End of Summer

I love summer and we have had some fun. Of course, we kind of have 9 months of summer here, and just a few months of chilly 60's-low 70's...if that. The ocean has been really warm this summer. Lydia still has sand coming out of crevices from our last trip to the beach because she was rolling around in the waves.


We have also done a bit of potty training this summer. If Ryan could go to school naked, we would be good to go. I thought about sending him in a dress without underwear, because that would work, too. As soon as you put underwear on him, he just goes in that. He also has an aversion to going poo poo in the potty (using his lingo). It is really a mess, and probably my least favorite part of parenting. I should be happy I didn't have to clean all of the disgusting cloth diapers of days of yore, but then maybe I'd have been more motivated for this potty training thing. I know many parents like to wait until they are ready, which tends to be somewhere in the 3 1/2 year range, but pre-school starts this month. I also might add that experts say you should not react negatively/strongly to accidents. That is some feat when you have poo spread around the house. I will admit to reacting strongly. Carpet cleaners both professional and out of the bottle are my friends. Poor little Ryan turns 3 in October, and I hope I am not traumatizing him for life by making him face his greatest fear of pooping in the toilet.

So, off of the potty training, we went to see Sound of Music at an outdoor theater called Moonlight. They hire a couple of equity performers per season and cast mostly out of the area. The show was entertaining as a whole. The kids were cute, Von Trapp couldn't move his arms -kind of like a Ken doll, and he did a take to the audience at a point. Elsa and Max were perfectly played. They also added the movie songs in and cut nothing to create a really long show. I was entertained, but my non-theater friend was yawning. The really strange thing about the show was Maria. She seemed to be a very good actress and created a strong and believable character. She sang well...but her character was a goof. She reminded me of a young Granny from Beverly Hillbillies, complete with some high stepping strange dance when she thought she was alone. I kept trying to keep an open mind, thinking it was just a different Maria, but she was just so goofy and you couldn't believe Ken Von Trapp fell in love with her. Anyway, Lydia loved the show, but was especially distressed that Rolf was a turncoat. Alas.