This week begins what I like to think of as Summer’s Final Stretch, the reason being that the kids’ swim season officially ended this past Saturday so they now have no official reason to rise at any particular time.  Until then they were required to be at swim practice every morning at 9:45 so they had to rise by 9:00 at the latest.  Now, they’re sleeping ’til noon, but unfortunately for them this state of affairs will only last two weeks.

Quick aside: I miss the days I could sleep that late.  Bladders over 40 years old don’t allow it.

The kids were with our church’s youth group at mission camp at Laurel Ridge all last week so they missed the week of practices leading up to the league championships which were held Friday night and Saturday morning.  Instead they spent their week painting buildings, manning weed whackers, laying flagstones and doing various and sundry other good deeds.  They returned on Friday afternoon at 1:00 and I treated them to lunch at Cicciones since we didn’t have a whole lot of food in the fridge (more on why later).

After lunch the kids rested up and then we headed over to Clemmons West pool at 4:00 for championship warm ups.  Michael and most of his buddies were alternates in the 15-18 group; we have some real hardcore swimmers at that level so it’s no slight on Michael or his buddies and they’ll get their chances next year.  Erin swam three events and Justin swam five.  Both of them won some ribbons so it was a pretty good night.  After the meet a bunch of us from the team made our way over to Mi Pueblo for a late dinner and we stumbled home about 12:00.

Another quick aside: I should never eat refried beans after 8:00 p.m. Ever.

The younger kids’ (under 10) championship heats are held on Saturday morning and luckily for us none of our kids are in that age group any more so we got to sleep in a little.  That left the end of year party and awards ceremony at the pool on Saturday night.  We got there at 6:00 and I found out that a couple of friends were going to go to the races at Bowman Gray at 7:30 and I got the okay from Celeste to join them.  Sweet reprieve!  Alas, it wasn’t to be.  The awards ran longer than expected and I would have had to leave before our kids’ age groups awards, including championship ribbons, were given out.  I didn’t want to miss it since this is the first year we’ve been able to make the awards banquet and I wanted to see them get theirs. 

So I backed out and didn’t get my chance to experience ladies night at Bowman Gray, which I’ve been informed provides the largest assemblage of tattooed boobs in America, with the possible exception of a Jimmy Swaggart revival. Tragic, I know. Instead, Celeste and I hung out at the pool to help with chaperoning the teenagers who’d been allowed to swim until midnight.  Apparently in years past they’ve had an all-night lock-in which to me is unthinkable punishment for any adult who has to be involved.  Saner heads prevailed this year.

This summer also featured Michael’s first year of football workouts.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday he had morning workouts from 9-12 and they were a beast.  Between swimming and football he’s gotten in the best shape of his life.  This week the coaches are taking vacation and then next week they start regular practices.  Michael will be missing that week (with the coach’s permission) since we’re taking our family vacation, so he’ll have a two week break when all is said and done.  I don’t think he yet realizes that he’s going to be doing some Dad-led workouts so that he doesn’t lose too much ground before he starts practices upon his return.

And of course practices for Erin’s soccer team will begin in earnest when we return (actually they start the week we’re gone) and since I’m also a coach on the team we’ll be pretty much hip deep in soccer related stuff from then until December.  The first tournament is the weekend after we get back so it gets crazy fast.

Thus we’ve reached the swan song for Summer ’08.  Each year the summer seems to pass faster, and each year I feel even more nostalgic for the seemingly never ending summers of my early childhood.  Then I remember that the kids will be back in school soon and the constant requests for chauffeuring services will finally come to an end.  Sweet!

Oh, and as for why we had no food to feed the kids upon their return from camp, let’s just say that Celeste and I didn’t waste our first week ever of having all three kids at camp at the same time.  We dined out every chance we could and we even took the opportunity to hit a wine tasting at Wine Merchants Gourmet on Wednesday night.  This was our first glimpse of the future when the kids will be flying the nest, and while I’m sure we’ll have a terrible time dealing with empty nest syndrome with that time comes I think we’ll also find many ways to enjoy our time as a couple with kids who call us when they’re short on cash.