I assured Lily she wouldn’t be having dessert after dinner so she could tell me about all the crap eaten at Landon’s today: A Reese’s PB cup, a KitKat bar, a mint chocolate thing (this is all that was admitted to at first), a piece of buttered bread and some cheesy bread from the pizza place.  

“We are living the LIFE down there, Momma. It is awesome!”

Ugh. 

Emmy came into the kitchen after dinner to tell me she had to go potty. I said, “Hop to it!”. And she did…all the way to the bathroom. 

Big happenings here, people!  BIG!

We are TWO full days into something so exciting and another something so exciting that combined into two EXTREMELY exciting things, means this is really over-the-top INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

Ready?

Ollie is two nights DRY without wearing Pull-Ups,  Unrelated (or maybe not, since he’s a man now-ahem), he has fallen asleep both nights without the assistance, or even the request of, a binkie.  I can’t explain that part.  I’m not even mentioning it to him for fear he may realize what a thing he has done.  He knew our last day with binks would be when he turned 5 but this is unexpected and pretty amazing.  Just proves that kids do things on their own timeline (and it would save a lot of frustration if we could just allow that a little bit more).

Emmy is two full days WITHOUT accidents and wearing UNDERPANTS!  Mostly she is proud and happy to get her M&M when she tinkles even the very smallest drop of pee 🙂 but sometimes she is less than enthused to be diaper-free.  But she is doing it.  And I can see school on the horizon!  She is also going to begin swimming lessons next week!  We signed her up and purchased some fruity scented goggles.  Go, little goldfish, go!

Lily took art supplies to the gym today to work on some painting.  She is combining watercolors and waterproof (?  They don’t run…) pens in some creative combinations.  In my second mile of laps, she motioned me into her room and gave me a quiz on tigers.  Lounging on the couch, she had brought along many National Geographic books and was reading them.  Without prompt or encouragement.  Yippee!!  And read the questions and answers with tremendous fluency.  I’m looking forward to this school year so much (even while I quake with anxiety over how much I want to accomplish before then!).

Woo hoo for great stuff!!

Watercolor paints and brushes were set out for something to do before breakfast.  Each one is getting more interested and interesting as they keep having time to paint.  Emmy did some art while I had to make a phone call, Lily took things outside after dinner to capture a sunset, Ollie jumped around like a monkey while I read (oh, wait, maybe not everyone…).  Art was our start and end of the day.

While the past two weeks plus have been a lot of fun with many delicious meals, new friends, rarely seen family, and various adventures, everyone, at least in this family, would agree that there is no place like HOME!  I do love that we have had such a travel-heavy summer; to watch the kids who have had a whole year of growth, do things they would not have done last summer (i.e, go tubing on the lake or sleep over at {brave}grandparents’) is very heartening.  And to get away, just the two of us, if only for a few days, was pretty sweet.

On with our regularly scheduled summer! (for the next three weeks:-)

Geez–vacationing all summer is messing with my writing rhythm!  After this next round of travel, I will be back to normal but until then, there may be more missed days.

@ Camp Woodmere

Let’s just say, we are all in bed or heading there and it is just after 8PM.  Em fell asleep with her lights on; the poor thing has been running ragged on a sleep deficit all week.  While I will miss the natural chill in the air, it is so nice to be home with tomatoes coming in and flowers in wild riot outside the front door.  Not much of a chance to catch our breath before leaving again but I will take some time to savor home before our next adventure!  G night all!

Up and down, winding through woodland glades and gurgling water, up natural rock stairs, to the tippy top of the mountain. It was a HIKE and I’m so glad it was part of our vacation!  What a memory I will have.