Summer break....Do we really get a break?

August is here....and that means school shopping...and getting back into the groove of things. The days of summer go by so fast...we start out SO EXCITED thinking finally kids and adults get a break from all the chaos of school. But do we really? 

I am so excited when school is finally out. This means we have nights...and weekends back. No sports (unless one of the boys decides to play soccer or baseball) and no homework...our schedule is really relax. (So I think) This means more time for camping, playing outside, doing family things! (This picture was taken at the end of the school year)

Then we start to ask ourselves - Is summer worse then the school year? Your grocery bill triples. With preteen/teenage boys that means 5 meals a day. Even after that they are still hungry! I don't know where they store all this food. #growingboys Then you have to tack on all the summer clothes, activities that they want to go to, camps, baseball games, golf! You really have no other option because if they are home every day all day for the WHOLE SUMMER then you will have kids going crazy before the end of June!

Summer is also the season (at least in Iowa) that you go to every small town festival. Our small town has one every year in July and it is so much fun....but when you live in Iowa the closest town is usually 5-10 miles away (if not further) and they all have their town festivals. You HAVE to go because you see your friends, your kids see their friends, and it turns into a whole weekend of events. At the end of the festival you are usually broke and/or hungover. So any extra money that you did have....that's gone! All of these start in July....and end in August! Here is a picture from a couple years ago of our youngest two...they just finished the mud mania course!

To top it off....we have our state fair. Now the Iowa State Fair is the 7th largest in the country...but its also rated the best in the nation!!! Yes our lil hick state is the best in the nation! So that is a must see for the summer. Which means even more $$$$ being spent but lots of memories being made!

Back to my original question....do we really get a break during summer. Is it better or worse when the kids are on summer break?? In my opinion the first few weeks are great! The kids finally catch up on their sleep, they are not fighting as much, they want to help out more around the house! Then July starts....and we are board, none of my friends are home, its too hot outside to play, the pool is too cold to be in, they have now ate you outta house and home, they don't know what day it is or how to tell time anymore ....and you still have a 1 1/2 months of summer left.

My next question....is year around school better?