What'd we do this summer?

You really want to know? Well, we...

Played on the big field at the End of Year Celebration:

Built some stuff downstairs:

Made and ate lots of yummy food like focaccia:

And veggie lasagna (okay, only I ate this):

Enjoyed the sights during a visit from Grammy and Pops:

Went to Boise and neglected to take any pictures...

Toasted marshmallows in the backyard on my birthday present:

Got all mossy:

Dried some fruits & veggies with our new dehydrator:

Visited with Nana:

Hung out with the cousins at Silverwood, again neglecting to take many pictures, just a couple:

And then went back to school. (The day got better :-)


Plus more cooking, a little knitting, a little quilting, lots of driving, many camps, and a whole bunch 'o work somewhere in there.

Lunches and gear

Max had "Space Explorers" camp at school this week - trying out the full day schedule. We were supposed to also try out extended day at school, but there weren't enough sign-ups and it got cancelled. So, I got to pretend I worked part time and picked him up on Mon,Tue,Thur,Fri, and Colin did the same on Weds.

I ordered Max some Clone Wars gear for next year and we tried that out too. Backpack & lunchbox were a hit (crazy glasses optional):

For lunches, I did the bento approach again. I packed a ton of food everyday, since both Max and I were worried that he'd go hungry (he had quite an appetite Mon & Tues, trailing off at the end of the week). I always see these bento lunches for preschoolers that fit into one of the single layer boxes and think "no way, that's not enough!" - perhaps that's why we're so amply proportioned in my house. Or perhaps they're not for 6 year olds - probably both :-).

Monday

• Carrot/zucchini/apple muffin, canned mandarin oranges (single layer blue box)
• Wheat thins, cherries, and cream cheese (thumbs down on that from Max) (top of double layer blue box)
• Turkey octo-dogs, ketchup, carrots and zucchini (thumbs down on the veg) (bottom of double layer blue box)
• Fritos (in the goldfish)
  

Tuesday

• Cherries and Ritz crackers
• Bologna rollups (on toothpicks), mini-Bel cheese, frozen peas, carrots
• More muffin, with peaches
• Apple slices with caramel dip
• more Fritos in the fish (these became his "on the way home" snack all week)
  

Wednesday

• Apples & dip
• Muffin & cantaloupe
• Wheat thins & bologna rollups
• Crackers, baby-Bel, chicken salad, and green beans with edamame (saved this layer for home, then didn't eat - thumbs down, I guess)

Thursday

• Muffin & peaches
• Cantaloupe
• Chicken pot pie insides, biscuits (leftovers from dinner the night before)
  And he got to bring along his space shuttle utensils in a re-usable snack bag I got on Etsy.
  
  

Friday

• Ritz crackers, raspberries (from the Bellevue Farmer's Market trip on Thursday), cantaloupe
• More octodogs & ketchup, carrots & zucchini (snubbed again)
• Mini scones with jam, Wheat Thins, Laughing Cow cheese wedge, blueberries (from the Farmer's Market too).

And after Thursday's trip to the Farmer's Market, we had a few too many plums and I had a hankering to try out a plum cake recipe. Found one on the KCTS9 site that looked yummy, and it certainly was. Piping hot out of the oven:

Sweet, yummy goodness. Max and I enjoyed it. Colin had a bit of the cake part, but was not interested in the cooked fruit (as ever). Day 2, cooled off, Max agreed with Colin that the fruit part was "blechechechyuck". I thought it was fine, but then I like squishy foods.

P.S. I've been obsessively re-reading all of the Harry Potter books, and Colin just started in on them behind me. He amusedly read me a line from "Chamber of Secrets" where Mrs. Weasley sends Harry a Christmas package with a hand-knitted sweater and "plum cakes". So that's where the need for plum cake came from. Hmm.

Volunteering - too much or just enough?

This year I've been serving as a room representative for Max's class on the Parent Action Committee for school (like the PTA). About 5 meetings over the year, mid-morning, plus coordinating lots of stuff for the class (auction project, Art Festival booth, signups for random stuff), and "generating excitement for events". It's been fun, and I'm glad it's not for an older class where I'd also have to deal with coordinating carpools for swim classes and field trips. Phew!

Next year, however, I'm biting off a bit more. Let's hope I can chew it. I'm going to be the PAC Secretary, which means taking notes for the monthly meetings with the PAC and the Room Rep meetings, plus other tasks. So, probably quite a bit more work. As one nominating committee member noted, however, it's a great free pass on other volunteering at the school. Gee, sorry, wish I could help, but I'm on the PAC. AKA - the auction project won't be on me next year! ;-)

Mom thinks I'm crazy to sign up, when the meetings happen during work hours, but hey, work's supportive (and they even match my volunteer hours with cash money for the school), and Colin's on board, so why not.

So, what do you think? Most of you have church stuff, work stuff, kid stuff, school stuff, hobby stuff - how much is just enough for you?