2006_06_01_archive

Summertime, and the Bloggin' is Easy

Some mark the beginning of summer on Memorial Day Weekend. Strict

followers of the calendar claim that summer is still eight days off.

But yesterday was the last day of school, so today is the first day of

the FitzFacts summer.

The last few weeks of school were an anxious countdown of special

events, field days, and field trips, and more projects than seemed

possible to complete in so short a time span. I swear I spent more

time at my kids' school last month than my parents spent in my entire

family's tenure of Catholic grammar school, and there were eight of

us. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but now that the neverending

festival of picnics, plays, concerts, and parties is past, we have

arrived at childhood nirvana.

So what's on tap for the next 11 glorious weeks, which will fly past

and find us standing at the schoolbus stop with kids in fresh haircuts

and new clothes before we know it? Well, so far, it's looking like a

lot of cartoons and swim team. A family week at the beach lurks in the

near future, and a few weeks at day camp, with the rope swing, the mud

slide, the archery, the arts and crafts and the daily Bible reading

(more on that later, perhaps). Then there is basketball camp,

highlighted by the chance to meet local basketball hero Juan Dixon.

Finally there is the annual Fitzgerald family pilgrimage to the Outer

Banks of North Carolina, an august August tradition of 35 years that

brings more than 20 adults, children and dogs together for five

wonderful days of nostalgic reminisce. Unfortunately, we stay for

seven days. When friends of ours hear about this trip, they always

ask, "Do the children get along?" The kids get along fine, it's the

adults that are at war by the end of the week. Okay, not war, but

there's nothing like the potent combination of sunburn and close

quarters to fray the nerves and eventually summon forth the entombed

demons of every family's cultural history. I wouldn't miss this trip

for anything.

In addition to the scheduled activities, there are museums, monuments,

zoos and amusement parks to be visited. This will be the summer of the