On Teenagers and Summer's Remains

This weeks' theme, at the House of Rue, seems to be "How To Survive Teenage Girls."  (Hint: it involves rum.)  For those who are newish to the blog, you should know that I spend a large amount of time with my neices.  Their mother is unwell, and their father (my brother) works long hours as a winemaker at a local vineyard/winery, and so I have had the pleasure of helping to raise them.

Something happened at about age thirteen though.  Suddenly, Auntie wasn't funny or cool anymore. Getting them outside and away from the television, cell phone or video games became impossible. And everything became The End Of The World.

In all fairness, I remember being a teen.  Mostly because I wasn't very good at it.  I preferred the company of my grandmother and her garden and land, and her teapot, to the company of most of the people at school.  Every moment seemed rife with drama and the hormones rushing through my body were no help at all.  Add to that a persistent feeling that I wasn't good enough in any way, and I pretty much failed spectacularly at enjoying the years between thirteen and seventeen.  So I do understand (although, not what it is like to be a teen at this very moment in time.)

This summer, I've mostly let them be.  They sleep late, eat everything in the house, use a staggering amount of towels, and glue themselves to any screen they can find.  And they both work summer jobs. But these next two weeks - the last days before school begins here in B.C. - we will find adventure! Or...at the very least, lakes, dirt and a roasted marshmallow.

Our camping trip was cancelled for this weekend, so instead we are going to do a farm stand tour in the next valley over.  Also on the list is a visit to a gouda farm, a dip in at least three lakes, and a run across the border into Washington where I will introduce them to real Mexican food.

I think a round of mini-golf is also in order, as well as some serious goat-love from the resident kids at a huge farm-stand two hours north.  The gods are my witness (insert fist pump here,) we will drive this valley and experience something other than work and video games before this summer is through!

There will be much eye-rolling and sighing, I'm sure.

How will you spend the remains of August?