Celebrating Summer

"Mommy, can you stay home again today?" my five year old asked me yesterday morning as I was making his snack for school. He was busy colouring in his new Egypt colouring book we bought at the museum gift shop the day before. I was floored. Usually, my big boy blows me a kiss and barely has time to say good-bye to me when I leave for work.

That awful feeling of mommy guilt hit me like a ton of bricks. I ran upstairs to kiss my three year old good-bye. "Mommy, you no work today, right?" he looked up at me with his big, gorgeous, brown eyes.

I gave him the biggest hug I could, and told him I'd see him after work. I promised him I'd print him off a few pictures of Marv and Harry (you know, the bad guys from Home Alone?) because he's obsessed with that movie, and that made him smile.

Tuesday was one of those perfect summer days—I took the day off work and spent it with my boys. We went to the children's museum where we stamped our passports at different destinations around the world, explored Egypt, loaded cargo on the giant ship, and shopped for fresh fish in Greece. We made a few crafts in China, and then enjoyed a nice lunch of pogo sticks, french fries, and salad overlooking Parliament Hill. We frequent this museum often, and each time we go, we have a great time.

After the museum, it was time for kindergarten for my big boy, so off to school we went—we were the first to arrive, so the boys got to play outside before school started. After, I went grocery shopping, took a break with my baby boy, played in the backyard, and cleaned the house. I felt like the perfect stay-at-home mom. If only it was like this every day, I thought to myself.

"Don't you wish you could just lay down in the big, fluffy clouds?" I asked my five year old after school, on the drive to my sister's house. "Mommy. You'd fall right through!" he replied to me, "Because clouds are just made up of water particles."

The conversations I have with my boys make me smile all day long. The conversations I hear between my boys, when they don't even know I'm listening, make me smile even more.

We arrived to my sister's, where everyone was meeting to swim the night away and to enjoy a BBQ dinner. I love swimming with my boys—and this year, I'm truly amazed at how awesome they are in the water.

Summer days are filled with so many awesome things. My almost six year old had his first soccer game of the season a few days ago—he was so anxious to get on the field, and the shy guy at the beginning of the season last year was nowhere to be found.

I love everything about summer, even though it's been so busy I barely have time to blog. End of school parties, soccer games, swimming lessons, and evenings at the park and in the pool... I WISH I had the entire summer off to spend with my boys every day. However, I'll be taking off two days a week for two months starting at the end of July. If I could figure out a way to make that a reality year-round, it would be great.

Another reason I love summer? Vacation time! We're going on a road trip to Ogunquit, Maine soon. Over seven hours in the car with my boys should be... interesting. Thankfully GM Canada is hooking us up with an awesome mini-van with built-in DVD players, so that should help pass some of the time, right? Also, frequent stops. For our sanity, and for the children's sanity!

Summer is also all about backyard BBQ's. Very frequent backyard BBQ's. Right? How about some awesome BBQ gear to help you enjoy summer even more that valued at $100? Pretty awesome, huh?

The Celebrate Summer Giveaway (thanks to my friends at Life Made Delicious) includes:

Barbecue Utensil Set
Paper Plates
Colourful Napkins
General Mills goodies from:
Old El Paso
Cheerios (including Chocolate Cheerios!)
Fibre 1
Betty Crocker
Nature Valley

Sorry, this giveaway is only open to Canadian residents. I'll pick a winner randomly on July 7th!

YUMMY! Now you can have an awesome party in your backyard and invite all your friends—no more excuses!

I hope you're all enjoying summer so far. It's the little moments—the laughter in the pool, the walks around the block, the after dinner bike rides and visits to Dairy Queen—that are memories to cherish.