School's out...

..and isn't that a relief! When the kids were younger, I dreaded the end of school because it meant I would have no privacy for three months. That's still true, but I'm still really glad school is over. No more homework for three months. I can give up my privacy for that. I think.

I'll just write a short post today because I'm tired. This weekend was the Boulder Creek Festival, downtown, and Teen B and I went to it for a few hours this afternoon. We tried to get Teen A to go with us last night, the idea being that we would get dinner there, but he just wouldn't do it. So I told Teen B we would go today and he could do the two things he really wanted to do: get Kona Ice from the truck (which was going to be at the fair) and walk over to the Rocket Fizz candy store on the Pearl Street Mall so he could get some stuff there. I thought I could live through that. And I did. Barely.

Leaving about 3:30 pm, we took the bus to Broadway & Canyon, since he has a bus pass and parking would be dreadful. The last time we went to this -- in, hmm, 2018? 2017? -- the Kona Ice truck was near the Teahouse, so we headed over there, along with 50 million other people. But we couldn't find it. I did see a stand selling "Giant Turkey Legs" and people standing around happily eating giant turkey legs, but that wasn't what we wanted. So we decided to try over by the library.

The last time we went to this, the library parking lot was full of rides, but this time it just had food trucks and booths selling stuff. Maybe there weren't any rides this year, except the bounce houses for little kids. However, we did find the Kona Ice truck, so I bought Teen B an ice (for $8) and we found a bench near the library to sit on while he ate it. Then he was sticky, so we went inside the library to wash up. The old restrooms have been converted into a gender neutral restroom with a guard posted just outside (to observe and intervene if anyone tries to smoke meth).

We were both pretty trashed at this point (it was hot), but I agreed to walk over to Pearl Street so he could go to Rocket Fizz. I was wearing a dress, a black summer sweater, and sandals, and I suppose if I had been wearing pants, sneakers, and a hat, I might have lasted longer. As it was, I kept thinking I was going to keel over from exhaustion. I'm sure I got dehydrated.

Teen B kept saying to me, "Who are all these people? Do they live in Boulder? Where do they come from?" and I tried to explain that the Creekfest and Pearl Street in general are "destinations," that people might come here from all over the Denver metropolitan area (and beyond) as a way to celebrate Memorial Day weekend. He just shook his head. (That's his tie-dyed sleeve in the photo, by the way.)

He chose a bottle of butterscotch soda and some candy at Rocket Fizz and then we headed back to Broadway to wait for a bus. We only had to wait about 10 minutes and then had the blessed ride home. And when we made it back inside our house (at about 6 pm) I announced that I was NOT making dinner tonight, so DON'T ask me what we're having. I'm so tired, so thirsty. Looking forward to bedtime.

It's been that kind of a weekend, starting with Friday. But tomorrow is Monday, and even though it's Memorial Day, I plan to get right back on schedule. I've been going to bed too late and getting up too late, the last few days, and that must stop. I want to aim for lights out by midnight and getting up around 8 am. That would be a good summer schedule. We must begin as we plan to go on. 

Teen A did yardwork with me on Friday, per my schedule, including dragging a million leaf bags out to be picked up by the compost truck, and then we mowed the lawn on Saturday, so he earned $10 for the two days, which pleased him greatly. Oh, and on Saturday afternoon we went to McGuckin's and bought him some good gloves like mine (and some for Teen B, if he decides to help), as well as a new pair of clippers for me and a new saw for him and a beautiful new indoor/outdoor broom. So we're all set to continue our yardwork odyssey, starting tomorrow. I don't know if he'll want to work every weekday, but he does like money, so we'll see.

I made a new daily schedule for summer, putting yardwork first, and then cleaning, both in the morning. The afternoon can be for files, writing, and reading, because it's hotter then, and I get lazier as the day goes on.

A few days ago, I was looking at my old Ridgecrest blog, to try to help me remember something. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I found an adorable post from summer 2012 in which the twins had assembled a train track and then put it to bed for a nap. I often think that my Ridgecrest blog was much funnier than this blog, but I had such good material back then! Nowadays the twins do not put train tracks to sleep, they play video games and fix themselves ramen in the microwave. It's just not the same.

But I'm glad they're growing up and I'm especially glad that they've finished 9th grade. Only three more years of high school to go. We can do this.