It's 11:34am on the first day of summer break...

So far we have:

• Taken Kaitybean to sign her up (at the last minute) for summer orchestra, where we managed to get her the same district cello she used during the school year which is a really good thing because she left her rosin and book in the case. Whew!
• Tried to sign up (at the last minute) for swimming lessons, but to no avail. For some reason they didn't have space for four children in four different levels at the same time on the first day of lessons. Who knew? (To my credit, I tried several times over the last few weeks to sign up over the phone, but never got through.)
• Settled for signing up for swimming lessons beginning the first part of July.
• Picked Kaitybean up from summer orchestra.
• Filled the car with gas.
• Sang several VERY LOUD and very silly songs on the way home.
• Made up silly names for each other. My favorites: Billy Cheesestick, Mama Stromboli, Philly Baby, Eshkimo Pete.
• Fought over a couple of random, half-full water bottles in the car.
• Fought over a random beach ball Mashuga found in the car.
• Argued about the correct wording of "Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts"
• Stopped at IFA to price vermiculite, peat moss and compost. (HOLY CRAP, this square foot gardening thing can get expensive. Better pay off over the next few years.)
• Eaten two bowls each of vanilla ice cream with caramel on top.
• Watched about 20 movie trailers on the Apple TV
• Cleaned up spilled ice cream. Twice.

All in all, a pretty good summer morning. Can I just say how incredibly, exhaustingly joyful it is to be the mother of four spirited kiddos.