Can you smell it?

Summer is slowly winding down. My younger son starts back to school on August 29. That's only 32 days from today (753 hours, 18 minutes, 30 seconds and counting...) The other two go back on September 4. The "baby" starts twice-a-week Mom's Day Out on the 13th (I think).

I'm ready.

I've enjoyed our lazy summer. I've loved making a decent breakfast (almost) every morning, and I've celebrated the fact that most days, there was nowhere to go after we finished. We ate slowly, talking to one another and laughing over pancakes or waffles or eggs and toast. My kids are so entertaining. I love starting my day off in their company.

Our "plans" always varied. Sometimes we'd devise a "caventure" (adventure) for the day. Sometimes we made no formal decisions about what we were doing other than we were definitely staying in our PJs until we decided to put our swimsuits on and take a dip. I've put together lots of Legos in the past 2 months. I've colored until I had to buy new crayons. I've raced the kids in the pool until I had to stop and take a breath (or 2. Or 10,045). I've snuggled the kids in their beds at 9:30 pm and 10 am. I've had a great time.

That's what I love about summer. There is a lack of urgentness about ANYTHING. There is an absence of formal plans. There's the sleeping late. There's the warm skin after swimming and drying out before coming inside. There's the cold skin after swimming and coming inside to an AC set to 72 degrees.

Summer is eating cereal for lunch if we want to. It's driving an hour out of our way to go to a great consignment or scrapbooking store we've never before visited. Free hours in the summer mean having lots and lots of special lunches with Daddy, or "parking lot picnics" at Sonic with all the windows down and the sunroof open.

Summer is all about good times.

I'll miss the "looseness" of summer, but I'll be honest. I'm gettin' ready for fall.

I can only handle so many days with no structure. The kids need structure. I need it. They need to be away from one another for several hours at a time.

I NEED TO BE AWAY FROM THEM FOR SEVERAL HOURS AT A TIME.

(I'm sorry. Did I just scream that? Ahem. Please excuse my outburst.)

Fall. I can smell it.

It smells like pencil shavings, brand new jeans, bologna sandwiches and, best of all, sweet freedom.