One thing that caught my eye and made me think about family during this trip was a picture frame I saw in their cottage.  It had two black and white photos, one of Jason and one of his sister Annie.  They were playing on the beach when they were kids, maybe in the 6-8 year old range (guessing).  The frame had a couple phrases on it: “At the cottage” and “The best things in life aren’t free..they’re priceless”.  Just looking at this frame and pictures made me look at the weekend in a different light.  It made me think again of my kids and what kind of experiences I want them to have.  When they are that age, in only a few more years, what pictures will I be taking, where will they be, and what will they be doing?

As always, a HUGE thank you to Jason and Julie and the rest of the Rietdyk family for hosting what I have come to consider a summer tradition.  Wonderful food, a great SUNNY weekend, and some great times.  Another perfect summer weekend.

So back over Memorial Day weekend, a warm almost hot weekend, my brother and sister in law came over to go swimming and have a BBQ with Jen, the kids, and I.  My brother and I were standing in the lake where we have community beach front, playing with my kids, splashing, enjoying the sun and just having a nice conversation.  The conversation quickly went back to our childhood and we commented about how “this is what we grew up with”.  The “this” we were referring to was a hot, summer afternoon, swimming in a lake (vs. a pool), sand in our toes, a frisbee through the air, etc.  It is such a part of the story of our summers that it nearly brought a tear to my eye to know that this will be the story of MY kids life.  The power of that was pretty significant and set the tone for much of my view on this summer.  He did note that all we needed was sour cream Pringles…another summer staple for us on beach trips as kids.  That was fixed pretty fast.

The next few big events of the summer were the birthday parties we had for our two boys.  One in May for Gabriel’s birthday and one in June for Caleb’s birthday.  These were significant not just because we were celebrating our children’s birth, but the amount of family and friends we had over.  I’ll be the first to admit, we have a number of friends I would consider family in a heartbeat.  I’m a softy like that I guess.  I just think it’s that sense of community, of friendship, of family that we all feel that binds us together.

For Gabriel’s party in May, I barbecued a pile of hot dogs and had the usual fixings that go with that.  I always have fun bbq’ing and it was yet again a nice day where kids were playing in the back yard, family was conversing, and I was cooking.  It was, to me, a day to bottle and save for times you felt bad or the weather was less than stellar.  The day went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Caleb’s party was another similar day; beautiful weather, lots of family and friends over, and more good food.  We decided to try something new for his party and had a taco bar for everyone to partake in.  Again, it seemed like the food was a hit, kids had a blast, and the adults enjoyed catching up.  This day was particularly warm and as we wrapped up the “formal” party duties (gifts, cake, ice cream, etc.) it was BEACH TIME!  Some people hadn’t seen the beach yet and for others it was a chance to relax and cool off.  I think at least 15 people from the party between kids and adults headed down there.  Many of us went swimming and others just enjoyed a summer evening next to the water.  After some summer fun, we capped it off with some popsicles back at the house and shuffled the kids to bed or back home for some of our guests.  A great day of fun had by all.

It’s these moments that can define a summer, a period of ones life, and make some amazing memories.  Many happy memories of family and deep friendship revolve around summer fun on the water, at a beach, or around good food.  I am so blessed to have these people in my life and to know that my children will grow up building those same memories of family, friends, food, summer heat, and cooling off at the lake like I did.  I figure, it was good for me and my family growing up, why not make sure it’s in my children’s life?  That is summer so far…what more is in store?

We went for a fairly traditional walk after dinner.  This involved a tricycle ride for Gabe and a ride in the wagon for Caleb.  We saw many of our neighbors out as it was just a fantastic evening.  The kids and I made our way to the playground and enjoyed a fun evening of swinging, see-saw, and slides.  We even made some new friends at the playground!  From there, it was a bit of a tearful, screaming trip back home as no one really likes to go in at the end of a summer evening.  :-)

Bath time was splashy and the kids have been enjoying getting a shower while in the tub.  I figure if they enjoy it and it makes getting them clean a little easier, why fight it?  Lots of water all over the place, lots of giggles, and generally happy and now clean kids.

After bath was some joint story time.  It’s becoming routine now for me to read to both kids together as opposed to a book or two for one and then a book or two for the other.  Yes, we’re adding an element of efficiency to story time even!  Following some epic stories of Wall-E and The Hungry Caterpillar, it was some cuddle time and off to dreamland.

Like I said..this was a pretty average summer evening.  That’s just the thing..I have some of the best memories from those typical summer evenings.  My brothers and I would spend countless evenings after dinner outside.  We’d either be playing ball, riding bikes, chasing hot air balloons, or any number of outdoor things.  We’d be filthy, not wanting to come inside, and fighting mom and dad about bed time.  We’d pass out immediately though once we finally closed our eyes.

It’s the fact that I have these memories and cherish them that makes me cherish seeing it in my own kids already at an early age.  As I checked in on them, shortly after laying them down, I just had to smile.  It was a moment of clarity that reminded me there is more good than bad in life.  Sometimes it’s incredibly hard to see, but it’s there.  I hope tonight is just one of many nights that I look back on and smile with warmth in my heart.

Later that day, after the kids had gone down for a nap, Jennifer and I headed out to my grandparents house.  As I’ve posted, my grandparents have both passed away and the family is in the process of distributing any furniture, pictures, and other belongings.  I’ll be the first to say this was a little strange, yet I know, necessary.  The family certainly did it’s fair share of reminiscing and it felt a little weird to be taking different belongings.  I mean, as far as I felt, these items still belonged to my grandparents.  There were a few items I wanted to make sure were going to good homes, mine or otherwise, for sentimental reasons.  For myself, I received the one thing that I valued the most: my grandfather’s American Flag from his funeral.  The time at the house was good and continues the closure on that chapter of life.

The rest of the evening was low-key and much of the evening was spent relaxing.  I enjoyed the increasing breeze from the front deck of my house while reading tech articles.  It was one of those evenings that you knew it was going to storm later.  It certainly is the kind of time to sit, reflect, and get ready for another 365 day trip around the sun until the odometer ticks over one more number.  :-)

I have been finding the discussions, questions, and general comments in these threads to be incredibly inspiring and thought provoking.  It’s a fantastic group of people and a fascinating space where we all know we want to go somewhere “out there” that directly improves student learning.  We want classrooms of students that are energetic and, dare I say, drooling at the mouth to learn.  We as educators, technologists, and visionaries find our way by inspiring others, but also by being inspired.  The one feeling that seems to permeate the entire chat thread is: we LOVE what we do and we are all passionate people.

I posted a question to the thread tonight asking what would a school look like if it was completely comprised of people participating in #edchat and #edtech?  I think it would be a pretty inspiring place for both those who work there and students who learn there.  While we’re at it, would any of us be “working” if we were enjoying every minute of being “there” and engaging in active learning between colleagues and students?  Hmm, I don’t think so.

I think there are places like that out there.  I plan on finding them.

Granny’s Eulogy (PDF)

I have found that with my kids both being sick last week and Christmas today, that I have thought even more about where they are at in their lives.  Caleb, 18 months, has been amazingly snuggly.  I am valuing that more and more these days because I know they are short lived.  It may only be another few months and then cuddling won’t be big on his list.  It’s these times that I find myself desperately clinging to their smallness and getting more excited about their abilities to interact with me as they get older.  I think this is just part of being a dad.

So, thank you to all of our friends and family who shared their homes, good food, and gifts with us.  It has been yet another fantastic Christmas.  I find myself quite thankful, exhausted, and content.  Perfect way to close out Christmas 2010.

Till my next batch of thoughts need an outlet, find a way to make your “ding” in the universe.

Matt