summer Archives - KS Mitchell

Summer Reading 2017!

Reading has always been one of the joys of summer. As a kid, I relished the long days of swimming and reading, two of my favorite things. My reading time is shorter these days as I chase around an increasingly mobile kiddo of my own, but I still make time to do some summer reading. Here’s what’s on my list for the rest of the summer.

I just finished Madeleine L’Engle’s first book in the Crosswicks Journal series, A Circle of Quiet. The four books in this series were written mostly from her journal entries she kept while living at her farmhouse in Connecticut and apartment in New York. They cover the time period in her life I now find myself in, raising young children, trying to write and publish, and running headlong into the challenges and joys of both. I’ll probably pick up the other three journals throughout the rest of 2017. L’Engle always inspires and comforts me at the same time.

Next up is the middle grade adventure The Mysterious Benedict Society. I’ve read fellow Arkansas author Trenton Lee Stewart’s series before, but this time I’ll do a close read to see how he’s brought his multiple characters to life. One of my current stories juggles multiple characters on a similar adventure. The best way to figure out how to write your story? Learn from those who have already done it.

Then it’s on to a few non-fiction books for a little inspiration. I received Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic for Christmas, along with Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. I’m hoping one will inspire me to write and the other to dream big. You decide which is which! I just ordered Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s (yes, that Lindbergh) 50th anniversary edition of Gift from the Sea on the recommendation from my cousin that every woman should read this book. I’m sure it won’t disappoint!

Finally, I hope to get to a few books that have been on my list for awhile. Ta-nehisi Coates’ book Between the World and Me as well as Kwame Alexander’s Newbery winner The Crossover (basketball playing twins, yes!) and the follow up, Booked (this one’s about soccer. Woot!) Hopefully I’ll close the summer with Sherman Alexie’s new memoir You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.

I’ll be happy if I get halfway through this list and continue reading on it in the fall. What’s on your summer reading list?

Summer Fun at the Jones Center for Families

**FTC Disclosure: This year I’m an ambassador for the Jones Center for Families, which means I get to do cool stuff there and tell you all about it! I’ve been compensated for writing this post, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think the Center is awesome. You should check it out if you live in Northwest Arkansas or are visiting for the day.

Summer Fun at the Jones Center for Families

As a teacher, I can’t tell you how happy I am summer is finally here. Don’t get me wrong. I loved teaching (most) of my pre-K students this year, but those last few months felt pretty long.

But now it’s SUMMER! And it’s time for summer fun, with or without the kiddos, and the Jones Center for Families has a great slate of activities for everyone to enjoy.

Let’s cut to the chase. Summer is all about swimming and the Jones Center has you covered.

Swimming at the Jones Center

The Jones Center has a junior Olympic pool and a leisure pool with a pretty kickin’ slide the kids (or you) will love. They also have extended swim hours. Family hours are:

Monday:
4:30pm – 8:00pm
Tuesday – Saturday:
12:00pm – 3:45pm & 4:30pm – 8:00pm
Sunday:
1:30pm – 4:45pm

The best thing about the Jones Center pool? No need for sunscreen since it’s completely indoors. Score.

For the adults: I love swimming, but I especially love it when I can swim laps without having kids jumping in and out of the pool or splashing me. The Jones Center offers plenty of adult swimming options.

Monday – Friday: Lap Swimming
8:00am- 1:00pm
4:30pm – 7:45pm (Limited Lanes)
*No lanes available Wednesdays [6:30-7:30]
Saturday:
12:00pm – 7:45pm
Sunday:
1:30pm – 4:45pm

The Center also has swimming lessons through the Razorback Aquatic Club for kids ages 3-17. For adults, they’re holding an evening Learn To Swim Class for beginners and a Masters Swim Class for adult swimmers who want to improve their skills. (Heads up, this is an early one!)

Ice Skating at the Jones Center

So swimming isn’t really your thing, but you’re still looking for a way to stay cool this summer? Why not hit the ice. The Jones Center has the only indoor, year-round ice rink in the area and it is cool, in every sense of the word.

Don’t know how to skate? The Jones Center has you covered with its Learn to Skate Classes for both kids and adults. This summer they’re also hosting two levels of Skating Camps. The beginner level starts June 13th and the advanced June 27th. If you’re looking for a more casual experience, the rink offers a variety of hours for recreational skating. Check the schedule for available skate times.

Swimming and ice Skating are what the Jones Center are known for, but there are many other fun opportunities to get yourself and the kids out of the house and moving this summer. Here’s just a few of them!

Unique Fun at the Jones Center

Kid Fit – You want to work out, but you have the kids with you. Kid Fit is for you. It allows kids to work out with their parents. You get to model how important exercise is and they get to burn off some energy. Win-win. Kid Fit is for kids ages 4-9 and their parents and classes are held on Wednesdays at 9 a.m. (Bonus: It’s only $3/session or free for members!)

First Friday Kids Night – Put this one on your calendar. Beginning July 1st, each first Friday of the month, the Jones Center will hold an energy-pumping kids only event that includes obstacle courses, games, pizza and a movie. From 6-10 p.m. your kids are entertained and burning off some energy while you’re out (or in) enjoying some well deserved time off.

Summer Fun for FREE at the Jones Center

Who doesn’t love free activities? These free events are happening all summer long!

Yoga in the Park – Every Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. bring your mat and enjoy free yoga classes outside of the Jones Center next to the Farmers Market.

Movie Nights – Watch family friendly films for free on the big screen! Check the schedule for dates and movie titles. There are several scheduled for June.

Farmers Market – The Springdale Farmers Market is in its 20th season this year. The market is held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. all summer long. You can combine a workout at the center with a quick shopping trip for healthy, locally grown food and goodies!

If I talked about all the fun opportunities at the Jones Center, this blog would be far too long. Check out thejonescenter.net and follow the Jones Center on social media to stay up to date on the latest fun events. Memberships start at the incredibly low price of $5/month, but most of these opportunities are open to non-members for a small fee and it’s well worth your time to check it out.

Have a great summer!

August

As a child August was an emotional tempest for me. It meant the end of summer, the only freedom a child knows. The end of days spent reading, swimming and laughing with sisters and friends. Meals were eaten later than usual, breakfasts on the deck as mornings warmed up and morning glories burst forth. Lunches rolled into long afternoons of reading and napping, frequently in a hammock or chaise lounge, followed by dips in the pool, diving contests and water sports. Dinner was always late, but who needed dinner when the sun lingered in the sky, as reluctant as we to end another summer day?

And then came August. It has always seemed strange to me that the New Year is in January. Everyone knows August is truly when the year begins. After all, August brings entry into a new grade, or even a new school, new friends or reacquainting with old ones, and all sorts of new subjects to be mastered and situations to be navigated.

August also meant excitement. New clothes, new books, a new school schedule to discuss breathlessly over the phone with friends. Advice from older siblings about which teachers were the best and which ones you had to watch out for. And finally, THE DAY, the first day of school with its highs and lows, every interaction a portent of the year to come, to be hashed and rehashed that evening with friends and sisters.

This summer August has once again caught me by surprise. All too suddenly, summer is drawing to its end. The sun is rising a little later and setting earlier. As a teacher, school year schedules are vying for my calendar’s attention, and I’m experiencing again that first day of school anticipation.

So as the year truly begins, I’m faced with the kind of self-reflection touted in January but altogether irrelevant in the midst of winter. Will I be able to juggle an increasingly demanding schedule? Can I continue to take steps to become a better writer in pursuit of publication? Am I putting myself on a path to achieve my goals, writing, teaching or otherwise?

The next few weeks will be busy ones as I plan lessons, organize a school year schedule to include time for teaching, writing and the people I want to spend time with as well. But they will also be challenging as I work through the questions August always brings and the expectation of new beginnings and old friends those first days of school promise.

Fantastic Friday: Summer!

It’s Fantastic Friday, and what a Friday it is. The first day of summer!

At 12:04am Central Time (5:04 UCT or Coordinated Universal Time), the summer solstice began. Today the sun marks its most northerly point in the sky and brings us in the northern hemisphere the longest day of the year.

Of course, long days are associated with summer, and for me summer is a time to kick back a little and dream. I don’t think I’m alone in that.

The ancient Egyptians built the pyramids and the Sphinx in such a way that if you stand at the Sphinx on the solstice, the sun sets exactly between the two pyramids. Similarly, at Stonehenge the solstice sunrise aligns perfectly with the giant stones. Why the fascination with the longest day of the year? What did the ancients think when they watched the sun rise over silent monoliths, or set perfectly between two manmade temples pointing into the sky?

I think they were celebrating the light and warmth the solstice brings, but also taking the opportunity to dream a little, too. Long summer days give us more time to work and play. I feel more energetic in the summer; waking up to early dawns and going to bed later to enjoy the full benefit of luminescent summer evenings.

Though somewhat sleep deprived, summer light also sets my thoughts into motion. The year is halfway over. What have I accomplished that I wanted to? What am I dreaming of that I haven’t yet attempted? In the light of summer, all things look possible and taking stock isn’t a depressing exercise of what I haven’t accomplished, but more of a hopeful outlook of what can still be done.

So celebrating the longest day of the year has a dream-like quality to it, something our ancestors realized. Tomorrow the days get shorter. The shadows lengthen. The year descends. But today holds enough light to bring hope to our dreams for the days ahead.