Please excuse the unscheduled break. But, you know. Summer.
Lazy, hazy, crazy (with a bit of emphasis on the Crazy) days.
I had the incredible luxury of an entire week off work last week. The timing was perfect as the big kids started camp (extended school year aka "summer school" for Leo in the morning--he's bussed to camp after lunch). I was nervous about this summer, our first foray into camps, so it was wonderful to be home this week to help them settle into their new routines. Previously the kids have done the "camp" at daycare/preschool but they had both unquestionably outgrown that one. Leo and Ellie will both do our town's camp for the month of July, then in August Ellie starts a binge of specialty camps (I may or may not have gone a bit overboard, ahem) while Leo heads to a month at another camp that I'm also very excited about (more on that later). Aaaand that concludes my attempt to say "camp" as many times in a paragraph as I possibly can.
The "break" was downright luxurious, affording me the opportunity to share little moments with the kids that I feel like I often miss out on since I work.
I had so much fun watching these two play together in the water the other day. It was like they were working! Took their little "jobs" very seriously.
This week Harry also developed a love of vacuum cleaners. Here you can see him telling Ellie all about it.
And Lucy is getting even more brazen with her fashion choices.
She's also discovered dollies. "Look Mommy, I have two babies!" she said to me, just before I took this picture. I told her two babies was crazy and who would be silly enough to have two. Ha.
Someday I will publish a book: My Babies Through the Years, in Costco Carts.
Hard to cry over heart-shaped spilled milk. (Others called this a bat but I, a hopeful optimist stand by my heart vision).
Knock on wood, the big kids seem very happy at camp . I picked them up each day last week at 4 p.m. red faced, dirty and subdued. They were tired, too tired to bicker in the car, even. This is huge. And to to me, tired + dirty = happy. Case in point: Friday night after dinner, Leo disappeared into his room to play Legos. When we checked on him around 8 p.m. he was in his bed, still wearing the clothes he'd worn to camp. He had tucked himself in and he was fast asleep! Unprecedented, I'm telling you.
Taking these two to a large playground gives me heart palpitations but Ellie begged and begged to go to this certain (not our usual park). I counted it as my cardio for the day. Note them walking in opposite directions and times that by infinity (did I mention it was 95 degrees?).
I'd always wanted to try out the "mini-van" carts. Last week, my dream came true! (Don't ask me what Ellie is doing in this picture, but look how pleased Lucy looks!).
It was mostly a hit. Until the end, of course. I dream of the day I can end a shopping trip with these twins that doesn't involves tears and serious misery. I know it will come.
Harry the hippy, aka Seventies Surfer Dude, got a haircut this week.
And now I want to eat his cheeks even more than I already did.
The better to see his eyelashes.
We kicked off our holiday week with a trip with just the big kids to The Land of Make-Believe, or, Ellie's favorite place on the planet.
We spent the bulk of our time at the water park portion, so I don't have a lot of pictures. But Ellie rode her beloved "Thriller" (kiddie roller coaster) at least a dozen times and I put on my big girl swim trunks and conquered my extreme dislike of water slides (the things we do for our children). And yes, I'm proud to say, I actually enjoyed myself. Screaming while careening down a slide is fun and actually kind of therapeutic! Who knew?
Giant pirate ship with fountains and slides. Disney World What?
Relaxing after all that hard water park play. We always say, Leo knows how to enjoy life.
Speaking of enjoying life, Leo was so exhausted at the end of that day that I looked over and at one point he was eating his pizza--as a special treat we let the kids eat in front of the tv, they're favorite show du jour: "Wipeout" -- Leo was eating horizontally. Too tired to be vertical.
Are you sensing a theme for this summer? I believe it's Break the Children. So far, so good.
