Our house was a few blocks back from the lake and the public beach but it was an easy walk. Laura and I took several walks along the lake, enjoying our surroundings (and maybe a muffin). That little white spot on the water is a sailboat.
Look! I exist! Since I'm usually the one taking the pictures, I have around five or so pictures of myself with my children. I'm trying to get better about having my picture taken with them, so that they actually see what I look like as they progressively and rapidly age me. (Laura isn't exasperated, as it appears. She's just playing peekaboo.)
Laura made peace with the beach this trip. She even played in the sand for a while! There were still some grimaces and a handful or two of sand in the mouth, but she seemed to be much more at ease this time around.
She also took the opportunity to do a little light reading.
But by the time the sun set, she was pooped out.
While Big Brother played and played, asking every few minutes if the sun was setting.
Eventually, it was. And it was pretty spectacular. Watching the sunset is a little bit peculiar. It feels like it takes forever to set, but the last few moments, right before it sinks below the horizon, are over so quickly. Now that I type that, it occurs to me that it's kind of like raising kids. It feels like both an eternity and the blink of an eye, simultaneously. (Like the saying that the days are long but the years are short, except that I can't say anything nice and concisely like that.)
Shortly after sunset, everyone became a little cold and a little grumpier.
But it was kind of hard to stay grumpy while this was the view.
The next day was rainy, and there was a lot of lying around. (Well, Will was "lying around" for around five seconds at a time or so, so I had to act quickly to get this picture.)
In addition to the three or so pounds the boys picked, I bought ten more pounds on our way home. (Yes, I said 10.) I've made blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry jelly and have stocked the freezer with plenty of the frozen little guys for smoothies and such. These blueberries are delicious, nothing like many of the blueberries I always seem to end up with from the store. Not to mention that these are a million times cheaper.
Then we drove home. Jamison spent the evening at a local urgent care with some swelling and an infection in his elbow. Seriously. What are the odds of getting an infected elbow?
The next day, we went to the Children's Museum. I can't imagine for the life of me why, but we hadn't been before. I think Will can't believe that a place like this really exists. For starters, it's housed in the old train station, which he can't talk about enough. And then there are the four million things for him to do: play in water, build stuff, climb things, pretend. He could easily spend a whole day there and not run out of things to do. So we bought a membership and will be going back pretty frequently. (I feel much better about buying memberships to causes I can really get behind, like the zoo and the museum center. King's Island, maybe not so much. We're passed/membershipped to the extreme this year, so we should have no shortage of activities.)
There is the best little area for the little ones. Laura loved it. And since she's the only one not really on the move, I only took pictures of her. (And when I was with Will, it often involved the water area, so I didn't really want to take a chance by toting the camera along with us.)
I could just about bite her (in the most non-vampire way possible, of course). Oddly enough, she didn't really get all the constant feedback we get when we're out and about here while we were in Michigan. (And don't think I didn't notice, Michigan. Our vacation dollars may go elsewhere in the future because of it.) I know that she's mine and I know that no one will ever think she's as sweet and utterly breathtaking as we do, but people are always complimenting her, from the teenager bagging groceries at Kroger to the old women at the gym (I know, I've broken down and am finally taking advantage of our gym membership--I'll let you know how it goes). And, kind of obnoxiously, I always smile and say, "She is, isn't she?" when people tell me how pretty she is. In my defense, though, I usually hastily add that we are, after all, a bit biased. (And then I usually whisper to her that she's more than just a pretty face, like a crazy person. She is only 16 months old, I know. But I don't think it's ever too early to start instilling this in her.)
How did I end up on this? Oh, the picture of Laura. She tends to have this effect on me for some reason. Like the other day when she was eating dinner in her high chair and the sun caught her hair in a certain way and I actually thought to myself that one day she'll be a beautiful bride. Do I need to repeat that she's 16 months old? And maybe she won't want to get married. Then I started thinking about the boys that she'll go out with and I was filled with such trepidation that I actually had to remind myself that she's only a baby. And somehow I've suddenly become the crazy mom who can picture her little one someday in a wedding dress, with the light catching her hair through her veil just so. Maybe it's the heat. Or something.
Whatever. I'll leave you with a picture of all four of us, one of about three that I have of our whole little family. (A little sidenote: the nice man who offered to take our picture was having his picture taken in front of the museum as well. He had a photocopy of his parents in the exact same spot that was taken in 1941. The building, except for the fountains there now, looked exactly the same.)
And here's one of Will, who was kind of shortchanged in this post, getting ready to make some wishes and throw some pennies in the fountain:
Will's looking forward to a fun weekend in WV, with the county fair being the highlight that's taking up most of our conversations about the trip. There is some pig chasing in his future.
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