My family discovered a few things at the cottage this week:
No matter how dark you make the bedroom, children on vacation are always aware of the rising sun, opening their eyes – as if on cue – to greet it.
Some people always pack into the travel cooler just the right amount of food to feed the clan that’s along for the ride, never too much nor too little. Some people don’t.
Children are infinitely more flexible when they’ve had enough sleep. Adults are, too.
If you happen to be playing ladder ball, and you fling your two golf balls on their short rope straight up into the air to see how high you can throw, it’s possible they will get stuck in a tree much higher than any ladder you presently own.
It is possible for 8- and 9-year-old girls to hold their hands up in the air for one hour and eighteen minutes.
Shorts worn three days in a row will not really get up and walk away on their own, despite what your mother may have told you.
Even dogs get heat exhaustion.
Fair-skinned people without hats can get sunburnt on the tops of their heads, in the “part” of their hair where the skin shows through.
Ice cream makes any day a good day.
Horseflies bite.
Scrabble requires equal parts math and spelling.
It is possible to survive four days without a microwave.
Some things are worth paddling through thousands of lilypads to behold.
Pants are useful when climbing trees. So are buckets and ropes.
Everybody’s ice cream tastes better when Mami gets a little “Me-time.” At least, that’s what Mami says.
The Chicago skyline at sunset is shockingly beautiful when you’ve been away for awhile.
What is your family discovering this summer, as you break from the school-year routines?
——–
Image by Maranda Enterprises
Are you the babysitter? 
What we learned just today…
It only takes two weeks to forget 7 + 5 = 12.
And, handstands are so much easier in the pool. Oh how we LOVE the pool.
We’re learning things like that, too!