That's a Wrap

That's a wrap, folks.

On junior year for Will and freshman year for Hallie. On another year of PTO as well as school and district committees for me. On orchestra and choir. On Cavalry and Lads soccer. On dance. 

Throughout the last nine months we've basked in the glow of more than a few glorious moments and milestones...and battled through a handful of painful and frustrating experiences as well. As cliché as it sounds, this school year was an emotional rollercoaster for all of us. And so while I didn't want it to end (because its end marks the beginning of Will's senior year), we need to get off this ride so our stomachs can settle and our brains can stop rattling around in our heads. 

I don't feel quite ready to dig into the twists and turns and loop-de-loops this rollercoaster involved, but a deep dive is coming. 

We kicked off summer with our traditional Starbucks coffee with friends and summer baskets, but because the last day of school was on a Thursday, after that we had to take care of the day's usual work, dance, and soccer commitments. Friday felt a little more like summer - Hallie went swimming with friends, and Will played at graduation (non-senior orchestra members play before, during, and after the ceremony). 

We've traveled quite a bit this year, and we have a few trips planned this summer as well. We're headed to Nashville, Tennessee (Hallie's summer intensive at Nashville Ballet and visiting family and friends) and Tulsa, Oklahoma (Will's disc golf junior world championships and visiting family) for sure, and college tours are on the docket as well. While at home, both kids will continue their athletic and artistic pursuits, try to earn a little money, volunteer their time, and work on their adulting. 😉 (Here are a few links to posts about our past adulting attempts: Adulting 101, Adulting 201, Adulting 301.) We also have plans to sleep in, stay up late, go for night walks (a favorite of mine and Hallie's), eat ice cream for dinner, go swimming, throw water balloons at each other, watch movies, read books, and spend time with friends.

I'm a tangled mess of emotions heading into this - Will's last before turning 18 and graduating high school - summer. I'm trying to get a handle on them though, so I can follow through on my two goals: 1) say "yes" as frequently as possible when Will asks me to do something (even if it's playing disc golf on a 100-degree day*), and 2) not get so caught up in "lasts" that I miss out on the present. 

~

Happy summer, friends. I hope yours is restful, relaxing, rejuvenating, and full of all the fun things.

~

* Day one of summer vacation and I've already failed at this one. Yesterday Monday morning I went for a walk outside and came home feeling barely human because of the oppressive heat and humidity - my shirt was so wet I could almost ring it out. As I walked in the door, Will asked, "wanna disc golf?" In that moment I just couldn't say yes to going back out into the mouth that is Texas right now. Thankfully, Hallie said she wanted to go, and so while I feel badly that I couldn't muster the strength to face our horrible weather a second time in one day, I feel wonderfully about the two of them spending time together.