Things I don't want to forget

The way Sophie says, "No," with her lips pursed.

How absolutely adorable Sophie is these days. Everything she does is just so cute, and Aaron and I aren't the only ones that think this. Everyone who spends time with her comments on how adorable/cute she is these days. It's pretty amazing. I was joking with my sister that Soph has my looks and Aaron's charisma, so she's going to be unstoppable.

Sophie also thinks that Gabbie is the best, coolest person in the whole wide world and wants to be exactly like her and do everything that Gabbie does. Aaron and I joke that we just have to do a good job raising Gabbie, and Sophie will follow suit.

Gabbie has had a rough month, getting anxious about leaving her daycare and heading to school at the beginning of September. Some of her friends are headed to the year-round school we have in our district, and so their last day is today. She is so, so much like me it's scary sometimes: equally excited and worried about every change. She's also home sick for the second day in a row, and so she's missing her best friend's last day, and I am broken hearted about this. So many changes are happening so quickly for her, and she's really starting on her school journey and leaving behind all thing toddler. How did this happen already?!?

We had an absolutely excellent day at the lake with my family this weekend, and were all sad to leave on Sunday afternoon. (Gabbie cried quite a bit when we had to go, because she was just having so! much! fun!)

Some pictures of our fun:

Gabbie and I, waking up in the cabin under an open window, with the sun rising and the birds singing.

Our early-morning view from the porch swing (moments before Gabbie bit it and started crying, and I was afraid she was going to wake up everyone).

In the water. Gabbie was a little tentative at first, while Sophie is a total fish and loved the water.

 The next day, at about 12:00. I tried to keep her awake, and it was literally not possible. Also, hilarious.

Grand Scheming

Lately I have been in the mood to throw a party; a big, blow-out type party with a lot of friends and a lot of fun. Seeing as how Aaron has a birthday coming up in a little over a month, I am (selfishly, actually) planning a blow-out bash in his honor.

Here's how I see it:

Food made on our (soon to be in our possession) new grill.

A keg of one of Aaron's favorite micro-brews, as well as wine and watermelon margaritas for us non-beer-drinkers.

A fancy, delicious cake made by yours truly, accompanied by homemade ice-cream (note to self: contact KitchenAid about your broke-ass ice cream maker!).

Yard games/field events: bocce ball, ladder ball, that game where you try to throw wing-nuts through a hole in a board (there are several different names for it, none of which are even slightly appropriate), three legged races, egg/spoon relays, a water balloon toss (and squirt guns for the kids)...

My latest idea came from a wedding website, but I think it would be all kinds of fun for a birthday party too: a Candy Buffet! Aaron has the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I know, so this would be awesome for him.

Friends (hopefully) traveling in for the day.

Now I just have to get to work. It's going to be a blast!

Lazy Weekend

Following a weekend away and a hellishly busy work week during which I worked both my former and new jobs, our house looks not unlike a small tornado had gone through. Aaron and I were both looking forward to the weekend in order to get the place back into shape.

Then Saturday morning happened, when we all lazed around in bed until a time we haven't woken up to see in quite some time, then decided to head out for a day of family fun and togetherness. Nearly ten hours later we made it back home, having eaten breakfast, seen some ballet dancers, bought paint, gone for a walk, and then out to dinner. Then we all fell into bed.

Sunday was going to be it. We were going to get things done! We made a long list of everything we needed to accomplish and set out to get it done. Gabbie I made banana muffins while Aaron did some yard work. Then Aaron came in to check out something on the computer, which turned into a quick round of our new favorite computer game (Ticket to Ride, and yes I'm aware of what huge dorks we are). While Gabbie colored and played with her babies (and may have watched a movie - mama needed a nap), Aaron and I switched off playing our game until dinner time. This is not to say that we didn't get anything done - I framed some pictures and Aaron cleaned the kitchen and, um, that might have been it. However, those were just a very few of the things on our very long to-do list.

There was one thing about this weekend that we did accomplish, though. We all spent the weekend happy, which was a distinctly different mood from how we came into the weekend - exhausted and crabby at the world. So far the happiness has held, which makes me realize that I don't care if my house is in need of a little tidying up, what matters much more to me is that I have a house full of a happy family who had a great time hanging out together all weekend. That lazy weekend was just exactly what we all needed.

Some Summer Time Fun

T-minus three days until the first official day of summer! It's not like it hasn't been summer-hot already, and for many in our area, summer started last week with the end of school. Still, I love the first day of summer, especially because it's the longest day of the year, and I sure do love long, sunny days.

The first day of summer, is, coincidentally, Gabbie's first day in her new room at day care. This morning while we were putting on Gabbie's sandals, I told her that I was a little sad because she is growing up so fast. She responded by patting me on the back, squeezing in for a hug, and saying, "Sorry, Mommy. S'okay, Mommy," which was just about the cutest thing I've ever witnessed.

Gabbie has been two for almost a month now, and earlier this week we finally made it in for her 2-year well-child visit (*sob* it's now "well-child" instead of "well-baby"). She's still as tall and skinny as ever, measuring in at 36 inches, and very nearly 23 whole pounds (22 lbs, 13 oz). Although, I do have to admit I cheated a little on that by feeding her some cookies and milk right before we left for the doctor. I mean, it was her regular snack-time anyway, so it's not really cheating, right?

Anyway, I have been thinking long and hard about some fun things that we can do with Gabbie this summer now that she's much more mobile and much more kid than baby. So, I thought I'd make a list of things I want to do with her this summer, her last summer of being an only child, and her first summer as a real kid.

Gabbie's Fun Big-Girl Summer List

1. Go to the zoo.

We have a small zoo here in town that's not too bad, but I think I want to take her to the Detroit zoo if at all possible.

2. Eat an ice cream cone.

Gabbie has plenty of ice cream-eating experience, but always out of a cup with a spoon. This summer sometime we're going to let her strip down and get as messy as she wants to with ice cream in a cone. Plenty of pictures will follow, of course.

3. Take her to a swimming pool.

She has been in one pool, when we were in Florida, but it was kind of chilly out and the experience lasted at total of about 5 minutes. Some weekend when we're at my parents' house, I want to take her to the neighborhood pool and have a few hours of splashing fun.

4. Catch fireflies.

This may be less than successful, since Miss Gabbie is all girl and a little squeamish about bugs. However, we typically get a ton of lightning bugs in our area, and I think this could be a fun treat, letting her stay up until it's dark out at the very least.

5. Watch fireworks.

She liked them last year, but has gotten to be a little more of a fraidy-cat so we'll see how this goes over. This is kind of related to the next one:

6. Go to a baseball game.

Again, she did do this last year, but she'll be so much more aware this year. Plus this is one of my favorite activities and I want to make sure we go at least once.

That's all I have so far, but I'm sure I'll come up with many more. Hopefully, with all this fun planned, this summer is going to rock!