So this happened this week: While riding in the car, a Hyundai commercial played on the radio. To which my 6-year-old daughter asked, "Which day of the week is Hyundai? I never heard of it before!" Once I finished snickering, I thought, "Well, that must be the day that is made up from all the extra hours I swear are missing from Monday-Sunday." Obviously.

And soon her inquisition about where the mysterious day of Hyundai fits into the week was replaced by, "Slug bug!!!"

My kids picked up the game from some of their friends and now it's a constant during car rides. My four-year-old says it so fast when he sees one. He stops mid-sentence and sputters "slug bug" so fast, you almost have to know that's what he is saying to understand him. "Hey mom, where are we... SLUGBUG! Blue slug bug! I got it first!"

And then you know what comes next. (A) a fight about whether or not one of the other kids had seen the same slug bug earlier in the day and, therefore, may have already claimed it, (B) a fight over who currently has the most points or (C) a fight over whether or not we count slug bugs that are parked in the exact same place every day, slug bugs on billboards, slug bugs in pictures or slug bugs in commercials.

I think their mastery of the game of Slug Bug will go down as one of the wacky highlights of our summer. I can't believe summer is almost over and school starts so soon. And that's why, I've dubbed next week our, "Super-duper-fantastical-end-of-summer-not-a-bummer-week-of-fun." I've taken the entire week off and dedicated it to finishing off summer break with one giant hoorah. All summer long, I've been anticipating this week and keeping a list of things to do. I want this week to be carefree and I want us to do some things we don't normally do or, in some cases, have never done.  It's nothing too dramatic... just fun little touches.

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It looks a little like this:

  • Wonderland
  • Lunch @ Beef Burger Barrel: The kiddos have never been, probably because I can't keep up with whether the place is open or not. (It's currently open.) I think they'll think it's so fun to visit such an iconic and old fashioned place.
  • K&N Root Beer for root beer floats: One of my kids can't have any dairy products, so no ice cream. But, if I bring a pint of non-dairy ice cream with me and just add it to a root beer for her. It's going to take a little careful strategey, but I think I can pull it off.
  • Movies: We haven't seen the Smurfs or Planes, yet
  • We're going to make these bouncy balls, because my kids love them and how cool is it that you can make your own?!
  • A trip to a cupcakery for cupcakes
  • A trip to Groovy Pop
  • Go-Karts at Sports World
  • Celebrating my son's birthday on Monday!
  • lots of flag football games thanks to the flag football kit he is receiving as one of
  • Picnic/hike in Palo Duro Canyon

My "super-duper-fantastical-end-of-summer-not-a-bummer-week-of-fun" list did include several water activities, but one of my girls has a perforated ear drum, so it's ixnay on the aterway.

I'm sure we can't fit it all in. And whatever we do, I hope it includes lots of time spent outdoor soaking up the sun. Hopefully, I'll have a fun-filled week to recap time! One thing is for sure, there will be multiple rounds of "slug bug."

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