Summer 2011 - Summer Camp

I was shocked to see the date this morning - how can it be the end of August? Where did the summer go? I had so many plans for this summer and not many of them have happened. So as not to dwell on what I didn't do, I thought about all the things that I did do. One group of events stick in my mind the most. Hannah (my 11 year old niece) has spent a lot of time with me this summer. I have sort of been a "captive" audience. Since having yet another surgery, I have not been out and about much this summer. So, Hannah has come to visit and sleepover a lot at my parent's house while I have been there recovering. Hannah is a joyful child and full of energy. There is never an idle moment with Hannah around. Immediately after surgery, when I couldn't do much, we would read together or play games or watch tv. I can only take so much of the Disney Channel shows - all that screaming, but Hannah also loves some other stuff. She loves to sing the phone numbers from the commercials - the Stanley Steamer and Next Day Floors phone numbers are two of her favorites. She also likes to make fun of some of the actors and/or shows that come on - mimicing them or calling them names. If we see a commercial for "The Closer", she screams "the turtle is on". Hannah thinks that Kyra Sedgewick looks like a turtle! She watches the classis western station with my father and now can sing ot hum the theme songs from "The Virginian", "Wagon Train" and "Gunsmoke". She knows all about Oprah's last season and a lot about Dr. Oz as well. Mom always had control of the television between 2 and 3 and then again from 4 to 5. Now that Oprah is over, Hannah loves "Walker, Texas Ranger". Two episodes come on most days! We don't only watch television. Sometimes we watch movies - some recent movie nights were "Sweet Home Alabama" and the "Big Momma" shows. Hannah loves the really stupid comedies and laughs and laughs. When I was able to go out between surgeries and recoveries, Hannah and I went to the theatre to see a couple of movies. We saw "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and just recently, we saw the final Harry Potter movie. We saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" in IMAX and 3-D. It was rather expensive, but we both loved it.

We have also done some more normal activities - she has helped me go to the grocery store or Target - I still can't bend, so she can reach for stuff on the low shelves. Sometimes we cook or bake together. We recently made a cheese cake - most of which Hannah ate! She likes to cook and bake to a certain degree - she only likes to help with the "fun" parts and then wants to move on to other things and leave me alone with the drudgery parts - like cleaning up afterwards! We made a Quiche Lorraine the other day and she was really disappointed because she thought that all pies were dessert and she couldn't believe that I would make a pie that wasn't sweet. I think that she liked the quiche, but she just couldn't admit it. She really likes when we make things that she loves - like pudding.

We have also read together and I tell her bed time stories (which I am required to make up and she usually falls asleep midway through them). We spent a couple of days working on an art project - we made an pond with lily pads and water lilies and a frog out of origami. Hannah made the origami frog all by herself (well, with the help of a you-tube video). It was really very well done. Hannah loves a challenge and has become obsessed with playing the card game solitaire - she gets so frustrated when she loses. Sometimes her and my dad play on opposite side of the table to see who does the best.

When Hannah spends the night, she sleeps in my room at my parent's house. It is a small room with only a twin bed and a chair. I sleep in the bed and Hannah makes a bed of soft blankets and comforters on the floor beside my bed. When I was using the walker, crutches, and cane, Hannah would always say before going to bed, "Aunt Debbie, don't step on me during the night, I don't want to waked up squashed!" I did always worry about that - I was rather unstable on my feet and I would always have to get up two or three times during the night - sometimes to go to the bathroom and sometimes to move into the chair when the bed or my sleeping position became too painful. Each morning, I tease her that I didn't squash her during the night - it has become a running joke.

I have to admit - I have really enjoyed this time that I have had to spend with Hannah. I don't have children of my own, and although I have always taken time to spend with all of the nieces and nephews, I have never spent as much summer time and un-scheduled time with any of the other ones. I have vacationed with my sister's family before and gone away for weekends, etc., but this has been different. I hope that someday when Hannah is old, she will look back with fondness on the summer of 2011 - when she and Aunt Debbie had summer camp for two!