Halfway Mark

Oh no!  Summer is already halfway over!  How in the heck did that happen?  Being the ever so devoted TYPE A person that I am - I went ahead and filled in plans for the rest of the summer....and then maybe a little bit into the fall...and maybe then again for next spring.....and then before I knew it, my daughter was graduating from high school and it was next summer again. I decided that might be just a bit TOO much planning so I backed up and re-focused just on the rest of this summer.  We have so many things we had wanted to do this summer and I haven't crossed any of them off my list.  So today I started actually writing down what we want to do on the calendar.  I hope that the plans actually stick. Raising puppies often means that plans change.  As in ALL the time.  Raising living breathing loving creatures means being devoted to them and their needs always come first.  We often have plans fall through and not happen. It makes me feel really awful because I know my kids never quite believe something is ACTUALLY going to happen until we are all the way out the door and on the way.  Even then, there is still a hesitancy as to whether the day will go as planned.  It is just the way it is when you devote your lives to doggies and puppies.  Birthday parties don't always happen, vacations sometimes get cancelled, movies have to be restarted or paused indefinitely.  It is our way of life.  My son spent a good 5-6 hours on his birthday working. He didn't even complain. It is just the way it is around here as everyday - even birthdays - are filled with tons of chores to do. Luckily, my son loves the doggies as much as we do so he is just awesome about getting the work done. So - what are some of the fun things we hope to do? Well we REALLY want to go to the zoo for the day.  Our zoo has POLAR BEARS!  It is a brand new exhibit and we all are dying to see them.  It would be the best day EVER if Mr. Yesteryear Acres could come but that would take a miracle.  The zoo is about an hour and a half away from our house. So that is 3 hours of driving time.  You can't go to the zoo and not stay for at LEAST 2 hours - so that would be 5 hours away from home.  We can't stay away that long as the doggies and puppies need to go outside for a bathroom break and 5 hours is WAY too long for a little puppies to be alone so I am sure Mr. Yesteryear Acres will once again draw the short straw. He is a good doggie person.  Other things we want to do are go to the pool for the day, go hiking at a State Park, have a picnic lunch, work on our dock, work on our bedroom, and go to a waterpark. I also want to work on a sewing project with my younger daughter before she goes back to school. We have a couple of awesome ideas and she is anxious to sew. With all our ideas and hopes and dreams for summer plans and fun activities - the one thing that is most important for us to do - is to enjoy each day and each other. That is one plan that never changes or gets cancelled no matter what crops up on our schedule.  We are all grateful to spend our days together and we always make sure that each day is filled with lots of love with a little fun sprinkled in between all that we have to do. Even though we tend to be the busiest family that I know - I wouldn't have it any other way.  We appreciate all that we have and know that with hard work comes great rewards.