Summer of 2015

For the past two summers the kids have been going to India for their summers. They travel, eat delicious food, travel some more and get pampered by the grandparents.

This summer was different, very different.

Both the girls stayed here with us. My In Laws visited us from India. I took 8 weeks off from work before my new role. Sumit didn’t travel for work.

So all in all, we had one of the most memorable summers.

V, my Chatterbox (7 years) was in Camp for a few weeks. She was really excited about it since she had NEVER been to camp in her whole life.

I think she was disappointed and I don’t blame her, even I felt it was a lot of unstructured time and maybe I can choose better camps for her next year. There were however lots of field trips which she loved, daily swimming which I loved and lots of pick up early, lets stay home, lets gallivant around town which we both enjoyed a lot

S, my little Lady (2 years) was in her school as normal. To take her out for a few weeks didn’t seem right since she is so well adjusted now. She went to a field trip a week in a 'yellow school bus' which was her highlight. We went to parks almost every evening, slept late, woke up later and just generally relaxed.

My In laws, I thinking enjoyed the summer, the heat not so much. They walked a lot, to pick up V from camp, to stroll while the girls enjoyed the park, they got to spend a lot of time with the grand kids which I think is amazing.

 For me, having summer off was the best, I truly relaxed and now feel really rejuvenated. I went for massages, long lunches with girlfriends, evening dates with Sumit, shared a lot of giggles with the girls and accompanied them to as many field trips and activities as possible.

We didn’t travel this summer with a full house, but had a stay cation with Horse rides on Millennium St., evening picnics at Maggie Daley Plaza, Summer Movies at Jay Pritzker, Musical nights at Ravinia, camping with friends, grilling on our newly renovated expanded deck, impromptu dance party with girls, trips to cousins in Indiana, enjoying long swims and splash pad at Crown Fountain!

I think my highlight was the girls sleeping in later and a relaxed start to the mornings.

As I write this and skim over my summer pictures, the one phrase that sticks is: 'A lot of nothingness and A lot of memories'