Today was the first official day of summer vacation.  My kids have been out of school for a week, but I just got out yesterday.  In our house, summer vacation doesn’t start until Vacation Mom is in the house.  Of course, there was summer-vacation-celebration-dinner last night.  Then, this morning, I had a big decision to make… buttermilk pancakes or Swedish pancakes?  Swedish pancakes won out.  Phew.  That was a tough decision. After breakfast, it was reading time.  The summer time rule is… no pool, no friends, no park, and no fun until reading and chores are done.

My son is on his way to middle school.  The Five Ancestors series is one that his 6th grade teacher suggested.  He’s very excited about this book, although he’s not excited to actually do the reading.  20 minutes a day is all I ask.

My daughter was part way through the newest Magic Tree House book when the school year ended.  She’s continuing on with this book.  I love this series for first thru third grade kids.  Ok, I love reading them myself too and secretly I want to be Mary Pope Osborne, go to different countries to research new books, and write children’s books for a living.  (Wouldn’t that be awesome?)

Here’s another that I’m excited for my daughter to read.  Her best friend is reading it right now.  She comes over to my house while her mom is at work, so she gets to participate in quiet reading time too.  She and her sister are avid readers and their mom actually has to limit their reading time so they’ll put down their books and play for a while.  Sigh… I wish I had just a small portion of that problem.

Here’s one of my latest picture books that I’ve added to our collection!  I’m saving Farmer’s Market Day for our Friday reading time.  Friday is our local farmer’s market day, so I think my youngest will be pleasantly surprised.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about the biggest decision of the day (even bigger than the pancake decision).
 Indoor pool or outdoor pool?
You know it’s going to be a great day when your two most stressful decisions include pancakes and pools.

 I love summer.

Happy reading!