No rules, no worries

Summertime is the perfect time to reevaluate all the rules that I've been instigating in our game of parenthood/familyhood. Okay, maybe I'm just feeling really lazy about keeping track of things like, let's just say, lollipops for breakfast. Last night, after Carly's ice cream cone at 8pm, the poor kid had to ask me for "cheese? fruit mommy?" She accurately observed that we had forgotten dinner.

Other things that we have been loose about include bedtimes, bathing suits on the beach, ferris wheel rides for kids under 40 inches (she's 36), binky habits (sorry Greg, but we'll all work on this when we get home), and sitting down in restaurants during dinner (my mom assures me that people don't care if my little maniac runs around saying hello to each table...and I'm usually happy to pretend they don't either - mama's got to eat!). Perhaps the biggest departure from our home rules, though, involves the amount of time I allow to ellapse between the moment I hear the screen door slam and the second I go chase the escape artist. At home, faced with a busy street and strangers outside our front steps, I give it about 10 seconds. Up here, I'm more laid back. Most times, I hear an announcement ("my stroller!" or "tea party at nana's beach!"), a giggle, or the pitter-pat of her feet that betrays her whereabouts. And, if I don't, I just send Sully or great-Grandma Rita to go track her down.

Yeah, I'm not that lazy.

More pics from our trip:

Carly (right) joining Nick and our friends Riley and Mitchell to stretch out for the fun run.



My pre-5k photo...trust me when I tell you that the post-5k photo was much less flattering.


Action shots from the post-run parade. Another rule down the drain: don't let child eat candy thrown at her by strangers.







And the fair...



That's my massive 21-week prego self flanked by Carly and my nephew Nick on the ferris wheel. For future reference, Nick cannot be trusted to follow the "DANGER!!! DO NOT ROCK CHAIR WHILE RIDE IS STOPPED!" sign when hanging 100 feet in the air above Lake Michigan. And, no, pregnant women are not supposed to be on the ride either.



More shots of Carly with her beach buddies (Joey, then the whole crew eating dinner).




yesterday's cold spell



Finally, I thought I'd include this photo, even though it is not particularly great, because it captures a typical screw-up on my part. Yesterday, we stopped by the farm across the road to get a closer view of the cows that Carly had been waving to for the last 2 weeks. If you look closely at the photo, you will see that we inadvertently stopped by the bull pen. No wonder those damn animals had steam coming out of their noses and were aggressively charging back & forth. Suffice it to say, Carly is "all done" with the cow close-ups for now.