Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Picture Recap

Below are some pictures from our summer adventures. I had a hard time choosing just a few from the hundreds we have. Two kids really necessitates lots of photos.

We went camping with some friends and the two kids, and even got some climbing in. Carter got to try out his new harness that he had gotten for his birthday, and Cameron was happiest swinging in the tree (I'd insert "Rock A Bye Baby" here if I knew how.)


This is the beginning of our summer yard project. We first took out a huge dying cottonwood tree that was just to the right of the bobcat. We then wanted to add a brick walkway. When the sand and gravel was delivered, the driveway cracked, so that led to the project of pouring a new driveway.

Here, most of the brick walkway has been laid (a very tedious job!) and the driveway is ready to be poured. Soon I'll post pictures of the finished project.


Cameron smiles all the time now, and I just love it. Here's when he first started smiling. Carter loves to lay a blanket on the floor and have me lay Cameron next to him. Then they chat on the floor in their brother language.



One of our favorite summer places is on the hammock. Cameron's almost guaranteed to fall asleep, and it's a rare moment when Carter is actually still. As you can see, clothing is optional at our house when it's hot.




The boys sleeping in. I love this picture because it's an absolute rarity in our house to have this many people sleeping at the same time, much less in the same room. Of course, on this morning we had to be somewhere at 8:30, so I had to wake everyone up right after I took this picture.





Here's Carter at the Space Needle during our visit to Washington (see previous post). He kept looking up at it and saying, "What's that called?" He was in awe.






"Mimi" and Carter on the beach by my parents' house. I think we adults were as excited for Carter to see the beach as he was. We all kept running up to him and saying, "Look at this! Look at this!" He would try to acknowledge our excitement by picking up whatever it was we were showing him, make an interested face, and then throw it to the ground.
He took on the role of patient parent while we excited children were looking for his reaction.





We took a hike with kids in tow through some old growth forest to an amazing waterfall. Look at the tree behind us!







We went strawberry picking near my parents' house, and Carter loved it. He would pick strawberry after strawberry and eat them. Carter's showing off one of his finds.










Here's another picture in Seattle Center where we taught Carter what "killing time" meant. He kept saying the phrase as if he was really trying to understand.


So that's our summer in a nutshell. Lots of fun, lots of projects, and a little relaxing. Overall, a great time.









Monday, July 28, 2008

Summer's End

With only six days left until I officially return to work, I am a bit anxious of the impending transition. I have loved the past 14 weeks off. I had a little trepidation going into such a long stretch of time off with two kids and not a lot planned because I was afraid of long days sitting in the house with bored and/or crying kids and a restless husband. That was not the case. Between a major yard project (tree removal, new brick walkway, driveway replaced and flagstone patio), a trip to Keystone for a conference, a trip to my parents' house in Washington, and lots of visitors, there was never a dull moment.

Staying so busy gave Mark and me lots of practice handling two kids in a variety of situations, and this past Friday felt like the final exam. We had 24 hours between the time my parents had to drop us off at the airport in Seattle and the time our plane took off. This is no small feat with a 2 year old and (literally) 200 pounds of luggage. We found a hotel near the airport and made use of shuttles, public buses, monorails and our feet to get to downtown Seattle, enjoy ourselves, and then back to the airport in time for our 8:45 pm flight. It was a success. So much of a success, in fact, that Mark and I think Carter was actually better behaved and happier than on an average day. (I'm not sure what that implies, so let's move on.)

Daycare is still not settled. We had a woman semi-arranged, but then she decided she only wanted to watch one kid, not two. So here we sit, less than a week away from needing care with not even a possibility. This is a major contributing factor to my feeling of sadness as the summer ends because I don't know what we will be doing with the kids.

I am trying to just enjoy these last few days and focus on the good, not fear the the unknown and upcoming stresses. Tonight both kids were in bed by 8pm. That is a celebration. I just finished eating some delicious brownies. Another reason to smile.

I imagine I'm one of many in the sea of kids getting ready to return to school with mixed feelings. I will miss these great weeks off I've had, but I look forward to seeing my colleagues again and being mentally stimulated by my job. I also think our family does better with a little more routine, so I will try to enjoy that, as well, although the lazy (or busy) days of summer are tough to beat.