Summer Shots

Summer is here with a vengeance.  It is 85 degrees by the time we leave the house at 8:00 am and it's 99 degrees by the time I leave work in the afternoon.  Although I am getting used to it to some extent I still don't deal with the heat well.  I think I would be more understanding if it cooled off in the evenings, but at 7:00 pm it is still as hot as it was mid-day.  We try to get outside every day after dinner, either for a walk or just in the backyard, and it's been tough.  The kids like to look for worms when we walk and yell, "worm, ahoy!" when they find one.  Lately we've found some crispy ones. 

After dinner walk ensemble:

The other day I had a rare afternoon alone with Lou (Bubby took Norah so they could work on their garden).  We met up with some friends at a splash pad up the street.  This kid loves a good splash pad.

Last year we got my windows tinted as dark as is legally allowed and it makes a big difference during the heat of the day.  Everyone still has to wear their shades, though.

Self[portrait of a girl who is almost five.

The other day I brought home a rotisserie chicken and was carving it.  Admittedly I am not the best person for this job because ever since I got pregnant with Norah I have had a major aversion to most kinds of meat and am pretty squeamish about it all.  Which is a huge bummer because prior to her I could/would eat just about anything.  Anyway, Norah was sitting on the counter talking to me while I was doing it and out of nowhere she reached over, TORE off a drumstick and started going to town on it.  Said the skin was her favorite part.  Gag.

The other day we were at Aunt Amy's house playing driveway chalk and Louie couldn't keep his hands to himself so he kept getting timed out strapped in his car seat.

His new school has a splash pad on site and he gets to go a couple of times a week.  It's a huge hassle to send him in swim gear and pack clothes, but he loves it.  The swim shoes kill me.

Norah still won't even try to ride her big girl bike.  Maybe when she's 15.

Her favorite thing right now is writing and doing her "art" projects.  Aileen made her this awesome notebook cover that holds her markers and it gets used every single day.

Lou's school did a Father's Day lunch (that miracle of all miracles BVZ was actually able to go to), and the dads got these canvas tool belts that the kids "painted" along with a picture of the kid at the work bench.  Cuteness overload.

Norah is still pretty obsessed with dresses and doesn't want to wear anything else.  I got her this maxi dress for a baby shower we were attending (see below) and she loved it.  She looks so grown up in it and asks to wear her "maxi dress" pretty much every day.

At the end of the week if Lou has had no "incidents" at school he gets french fries.  It's the highlight of his life.  This was last week.  There will be no such highlight this week.  Sigh.

My forever BFF Sarah is having a baby in August.  I got to be one of the hostesses for her shower last weekend.  I hadn't hosted a fun event like that in a long time.  It was held at a fancy schmance salon where people could get pampered and drink champagne and celebrate Baby B.

I was in charge of food.  Mmmmm.  Food.

Fun favor bags (of which I had nothing to do with):

The gorgeous guest of honor:

Sarah and Norah and super tight.  They both are celiacs and like being fancy.  Norah was stoked to be invited to the party and enjoyed getting her very first pedicure with Sarah's niece.

I have finally done what I should have done two years ago and signed the kids up for swim lessons.  They start on Monday.  Norah, who is still a giant chicken, really got motivated when Lucas and Ruby were here and she became very conscious of the fact that kids her age, and kids much younger, are literally swimming circles around her.  She really wants to be able to swim sans floatie.  Louis continues to be a swimming dynamo.  He has no fear, loves going under the water, and has discovered the awesomeness that is the slide.  All indications point to him being a strong and successful swimmer once he gets the right set of tools to not drown.

Father's Day was fun and low-key.  We got BVZ camping chairs (not for camping of course, but for drinking beer in the driveway) and made him breakfast.  Then he got to go on a long hike by himself and we had everyone over for swimming and grilling.

The most popular dinner spot around here is at the counter, sitting on the trash can.  Both kids love it and fight over who gets to sit on the trash can.  I let them do it as a reward.  BVZ calls it trash can dinner.  I reward my kids by letting them sit on the trash can.  That's awesome.

Lou has been doing a ton of art projects at school.  This is his favorite so far.

BVZ has been out of town a lot and the kids like it when I send him photos of them "being cute."

On Sunday, Louie was running in my room, tripped over a pillow, and sailed face first into my nightstand.  It looked bad, then better, than much worse, than much better.  Kids heal so fast.  Three days later and it's almost completely gone.