First Week of Summer Vacation

And, so far, only one call to Poison Control. Here's the scene:

AJ rushes into the kitchen with a handful of mushrooms and says, "Mom, you'll never have to buy mushrooms again! They're growing in the yard!"
Me: "Yes, but do you know the rule about mushrooms you find outside?"
Sister pops one in her mouth.
Me: "DON'T EAT THAT!"
Sister dissolves into a puddle of tears.
I call Poison Control.

In the top photo to the right, you will see the photo I sent (as requested by Poison Control) to verify the species of offending mushroom. Luckily, it is not a very harmful variety.

In the bottom photo to the right, you will see me with The Bean and Sister (AJ was the photographer) in a happier moment.

So! I have been busy this week, but very happy, too. It has been so nice to wake up slowly in the morning and not have to rush around getting anyone ready to go anywhere. This morning, Sister woke up and ate a few bites of breakfast, then went back to bed for an hour. Yesterday, The Bean woke up and stayed in bed reading until 8 o'clock. We have spent lots of time outside. And during inclement weather, we've been inside jamming to The Beach Boys. I am hoping my kids will have the magical kind of summer I remember from my childhood: the kind that feels golden and endless, with hours and hours spent doing Nothing, in the style of Christopher Robin:

"... what I like doing best is Nothing," said Christopher Robin.
"How do you do Nothing?" asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time.
"Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, what are you going to do, Christopher Robin, and you say, Oh, nothing, and then you go and do it."

(From Chapter 10 of The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, In Which Christopher Robin and Pooh Come to an Enchanted Place, and We Leave Them There)

I wish you a summer chock-full of Nothing with the people you love best.