Where to start?

I've fallen behind my self-imposed goal of posting something once a week. The problem with that is that now I have eight million things I could write about but I'd rather not write something that's going to take very long since we're a man down around here (Will is in WV this week) and I'm trying to put every precious second while Laura is sleeping to good use. Or reasonably good use. I feel scattered and very here-and-there mentally so how about a list? Or bullets? Or some combination thereof? Or do you really care?

1) We met Jamison for lunch today. I know they say that daughters love their daddies more than their mothers. This picture might just prove it.

2) I've finished a record amount of books in the past few weeks, starting with The Art of Fielding. I was a little hesitant to read it because I feel kind of indifferent towards baseball in general and sports books in particular but I'm so glad I put my personal bias aside. It was, and this is something I don't bestow upon many books, exquisitely written. That's all I'll say about that because I want each and every one of you to read it and then thank me for recommending it. Then I read The Dirty Life (don't get your hopes up, it's about farming) and liked it as well. And, finally, I finished The Law of Similars late, late last night and it was also a solid book. It turned out to be more engrossing than I had thought, which explains why I stayed up so late reading. Three (fairly) good books in a row. I hardly know what to do with myself. It's very, very rare for me to start and finish three books in a row, let alone three books in two weeks! 

I should also add that I discovered Good Reads and I highly recommend it if you're struggling to choose what to read next.

3) I want nothing more than a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich for dinner this evening. Too bad Chick-Fil-A and I are no longer on speaking terms.

4) I've been doing a little sewing here lately and am knitting a blanket for our couch. Because nothing says "Time to knit a blanket!" like heat advisories and mid-90s every day, you know.

5) Will starts school in a little less than six weeks. Thinking about it gives me heart palpitations so I'm just going to pretend he's going back to preschool for another year.

My allotted time is up, so the list will have to end for now. Happy weekend!

What they remember

I always wonder what, exactly, goes through the kids' minds at any given time. What they notice, how they (and by "they," I guess I mean Will) arrive at the questions they ask, where their attention lies. It's no secret that kids have no problem at all with stopping to smell the roses (and smell the roses and smell the roses and so on...) but I've been trying this summer to not get so frustrated with all the rose-smelling that Will and Laura so love to do. I tend to look ahead, to think about what's next, anticipate any roadblocks or potential meltdown triggers, and part of that, I think, is just being a mom. But another part of it, I'm afraid, is my own personal tendency to not always notice what's happening right now.

And what's happening now is that my children are becoming bigger and bigger fans of summer by the day. Will is enrolled in camp every morning this week at our gym and he LOVES it, in no small part because he gets to play in the pool for a whole hour and a half every day while he's there. I love the fact that there's nonstop action and activity, which means that he's napped every day after he gets home (!). And Laura loves that she gets me to herself for five hours every day. Win-win-win, as far as I can see.

We've spent a lot of time in our yard, doing the usual summer stuff. The kids seem to play better outside these days, which allows me some time to fit in some yardwork here and there. And while I can't believe how quickly my children have grown, and a lot of times I wish that the crazy fast-forward march of time would slow down just a little so I can enjoy this part of their lives, I will also be the first to admit that their increasing independence and ability to entertain themselves without me is incredibly nice. (Tangent: one of the things that bothers me most is when I see parents making suggestion after suggestion after suggestion as to what their child should or could do next and then look exasperated when their child returns in .05 seconds for some more ideas.)

Anyway, here are some things we've been doing here lately.

We went to a brand new park downtown this past weekend and it was the neatest park/playground that we've ever been to. The one downside of our excursion was that it was 900 degrees out and we didn't get to stay long. However, we plan to go back soon when it's not as hot out and when we're more prepared with digging toys and bathing suits to take full advantage of everything the park has to offer. It's located in an area that borders on the not-so-nice part of downtown, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction for the area.

Will and Laura both love the slip and slide. It's $10 that I will never regret spending.

Laura got another new bathing suit. It's my favorite yet. Target really has the cutest little girl bathing suits this year, in case you're in the market for one.

Laura and I spent a few hours at the park Monday morning and it turned out to be some of my favorite time I've spent with my best girl all summer. Actually, my favorite time I've spent with her, ever.

After swinging and sliding and running around, Laura and I did a little exploring on the nature trails.

While I'd been down in this area of the park several times, I actually took a second to read the plaque on this little building. (Mariemont is a hotbed for stuff of the "historic" sort, as it is one of the very first planned communities in the US, so I tend to kind of look past the million or so historic markers scattered around everywhere here.) Turns out this little structure was a boathouse for the lagoon that was once here. Kind of romantic, huh?

Laura was a pretty intrepid little trail walker, despite her Crocs not being exactly ideal footwear for the task.

While we were walking, we stumbled on this little stream, which I had no idea was there. If I had hurried her along or steered her to the shorter path to the sidewalk like I'm apt to do, we would never have seen this and Laura wouldn't have had her 15 or so minutes of fun splashing in the water here. Lesson learned. It was really pretty and peaceful. So much so that it was kind of an adjustment after we climbed back up off the trails and onto the sidewalk next to the street, close to traffic and construction noise from the nearby new school.

I know she probably won't remember this particular morning, but I will. Just like how I'll remember how excited Will is about camp, about his very first field trip tomorrow (without me!), about his very first bus ride.  I just hope that someday when they look back on this time, maybe when they're spending time with their own kids doing similar things, that they remember how delicious summer was. That they remember that and also how very much they were loved, at camp and on the trail and at home. After all, what more does anyone need?

Free your mind (and the rest will follow...maybe?)

To add one more thing to the ol' to-do list, I've signed up for this. I've never actually jumped on the meditation bandwagon, except for the guided meditations I've done during yoga classes here and there. But I'm interested to see if all the benefits of meditation that are espoused by so many actually exist. So, just wanted to share since I thought a few of you might also be interested. (I've made up with yoga again since my disappointing class Tuesday after this morning's class with my favorite teacher. All is well again, except for the soreness that I'm sure will come tomorrow.)

Anyhoo, nothing all that exciting to report otherwise. It's hotter than hot should be here and our dumb asses still did some menial outside tasks this morning while the kids slipped and slid and baby pooled it again. And now we're worn out from very little exertion. The joys of home ownership, right?

Happy weekend!

The past few days

This has really been the first week of summer that feels like summer (not just due to the obscene temperatures everywhere) because we don't really have anywhere that we have to be at any certain time. And what a delicious feeling that is, after a school year full of mornings spent prodding, negotiating, and adjusting bedtimes and wakeup times, all to get everyone out the door dressed and on time. I'm glad that we opted to send Will to school every day (as opposed to a three or four day option) but sometimes I found myself thinking that maybe we should've given ourselves a break for another year until we had to do it officially, with the start of kindergarten in the fall. But I digress. Zoo camp is over for now and we have all this week to do exactly whatever it is that we desire whenever we desire, for the most part.

Speaking of whatever I desire, I went to Kroger Sunday morning, completely alone. It was such a treat that I documented the occasion with a picture. I forget just how luxurious it is to go shopping alone until I get to do it every so often.

We had a nice morning at the park today. I got the kids up early and hauled everyone to the gym so I could take a yoga class and get the kids some playground time before it was too sweltering out. Yoga was mediocre, as I think the instructor is newer and I left feeling like I'd just spent the past hour just stretching, instead of feeling like I'd actually accomplished anything significant like during a better class. But the playground afterwards was a success. We have new playground equipment and both of the kids give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up.

The bouncy animals are a big draw. The fact that there are only three of them seems to somehow increase their appeal, with multiple little ones clamoring to be next in line. (Will has quite the "cheese" face mastered, doesn't he?)

We came home from the playground and filled up the trusty old baby pool, which is always a fun distraction from the fact that it's a trillion degrees in the shade. (I swept the deck and had grand plans of doing a little weeding while the kids were splashing about but I quickly aborted the mission since sweat was dripping into my eyes within five minutes. So I just sat in the shade and read a little, which resulted in slightly less sweating. Only slightly less, though.) The activity of the morning exhausted both of them so much so that Will is actually asleep now, which happens very, very rarely. His taking a nap is a sure sign of a morning well-spent.

And finally, the older Laura gets, the more Will wants to play with her. He's still a little bit rougher than she'd probably like, and sometimes he annoys her but they're becoming more and more like friends now, as opposed to merely being siblings. He even played with her some at the playground this morning despite the fact that there was another little boy there that he had been running around with. I just hope this trend continues, since there's nothing that pleases me more than seeing the two of them playing happily with each other. (The picture above was taken seconds before Laura rolled off Will's bottom bunk and face planted on the hard, unforgiving floor.)

I'm trying to write a little something at least once a week. It's a start, right? Happy 4th! Get out your baby pools, wife beaters and Bud Light and celebrate WV-style, why don't you? (I know, I know. Totally un-PC of me. I'm just kidding. For the most part.)