Ah, summer. If you’re a kid, it’s the time to stay up late and wake up late and maybe watch way too much TV. But for parents trying to keep them entertained, it’s a whole different story.
Welcome to the back side of summer: The novelty of endless stretches of time has begun to wear off (if it hasn’t already), and it’s a little too soon pick up school supplies for the coming year.
So how are children spending these last few weeks of freedom?
Fish hatchery, museum
A quick glance around the parking lot at the Durango Fish Hatchery and Wildlife Museum, 151 E. 16th Street, and it’s easy to see that this a treat for out-of-towners. But it’s also a longtime go-to for local families looking for something to do.
Mary Lynn Clark and her son, Gabe, 7, of Durango were feeding the fish at the hatchery and then heading into the museum to check out the animal displays.
Clark, who also has daughters, Laura, 13, and Ellie, 11, said this was their first time to visit the hatchery this summer, but they always try to keep things exciting.
“We have a bucket list of things that we definitely want to do by the end of the summer,” she said. “Like the Bar D Chuckwagon or Trimble, definitely going up to (Purgatory Resort) and doing the alpine slide.”
For Gabe, who is playing rec league baseball, his favorite thing to happen so far this summer?
“I think it’s when I hit a home run in baseball,” he said.
Museum volunteer Marie Hawks of Durango has been helping out at the museum for the past four or five years. And while it sees its fair share of school field trips, families also come in to check out the animals.
“Families galore,” Hawks said. “Many, many tourists in the height of the summer. We have a lot more numbers than we did the first years I was here.
“We call it the ‘quiet zoo.’ We have such a variety of animals that have been donated to us over the years,” she said. “We just keep on working at it to make it better all the time. It is a great place. And feeding the fish, the kids just love that.”
Parking it
Amy Aweida, and her two daughters, Leila and Sydney, ages 4 and 2, all of La Plata Canyon, were spending a summer day on the swings and slides of Fassbinder Park, 140 W. Park Ave.
Aweida and family have had no problem keeping busy this summer.
“I feel like we go to the river, and there are so many parks in Durango that we sort of hop around,” she said. “The rec center, all different city parks. We go to the river to try to throw rocks in or to watch boats go down.”
There is, however, one favorite destination missing this summer. The Powerhouse Science Center abruptly closed its doors in May because of financial troubles.
“The one thing I wish was open was the museum, and I’m extremely disappointed,” Aweida said. “When it’s too hot out or it’s raining, it’s a nice place to go.”
But with the loss of one activity, more are sure to spring up in its place.
“One of our new favorite things is on Thursday afternoons, the free concerts at Buckley Park,” she said. “It’s very family friendly. It’s a nice thing: Your kids are safe, they can run around; it’s free. There’s music. Generally, there’s parking around.”
For the Aweida family, the summer hasn’t turned into a slog at all.
“No. Not getting bored at all,” Aweida said, pushing her little one on the bucket swing. “There’s so much to do. And there’s so much energy in the summer.”
When you’re a teenager
Despite Monday morning’s sweltering heat, three teenage boys were dropping into the bowls on their skateboards at the skate park at Schneider Park, 950 Roosa Ave.
At the park, TJ Robinson, 13, of Durango was taking a break in a small patch of shade.
“It’s just really hot,” he said, “I went on a trip to Seattle for a little bit. There’s not much really to do here, so, we just skate.”
It will be, the soon-to-be eighth-grader admitted, pretty nice to get back into a schedule.
“I’m kind of ready for school,” TJ said. “I don’t really like sleeping in late.”
And in the Animas City neighborhood, Stella Potemkin, 14, daughter of Yurii and Kate Potemkin of Durango, had the adventure of a lifetime at the beginning of the summer when she traveled to London, Italy and France. (Stella started working two years ago to save for the trip.)
And now that summer is just about halfway over, she’s keeping things a little closer to home.
“Usually, during the day, I sleep in as long as I possibly can because sleep is a magical thing,” she said. “And then after that ... I hang around at home and watch YouTube and stuff like that, or I meet up with my friends and we’ll go down to the river and stuff.”
And for Stella, who is about to become a freshman in high school, the winding down of summer is happening faster than she expected.
“It’s a scary thought that the summer is almost over,” she said. “But I think it will be good to see friends and meet new people and just to have the high school experience.”
katie@durangoherald.com
