Turmoil surrounds me as summer approaches, lots of choices to be made. I know I haven’t shared much lately but, I’ve been busy ok? My main focus has shifted from SAHD to WAHD and It’s tough to keep up with everything. My fledgling little business is getting busier (is that how you spell busy-er?) and all of my free time is spent working on it. I am pretty much a one man show and am teetering at the point of being almost busy enough to need some help but not busy enough to pay that help. So the days are long and the nights are late.

I’m also at a point where my skills need to be improved, and I need to be faster, in order to take on more work and be able to turn projects over quicker. So I thought, what about school? Should I slow things down a bit business wise, ramp thing up on the learning side, and come out way ahead in a couple of years? In theory it makes great sense, in reality it’s not so easy. Remember: 2 kids (1 not in school yet), Dog, Mortgage…… It turns out SugarMomma’s salary puts us in the “middle-income” bracket which translates to “Ha, ha, ha,…..no we won’t give you any money for school!” Next reality, the program I want to take is only offered at the campus that is an hour away, not the one that is 20 mins away. So I would have to rent a room over there Mon-Fri and come home on weekends. Remember the 2 kids, dog, house…. not to mention the fact that school is in the winter so add snowblowing into that equation. Talk about reality gut check.

But this blog is supposed to be about the kids right? We just got back from visiting for the better part of a week in Calgary where we moved from a year and a half ago. It was exhausting. I have not been more than an hour away from here since we moved so it was interesting to be in a big city again. I have to say, I don’t miss it. I’m very glad we moved out into the sticks. I woke up this morning to the sound of birds, not traffic, and to the smell of fresh mountain air, not smog. I love the fact that the wealthy people around here drive Subarus and really nice pickup trucks, and not Bentleys and Benzes. I love the fact that at the end of the school day, the principal will get on the P.A. system to tell the kids to be careful going home because there were bears spotted in the alley behind the Post Office.

The kids had a great time visiting and playing with some friends and family. It was fun to go to the Zoo and see some new exhibits and animals, although sometimes we get wild animals in our front yard, so the bears were not such a big deal. It has been raining for most of the spring here and SugarMomma has been trying to get her garden planted before it’s too late. We have had partial days of sun here and there but rarely when she is at home. A couple of weeks ago there was a break in the rain after dinner and it dried up enough to spend a little time and get some seeds in the ground. 20 mins after getting the seeds in the ground 2 medium-sized bears decide to use here garden as a thoroughfare, tramping on all the work she just finished, true story. Bears are so rude.

Summer’s almost here and that means trying to figure out what to do with the ShortThings for two months. SugarMomma is taking the ‘things back east to visit with her folks for two weeks in August while I stay back and Dog-sit. ThingOne’s best friend from Calgary is coming for a week prior to the trip back East so that takes up the middle of the summer. I just have to figure out how to keep them busy for a couple of weeks at the beginning, and a couple of weeks at the end,… without spending any money.

Any suggestions? What are the top 10 free things to do with your kids in the summertime that won’t kill you, and will keep them happy?

I’ll try to share a little more often because online visits are good too.

Cheers,

BBD