Summer Report 2015

"How I Spent My Summer"

by Valerie Eagan Mangrum

35th Grade

I had a good summer. It went really fast. Here are some highlights.

"Newsies" at TPAC, May 2015. Our school put on a production of this play earlier in the month, so we thought we'd check out the real version at TPAC right after school was out for summer. Turns out, it's pretty annoying. It's always fun to go to the theatre, though.

We enjoyed the pool and had many friends and family over.

Our main TV broke and, while waiting the couple of weeks it took to get the repair done, we reenacted this scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Yes, we have several TVs from which to choose, but we found ourselves in bed most nights, all snuggled up together. No gold wrappers but plenty of  laughs and "scoot over's."

The TV wasn't the only thing to betray us. We also found ourselves without a dishwasher for a couple of weeks. Mommy was heard to say, "it's OK...people lived for centuries without such a convenience" and also, "I'm going to stab the next person who uses a real glass. There are plastic cups on the counter for a reason!"

We played summer ball. And got sports glasses. That we wore this one time. Take a good look as I doubt you'll ever see her wear them again.

We camped in Gatlinburg with friends. This picture was taken from the skylift tram on the way back down to Gatlinburg from Ober Gatlinburg. You can't see it so don't strain but, as we were passing over here, the conductor announced that there was a mama bear and some cubs just under us. That was neat, but I couldn't take my eyes off of this other spectacular sight.

Oh, Father's Day. For a good description of the difference between Mother's Day and Father's Day, watch one of The Middle's episodes on the topic:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1627779/. Never seen The Middle? Stop what you're doing right now and find it on Netflix. The gist:  Father's Day is a day when Dads get to rest, eat, get presents....kind of like Mother's Day without all of the screaming and cleaning.

Calleigh attended several summer camps, including the YMCA's Camp Widjiwagan. This was the last day of camp when parents are invited to come partake in some of the activities alongside their campers.

Calleigh and I were in a wreck on the interstate in downtown Nashville. It wasn't bad and there were no injuries. As if Nashville traffic isn't bad enough, there's always construction and lanes that narrow and merge with little or no warning. This picture was taken from the ending lane where an out-of-towner failed to merge and sideswiped us. I have educated my girl that, when in a wreck, regardless of who's at fault, the first words out of your mouth when you jump out of the car should be, "is everyone OK?" My first words when I got out? "Did you not see that you were supposed to merge back there?! Are you OK?" 

Calleigh and I spotted this in Walmart one day and it brought us joy and giggles throughout the summer.

We had playdates with friends, new and old. This one brought back so many memories of when they were young. Still ravenous. but young.

This is from a visit to Mammoth Cave. Want to make Calleigh laugh? Ask her, "what should you do when you kick someone?"

Mammoth Cave was just one trip. We went on many. Different places, but the same soundtrack:  "how much farther?" "Why do you have so many bags?" "What's that smell?"

This is from Fun Day with our Girl Scout Troop at one of the Girl Scout Camps here in Middle Tennessee. You wouldn't know it from the pretty shadows and dapples of sunshine in this pic, but a few hours later, we drove home in an EF-1 tornado. I learned what it means to "white knuckle it" and fully felt like this:

We practiced for our upcoming soccer season. Oh, not all summer. Just this once.

In preparation for 5th grade and entering Middle School, we attended the much-anticipated "Locker Decoration Day." Two words:  Pure chaos. And glitter.

On the rare occasion that my husband actually listens to me, he took my suggestion that he get a scooter to save on gas mileage to work and ran with it.

I kicked a homeless person out of my house. Not really. It was just my kid who went from one (extremely) regretful day when she asked, "can I sleep on the couch tonight?" and I said, "sure" to a week or so later when I said, "I don't care where you sleep tonight, but it's not in the living room. You have to go." 

There are these silly girls. Not only do dogs sleep in the same direction, but they also have a knack for plopping down right where you're walking, vaccuming, etc.

I went school uniform shopping with a bipolar person. "Get out of here!" "Where are you going? I need you to look at this?" "Don't look!"

A day at the paint your own pottery place + a Christmas orament + the question, "what do you think I should put on it?" My suggestion? "How about our names? Or, maybe a Bible verse?" The end product...the names of our Elf on the Shelf elves. So much for the reason for the season.

My sweet Daddy had cataract surgery. That makes him seem old, but he's not. It was a success by all accounts and measures and, for the first time in his life, at least the years he remembers, he's able to see without glasses. Hooray for the doctors and nurses who made this happen and the God who guided their hands.

Here's what he looks like now...give or take a few years.

We saw some movies. The good? Hmm, maybe Jurassic World? The bad and downright ugly? How long do you have? Tomorrowland, Inside Out, Paper Towns...

A visit to Huntsville to the Space Center was fun and educational. This was educational.

And this was fun. You know those "up/down" rides? They go up, then they fall, then they go up again. Well, this was the Granddaddy of them all. It was crazy high and you FLEW up as though you were strapped to the shuttle itself. Big fun.

One last electronic that failed me this summer was my trusty Macbook Pro. He bit the dust. A new one is on its way, but I've been without my own computer for most of the summer now. And you know what? Except for missing blogging and uploading pictures and occasionally catching up with you fools on Facebook, I didn't really miss it. I read. And spent time outside. And I even enjoyed my family from time to time.

All in all, it was a great summer break.