Kid Quote of the Day

As I was packing for vacation, Briggs and I had this conversation:

Briggs:  "Have you already packed the potty trees?"
Me:  "The what?"
Briggs:  "The potty trees.  You know, like my toothbrush and toothpaste."
Me:  "Oh!  You mean the toiletries?"

I will never again say the word 'toiletries' without thinking about this conversation.

Love this boy!!

Summer

The end of the school year and the beginning of summer melded together into a blurry line as many things stayed the same.  We were still at home.  The calendar remained eerily empty.  Zach was still working from home.  Many businesses were still closed.  Many activities were still cancelled.  June became an extension of May with a sprinkling of new happenings...reintroduction of some get-togethers with family and friends, a few activities resuming, a few appointments on the calendar, some outdoor church services to attend, and a few things to celebrate.   As we've continued to enjoy our light schedule, we've also embraced some tastes of normalcy as we've eased into summer.

The girls resumed their in-person acting class--with some COVID-inspired changes to class size, health and safety screening, and social distancing.

The library remains closed, but we've taken advantage of porch pick-up and free books from the library dinosaur.

We loved getting together with family to celebrate Caroline's 6th birthday.

This was the first time the kids had gotten together with their cousins on this side of the family since before March and they were SO happy to be together again.

We also celebrated all the quarantine birthdays that we had missed with Zach's side of the family.  That included EVERYONE except Staley and Mark.  Yes, 10 of the 12 members of the family have birthdays between March and June.

The kids have also enjoyed resuming some play time with neighbors and friends.

We've enjoyed our tastes of social normalcy, but still have filled our days with many of our summer favorites like reading...

playing outside,

water fun,...

and lots of play time at home.

Our summer may be a little different than normal, but it has still been super.

Big Kid Bed

He ditched the training wheels.  We said good-bye to the strollers.  And now...

Good-bye, toddler bed.

Hello, big kid bed!

End of an Era

The one constant with kids is that they are always changing.  Their likes.  Their dislikes.  Their interests.  Their activities.  Their abilities.  Their independence.  Their needs.  Their wants.  The beautifully bittersweet part of raising children is how quickly they grow and change.  It's fun to watch the evolution and so humbling to be a part of.  On the other hand, it can bring a twinge of sadness as I realize how quickly these years are speeding by.

We are entering a new phase as a family.  It's wonderful and oh-so-fun and a little bittersweet at the same time.  Briggs ditched the training wheels.  He has proven himself a more than able hiker.  We can walk or ride all over town without anyone falling behind.  And so we realized that our trusty strollers that served us well for the past 9.5 years no longer have a useful place in our home.  I wasn't sad about passing them along to others or having the extra space in our garage...until I began pushing my beloved double stroller across town to deliver it to its next owner.  Pushing that double stroller brought back so many memories.  I spent miles and miles, hours and hours pushing that stroller.  It carried my toddler and my infant on so many walks around town when I was just learning to be a mom of 2.  With Briggs strapped to me, I was the mom of three taking my kids to watch a college baseball practice or a high school track meet.  It made so many trips back and forth to the school to drop off and pick up the girls.  A tired Kindergartener often found their way into the stroller, too tired from the long day at school to walk all the way home.  It forged a path through all the parks at Disney World, giving the kids a quick reprieve or a place to nap before heading off to the next fun thing.  It was often loaded down with 3 kids and a bag full of books on our many trips to the library.  It provided shade and shelter, comfort and convenience, and the primary way we made our way around town for years.

There are so many things I love about our family right at this very moment.  I love that we can go on bike rides and hike and explore national parks.  I love that my kids don't need constant supervision and can do things for themselves.  I love that vacations are easier, meal times are easier, bedtime is easier.  But part of me will always remember the feel of that stroller, weighed down with kids and their library books, knowing that wherever I was going, they were right there with me, along for the ride.  They were safely in my care and there was comfort in that.  And although I love the growing independence and this new phase as a family, part of me longs to hold onto those little kids who are just relying on me to take them where they need to go.

Good-bye, Old Friend

Once upon a time, poor young newlyweds purchased a fancy, cutting edge, state-of-the-art television set.  They marveled at the size.  They admired the picture quality.  They placed it prominently in their home.  They were proud to host football games and movie nights.  It served them well for years...and years...and years.  New technology came.  New technology went.  Still the television stayed.  They had to purchase various adapters to make newer accessories compatible with their television that was growing older by the minute.  The television won't last that much longer, they said.  Eventually the bulbs will burn out, they said.  We'll just wait until the television no longer works, they said.  Yet, year after year, the television soldiered on.  It continued to bring them football games every fall.  It was the provider of many a movie night.  It started mixing in more cartoons and Disney films and children's programming with the same stalwart persistence.  It bore the brunt of sticky fingerprints and wayward thrown balls.  As it sat sturdily in their living room, they discovered that it was also being featured in a museum display of technological relics.  They waited for it to stop working so they could feel justified in moving on.  They waited...and waited...and waited...until finally they could wait no longer. They brought in a newer, sleeker, fancier model.  They thanked their family heirloom for the years of faithful service and then found it a new home where they have no doubt it will continue to defy the odds and continue the legacy as the television that just wouldn't quit.  

Thank you, old friend!  You served us well!

Question of the Day

When we realized that all the public pools would be closed for the summer, we thought that maybe we needed to get a larger pool for our yard for the kids to enjoy this summer.  When we recognized that everyone else had the same idea long before we did, we were disappointed when we found that there were no pools available to buy.  As a consolation prize, we blew up the pool we inherited from Zach's parents and put it on the deck over the week-end for the kids to enjoy.

Question of the Day:  Were the kids disappointed that we didn't have something bigger for them to play in?

3 hours on Saturday plus

3 hours on Sunday plus

5 hours on Monday equals...

No disappointment at all. 

The kids have had THE BEST time in this pool.  We don't need anything bigger.  We don't need anything different.  The kids weren't thinking about what we don't have.  They are just enjoying what we do.  And what we have is a giant inflatable peacock on our deck that provides hours...

...and hours and hours and hours of fun!

Big Boy

At the end of last week, Briggs decided he wanted to learn to ride his bike without his training wheels.  A little practice on our sidewalk and a second round of practice on the lower lake trails was all it took to figure out the balance, pedaling, and steering.  Another quick session on the lower lake basketball courts and he figured out how to start on his own.  A mile bike ride around town confirmed it for us...

Briggs is a training wheel-less bike rider now!

He's so proud of himself...and so am I.