End of the Innocence

Our summer vacations have come to a close and it's almost time to get ready for preschool (yee-ha!). There are too many hilarious stories to recount from our trip to the Rock, but suffice it to say that one of them involved Grandma Rita strapping a maxipad to her ankle. In any case, Carly had a great time making memories with her cousins, so below I'm sharing a few more shots.

Sully - either protecting Katie as she slept by the bonfire or waiting to see if she had an extra s'more.

It did not take old Sully boy long to locate a better spot, directly under the chair holding the marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers. Score.


This shot captures exactly how I'll remember Charlie at meals this summer.


Carly finally convinced her cousins that Annie isn't a "girl movie," but a classic to be enjoyed by all....over & over & over when necessary.


Okay, these two shots are from the "donut place" as we refer to it, even though the donuts there are not that great (you can bet I still ate them). That is actually a goat on top of that platform thing, and Charlie is using the pulley to entice it up there to eat. Pam Anderson and PETA were protesting in the parking lot while Kid Rock was singing "All Summer Long." Just kidding.



Carly & Sully were pumped when Greg finally arrived...but not so happy when he made us head home early.



Carly & Mitchell at the Fredrickson's beach, just a few houses away. On a related note, if anyone has contacts at the Army Corps of Engineers, my mom is interested in bribing them to clear some of the grass away from her beach.


And it wouldn't be a family vacation without a ridiculous amount of time spent trying to get a group shot. This year, mom & Julie actually set up a poor professional photographer with the challenge of trying to get beach glamour shots of 5 kids under the age of six, one great-grandma with very fussy hairstyle taste, one matriarch who thinks that the coordinating white outfits make us resemble the Kennedy family, and 5 other pessimistic adults. Painful does not describe it. Did I mention that Carly had some type of crib accident just prior to the shoot and emerged with a swollen, bruised nose? In fact, the only one who honestly enjoyed the photo shoot was Nick, who, when it came time for individual family shots, instructed the gracious photographer that "since Scott doesn't have a wife, I will just be in his photo."





And, finally, a photo that my dad would love....he would have also loved every minute of chaos with the family this summer. Cheers dad.

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.

Small town charm

How do you know you are in a small town?

1) The Ms. Any-Small-Town-USA and her court are going to be in a tug-of-war contest against the local firemen at the town fair this weekend. It may involve a fire hose and water.

2) They will throw you in a homemade "jail" if you are not wearing a $2 button that helps pay for fireworks at same said town fair.

3) The cashier at the local pharmacy felt it pertinent to tell the elderly lady in front of me, who was purchasing what seemed to be a yearly supply of laxatives, that an easier way to combat her problem might be to eat more yogurt. The elderly lady was actually thankful for his advice.

So here we go, our first installment from the Rock..........

Carly having breakfast with her baby (this is the one she named "Sara") at the beach.





Their view of Lake Michigan.



Joey, Charlie, Carly, Nick and Katie (over under the pink balloon) eating Superman ice cream at the street fair.



Nick, Carly & Joey



Carly, Nana (and me taking photo) having lunch at the Town Club (a local bar)....check out the time on the wall.



Joey and Carly enjoying lunch al fresco on Wednesday.



By the way, does this look like a good way to greet your customers? Believe it or not, it's a local swim shop (not a gun or hunting store).

Off to the Rock

Well, we are off to the Rock today. No biggy, just a 14 hour roadtrip with a toddler and a very large dog. But it is always worth the effort to enjoy the beauty & simplicity of life (mom, pay attention) on Lake Michigan.

I used to eagerly anticipate the geeky emails my dad would inevitably send to me, Greg, Scott, Julie & Judd before we would descend on the lake. They would always reference some teaser of an activity he was conjuring up as well as some super cheesy photos meant to get us psyched up for the trip. Some involved local fauna, many involved flags, and almost all of them included vistas of the Rock's beach. Below are just a few examples of his artistic talents.






Carly, Sully & I will be gone for three glorious weeks, so we'll try to stay in touch by blogging from afar...rumor has it that the Rock just got high speed internet, which is very exciting. THAT would have been helpful while trying to plan a wedding.

A par-tay!

Finally, I'm just now getting around to posting the birthday party photos. This year, we opted for a joint venture between Carly and her good buddies Max, Bella & Amelia. Carly, Max and Bella share the same birthday and Amelia's is just a few days later. I'll admit that there were many moments leading up to the festivities during which I feared I was really being a lazy mom opting to co-host a birthday party at a park and not sweat the small stuff like I did last year. But, let me tell you, it was fantastic. Who says Costco can't make a decent sandwich? Certainly not the mom who spent 2 hours roasting red peppers over an open flame last year. Aren't all birthday parties all about the cake anyway? I can tell you for certain that Miss Carly thoroughly enjoyed her party, as well as her cake.

What are you doing guys?

We've reached that point with Carly where the non-stop questions have begun. "Where are you going [mommy/daddy]?" is the catch-all question of choice. Loosely translated, it means "what are you doing?" This question forces me to account for every single thing I do during the day and, let me tell you, it can be quite humbling to admit out loud that "I'm spending 45 minutes cleaning up your strawberry mess" or "I'm surfing the cabinet to come up with some pathetic dinner" or "I'm freaking out reading this article about a lady who found a snake in her washing machine" (seriously, I would not recommend reading that story).

In any case, there have been a few recent gems over which I have found myself stumbling.

Where is the moon mommy? Greg said I wasn't being accurate enough when I said "it's sleeping, just like you will be in a few minutes", but the truth seems a bit out of her conceptual league at this point.

Daddy's car? She has been saying this anytime we hear a screeching noise outside. It refers to the fact that Greg has been ignoring the not-so-subtle belt issue with his car for several weeks now.

Mommy go running? Yeah, not really kiddo. Dad runs, but mom just huffs & puffs walking Sully around the neighborhood hills. And I really can't blame this on a huge belly yet.

TBeeee broken mommy? I may or may not have once told her that the tv was broken and unable to be changed to Sesame Street from HGTV.

More shots of the interrogator...

Carly's song

A short video to illustrate how much Carly enjoys a certain song...