Wonder

At the end of every July, our little town puts on quite the festival. Saturday night fireworks are part of the festivities and it's a tradition for us to wake Rowan up and watch from our front porch. This year we thought Tate might like to get in on the action as well, but he was way too deeply sleeping for us to wake him up. So Rowan had some alone time with both mom and dad. I loved hearing her running commentary about the fireworks: "That one is my favorite! It's sprinkles down and looks just like a dead rose." "Do you think this is the grand finale? I hope it's not; I want this to last for hours." And my absolute favorite "Mom, are people doing these fireworks? Or is God making them for us?" She didn't want to miss a moment of the action. When we retreated from the front porch to the big windows in her room, she ran as fast as she could. She kept asking us to wake up Tate, even though we both tried. She couldn't believe that she will be 6 years old the next time we watch these fireworks together (and, admittedly, neither can I).

I started to wonder when it will be that we won't have to wake her up at 10 because she'll still be awake. When she'll want to go to the fireworks with her friends instead of with us. When she might just catch a glimpse of the fireworks out her car window as she's driving to a friend's house. And I hope that she'll remember our little tradition. Maybe she'll remember sitting on my lap on the front porch swing or sitting, cuddled up with Lance at her window, and she'll have just a little slice of childlike wonder one more time.

Half-Full

How is it that this lovely summer is about half over? We have been busy beyond belief this summer, even though I intentionally kept several weeks with no plans. We've had fun every single day. We've been swimming in lakes and pools, we've jumped on the trampoline, played on the jungle gym, pumped as high as possible on the swings (except Tate, who still needs a good push). We've played with neighbors, friends across town, friends in other towns, friends in other states. We've been on vacation (Lake Michigan beach house, thanks to Mark and Sonja; and family camp, thanks to the sheer insistence by my mother that we absolutely must go to family camp). We've done swim lessons, soccer camp, safe city and VBS. We've picked strawberries, tomatoes and snap peas from our gardent. We are doing our best to make the very most of this summer.

So while it's easy for me, an outspoken loather of all things winter, to already start to dread the winter that is to come, I'm looking at this summer as half-full. I really feel like we've made an entire summer of memories and we still have over a month left!

This weekend, Lance and I head to Philadelphia and NYC to celebrate 11 years of marriage. The kids will spend the weekend at Grandma's. We'll come home, refreshed after some great adult time. They'll come home, all sugared up and spoiled from some great Grandma time. And we'll spend more time making memories.

Part of That World

My little man has a bit of an obsession right now. Not cars, not sports, but The Little Mermaid is what is occupying his mind. He talks about Ariel kind of non-stop and wakes up from his naps singing Part of That World. He asks for stories about Ariel and likes to play Ariel and Sebastian with Rowan. Sometimes I play the role of King Triton, sometimes Ursula. Occasionally I'm the one of the sisters. There's always lots of yelling about going to the surface. I'm reminded that humans are not barbarians! There was an argument today about who got to get the Ariel tattoo in a new tattoo pack.

And while I know his love of Ariel might not be the most boyish behavior, but you to admit, it is one of the more adorable things you've seen today.


***Okay, the video would be the cutest thing ever if, in fact, you could see it. Ever since getting my new computer, I can't post pictures or videos or even publish to this site. I also can't e-mail pictures or videos to myself (or anyone else) to try to publish them on another computer...

Two Wheels!

Last night Lance took the training wheels off Rowan's bike and we headed over to the park to let her ride on the huge area of soccer fields. It was a bit frustrating for all of us, but after about 20 minutes, she was able to at least ride a little bit without us holding on. This morning I took her out in front of the house and, after more frustration, she started to catch on. She can go probably 100 yards or so down the sidewalk before she gets scared and either bails into the grass or actually stops herself. She is so proud of herself! And I'm super proud of her, too!
Not to be outdone, Tate, who has been struggling with the concept of peddling, decided to show off his newfound mad tricycle skills. Love his look of concentration!

First Pick of the Season

My favorite plants in our yard are our strawberry plants. Every year we have so much fun picking them, eating them, making fun recipes with them. Last week was our first pick of the season and we've picked a few hundred more since then. We made strawberry cupcakes, strawberry muffins, strawberry jam. Tomorrow's dinner is balsamic-strawberry chicken and salad with strawberry dressing. We are loving it! The kids are having fun counting the strawberries and making a bar graph. Tate could eat them all day. Rowan prefers me to make them into some kind of sweet treat. I love that we literally do nothing with them all year--no weeding, no thinning out, no pesticides or fertilizer, and they just keep coming back! That is my kind of plant. Our sugar snap peas are also coming up and the kids are eating them straight off the plant. I am relatively certain this is the first time they have been excited about eating peas! We're loving our garden and the farmer's market and can't wait until the pineapple tomatillos are ready at our favorite organic veggie stand!

Three Wishes

Last night Rowan and I were cuddling in bed and I asked her what she would wish for if she could have three wishes. She said "That I could eat candy all day, that I could cuddle with you all the time and I'd like a pack of horses."

Adios, El Puente

Even before I dropped Rowan off for her very first day of preschool, I knew we were in the right place. This school has been great for Rowan. And even though it's hard to say goodbye to our friends, teachers and little community, I feel pretty confident that Rowan's elementary school will also be the right place for her. Rowan is sad to go to school with Tatum. But she felt the same way about Clarissa last year. And I'm sure she'll meet another great friend next year (or "next SCHOOL year, Mommy, not next year" as she likes to remind me). Along with Rowan's last day of school, I had my last Mommy-Tate day. We loved having a little one-on-one time while Rowan was in school, but we're all so excited to have a whole summer just to play together. We've already spent a few days at the pool, a day at the beach and some time at Grandma's house. We are more than ready for a fabulous summer!