We are back from a fun trip to the Smokies where we hiked in mountains and waded in creeks and saw BEARS.  LOTS AND LOTS OF BEARS.  Not in a habitat.  Not in a zoo.  Not even on the side of the road.  We saw bears scaling our neighbor’s porch.  We made a mad dash back into the minivan as a rather large black bear sauntered through our yard and down our driveway, stopping briefly to look at Sara through the car windows.  But more on our Tennessee adventures later.  Like after I’ve unpacked…so…next year sometime.

The Summer of Fun!!! commencement butted up against the vacation so closely that as one ended, I moved straight into a 12 hour countdown.  That is to say, I haven’t had time to breath, let alone reflect upon what I’ve learned from having a 3rd child for 9 weeks.  I will say this: I’d do it again in a heartbeat, and I’m not sure I would change a thing.  For my Sophomore Year as a Stay at Home, I think the summer turned out pretty sweet.

The summer’s theme was rooted in “creativity” in general terms, so our last day was exactly as I had planned.  Imagine that.  We took our newly sewn pencil bags and sketch books to the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA).  The grounds are beautiful; we took a picnic blanket and some cupcakes to start our afternoon.  After meandering through the grounds, we headed into the museum, where Sara and Avery turned into extraordinarily well-behaved children (Kelly stayed home with Daddy to take a long and much needed nap…we spent the morning at the pool and sprinkler park, putting the Kelly Tank on “E”).  I’ve never had parents look at me with admiration.  No, don’t argue…they don’t.  I do not have, nor do I harbor hopes of ever having, tame child creatures.  4 days prior to the now-famous “quiet trip through the IMA”, Sara and Avery disassembled the entire prize display at the Central Library while trading in their summer reading points.  DESTROYED IT, over a fight for the sour gummy lizard.  Of which there were SEVERAL available, and I couldn’t get it in their heads that THE ONE was simply a display.  A display in tatters as a line of MUCH BETTER Mothers shook their heads in disgust at my 3 somewhat disheveled and wild girls.  But I digress.  While in the museum, the girls were so well behaved, I’m thinking there might have been sedatives in the cupcakes. They were tranquil, introspective, respectful, contemplative, and downright adorable.

Sara and Avery seemed to really enjoy the IMA.  They wandered through the European Gallery, stopping here and there to draw pictures.  Sara loved a painting by Pissarro that was believed to be of his brother George.  Avery fell in love with a still life by Renoir.  They both loved the vase collection.  We finished our tour in the Textiles Gallery which held an exhibit of dresses.  Avery proclaimed to “LOVE THEM ALL, EVERY SINGLE ONE”, while Sara stood transfixed in front of a pink dress with a deep pink flower print.  When I asked her why she loved the pink dress so much, she very loudly declared (so loudly that the entire gallery heard her and the guard nearly peed her pants with laughter), “It looks like a dress VANNA WHITE WOULD WEAR!!!“

On our way out, they both quizzed me on why they took pencils into the museum.  Why not paint?  After all, they prefer paint to pencils.  I explained to them that paint is very messy and not allowed in the museum.  Avery, a very quick and erudite child, quietly asked, “But I don’t understand…there were paintings all over the museum.  Weren’t they made with….PAINT?”  Explaining to them that the paintings were actually made elsewhere, and long, long ago, they were happy to proclaim that SOMEDAY, their paintings would also hang in the museum.  After all, their paintings are the best in the entire world.  I agree Ducky and Rooster, I agree.

So the Summer of Fun!!! ended on a perfectly delicious note, leaving me with a sweet aftertaste and a memory so grand, I wish to do it again.  Thank Heavens I have a few months to rest up and plan for The Summer of Theater!!!.  It might just take me that long to talk my sister into commuting again.  Before I get too excited thinking about rest, Greg has informed me that if I don’t get Gifts Galore into the End Zone, he’s going to take away my fabric, crafting projects, and JoAnn coupons.  OH…MY……..them’s some fightin’ words coming from a man who just drilled a large and uneven hole into my only porch pillar…because apparently driving over to the Wal-Mart to replace our warped flag holder was just too much work…we’ll just stick our flag in this lovely HOLE right here in the wood.  I guess Greg’s tryin’ on his Hoosier again.  My cute city boy and his very destructive drill…if my sewing machine goes missing, I can tell you where you’ll find that drill…