How I Spent My Summer Vacation

     For most of us, at some point in our life, we had a teacher ask us to write an essay on what we did over the summer when we got back to school.  (Side note: for some reason, essays are called "themes" now.  Why this had to change is a mystery to me.)  Well, I thought since the first week of school is behind me, I would write my essay about how I spent my summer.  Hope I get a good grade... :)

     We started off the summer with a couple of daunting tasks that we wanted to get accomplished before school started back again.  These included adding more light fixtures to the main Learning Center, and also painting the offices.  I thought the lights would be complicated, and that the paint would be the easy part.  Was I ever wrong...
 
     Let's just say that painting over old oil-based paint is more daunting than you would expect.  I was happily painting away and thought I was making good progress until I picked up one of the dry pieces and realized that the new paint was basically just sitting on top of the old paint...it wasn't sticking to the pieces at all.  This was cause for some alarm for me, because I know what happens when you put a kid in front of chipped paint.  It's like a magnet for picking fingers.  Well, we did a little research (probably should have done it first, but come on, it's painting, how hard can it be?) and found out that the type of paint used to paint the offices originally was oil based paint specifically meant to repel dirt, damage, and other things.  This would seem to include any new coats of paint that you may want to apply.  We finally found that if we used soap, water, and a ScotchBrite sponge before we tried to paint, then the new coat would adhere better.  So, after we made this discovery things went much more smoothly.

    It was out goal to get most of those two jobs done before we took our family vacation.  We were able to do that, and so we headed out of town for a week to do a few fun things together as a family.  We like to use our fun times to also learn things, so our trip itinerary included a trip to Stone Mountain, Georgia and the Atlanta Aquarium and a visit to some family as well.

Stone Mt.

The boys at the top of the mountain. 

     For those of you unfamiliar with it, Stone Mountain is just outside Atlanta, Georgia.  It is composed of granite, and has a large picture of three Confederate leaders carved into its side.  It was very interesting to learn how they made the carving, and also for the boys to learn about the War Between the States, and the history of the area.  The boys, their aunt, and I rode the sky bucket to the top of the mountain, and then hiked back down.  It was an impressive view, and it was especially interesting to watch as a thunderstorm rolled in from the distance.

     The kids like the aquarium the most.  All of our kids really enjoy going and seeing animals, and learning about all the different kinds of creatures God put on Earth for us to enjoy.  We knew this would be the highlight of their trip, so we planned to spend the whole day there.   Some of their most favorite things to see were the penguins (we love us some penguins in this house!), the whale sharks, and the dolphin show.  It was a long day, but the definitely a fun one!  

Ready for our day at the aquarium!

Whale shark swimming overhead.

Fascinated.

In the bubble!

PENGUINS!

Our newest penguin fan!

The cutest penguin...

     In addition to seeing these fun places, we also got to visit Daddy's sister in Georgia and brother in Indiana.  First-Born had a big milestone this summer: spending a whole week away from us!  He spent a fun week with his cousins in Indiana.  He fished, played, fished, rowed in the boat, fished, went to the fair, and fished.  He was so excited about the several bass he caught with his cousin.  I think he would have happily spent two weeks!

     Too soon it was back home again, and back to work for Mommy and Daddy!  Lots of paperwork to do, computer programs to learn to use, and school things to get organized.  Let's just say, I didn't know if it would all get done!!  But the Lord is our Help, and with His Help, we were all ready to go on Orientation Night.  We had a great summer, but it was time to get settled back into a routine.

     Thanks for checking back in with us, and I hope you all enjoyed your summer fun too!  I will end this how every student ends their summer vacation essay: "...and that's how I spent my summer vacation."  THE END  :)