Times tables, Spanish and the Wooden park . . .

Another thing my mom did well, and something that I copy, was how she took advantage of our summers. We did all the normal summer things like swimming, baseball games, camping, the beach; but she also planned things each day to keep us busy and working throughout the summer.

Mom and Gabby in Riverside about the time of our first summer school.

~She would help us set goals to work on while we were out of school; times tables, typing, and sewing were some of the things I remember working on.

~She would organize neighborhood summer schools and for a few weeks we would go to different houses in the neighborhood and learn different things like baking or how to write poetry. Most of the Spanish I still know comes from what I learned at Suzanne Gonzalez's house when I was 8 and I learned how to lead music at the Jennings', during another of our summer school sessions.

~One summer we studied the Old Testament scripture stories in depth and I know them well because of that.

~She helped us put on plays with the neighborhood kids.

~And then sometimes we'd all pile into the VW Van and we would go on field trips to museums and parks (the wooden park was our favorite) and orange groves. I remember once, standing in the office of the Riverside City Mayor and thinking that my mom must be really really something to get us in to meet someone so important.

Oh my goodness! Look at that list! Love it!!

We didn't do all of those things every summer but as you can see our days were planned and well used.

I am so thankful for the pattern she set and the good things she filled our summers with.