. Ready (sort of) to send my smiles out into the world and to meet the newest smile to join our clan. And of course ready for Mother Nature to do her work and bring us around again, in time to another glorious summer.