summer

confession: I honestly wasn't sure what to expect out of this summer.

 I spent most of the school year feeling overwhelmed with life and caring for the kids and house and never got to the point where I really felt settled into a groove - thanks to illness, surgery, sick kids, ER visits, sick kids, tragedy, sick kids...did I mention that our kids were crazy sick this year?

so I was wondering how this summer would feel - all three kids home.  would it be overwhelming?  would we all be sick, again? would there be enough to do?  would I feel like we had too much travel or too little travel? would I spend the whole summer breaking up fights?

as we are now embarking on our third week of summer, I find most of my fears laid aside and am relishing the laziness of each day!  We are all enjoying sleeping in and eating slow breakfasts in our pajamas, nowhere to race off to (except the pool or beach or necessary store run), catching up with family and friends we don't get to see as often during the school year.  and really, being all together is great.

And yes, there are the daily, hourly, sometimes minutely sibling fights to break up or the baby to peel off of biting someone and there have been enormous loads of laundry to do (9 in 24 hours, thanks Matty for taking that on) and often stressful traveling situations that involve high pitched shrieking (not my own).

but I'm happy at the end of the day that we can spend this time together and make these memories...

visiting Great Grandma 

 driving go carts for Father's Day

 playing a lot of Crazy 8s while waiting for food at restaurants

pool time with Grammy

(and Hannah swimming on her own, hurray)

running in cold waves with friends

 just being together

 getting really, really dirty

eating amidst the Redwood trees

singing a lot of "Let it Go"

cousin sleepover at our house

 perfecting the art of roasting a marsmellow

and teaching it to others

enjoying the fruits of our labor

 as it turns out, 

having these three little people all to myself and not having to share them with school

is pretty fun

most of the time. :)