Everyone Vacations! (except Tim.)

Today's Tuesday, but it feels like Monday. Gigi and Grizz are safely in Vienna, and we got to skype with them and take a tour of their hotel, so fun! Sara got back from camp this weekend, tired and happy, after having an amazing time. And she even survived work yesterday, though today is taking it easy, aside from having to clean the house.

And I spent the weekend in Chicago, celebrating Becca and her upcoming baby. Her friends are so great - there were five of us handling the shower, and also five pregnant girls wandering around in varying degrees of beautiful fatness. It was a nice little get away, even if we spent most of our time at Target, picking up maternity and post partum supplies, along with all of the other garbage that simply must be purchased at Target. It was also SO NICE to be someplace where the weather is actually cool and crisp, because despite the rain we got last night, it's going back to 90 degrees later this week (kill me.)

Shower hostesses and our guest of honor

A bump train!

And this week Lisa and Greg and Mike and Patty arrive. It's nice to have so many distractions while Gigi and Grizz are away. Except for poor Tim, who gets stuck with taking care of everything while all of the other adults are gone. Good thing he's the kindest and the most patient!

Just a few photos.

This week is so hot that I want to die. And I want to do so by sitting on the couch and eating ice cream while the AC blasts on me until I just go into some sort of diabetic coma and drift off to heaven. It's miserable. I mean, our house is fine because our AC works great, and being in a single story house means that all of the rooms stay almost equally cool.

Plus Gigi and Grizz abandoned us to go gallivant around the Continent, and today we had to drop Sara off for camp, so it's hot AND lonely. As we were pulling away from dropping off Sara, Ellie says "what are we going to do without Sara or Grizz or Gigi?" Even she knows that I'm not a fit parent when left to my own devices!

To beat the heat today, we went to Petsmart and looked at all of the animals and then went to Barnes and Noble. Read some books, bought some books, built some great towers. It was so nice to be in the air conditioning, having fun.

We also baked some cookies, because the first meeting of MOPS is tomorrow!

Did you know that alligators love to go jogging? (thanks Uncle Bennett!)

Ellie doing some tree climbing on the way into school this morning. She's still loving it!

Old Man Grizzer.

We had an early birthday party for Grizz tonight, since he and Gigi leave on their grand tour of the continent the day he turns sixty. AKA, the worst case scenario. For those who haven't heard the joke, on Grizz's 50th birthday he was bitching and moaning about his age and how old he was, and frustrated, Gigi goes "dammit Jeff, you still have ten years left, best case scenario." She meant worst case, obviously, but we have drawn the joke out for ten solid years. Enjoy your birthday with Grizz, he's only got seven years left, BEST CASE SCENARIO. Last birthday with Grizz, BEST CASE SCENARIO.

But here he is, on his almost sixtieth birthday celebration, hanging out with his Itty Bitty, who was even more in love with him tonight than she usually is. We made him a lemon poppyseed cake in a 9x13 pan and then put sixty candles on it.

Thankfully he had two helpers, because that cake was engulfed in flames. Then Adam went back to his evening activity of crying and refusing to eat, until he finally had a few bites of cake and ice cream.

The best part was when Dad was opening cards, and he opened the one from the kids that said something like "do you know who's an awesome grandpa?" As he was reading it aloud Sara goes "you're not it," and we laaaaaaaughed. We laughed until we cried. Grizz promised Ellie he'd take the card along with him to look at in Europe. To be reminded that he's not the best Grandpa.

Good news, speaking of Grandpas, I think I could easily get 70 candles on the 9x13 cake. How nice that'll be come December, for Poppy. BURN DOWN ALL OF THE HOUSES!

Ellie did a great job during her first week of school. She loves it - loves her teacher, is making friends, is doing lots of good work. The worst part has been that we have to get up and fed and out of the house by 7:30 in order to get her to school with more than sixty seconds to spare (one morning we were running late and I had to serious hustle her to get her to the door in time.) Most mornings, we're not up and going before 8:30ish. I know this is going to be the reality of their school-going years, but it's tiring! I am trying to encourage the kids that Saturdays and Sundays are for sleeping in, but they don't appear to be getting the memo. The good news is that they've both been taking long naps, so I at least have a few minutes during the day to get my crap together. Plus I don't have to pack her a lunch. I'm looking forward to the coming weeks when MOPS starts back up and Mimi takes Adam for a bit on Tuesdays, so that I can have some real quiet time.

Goodbye Big Blue.

Day two of school also went well! We got there on time (though we had to hustle a little - trying to figure out what time to leave to get parked and walk over to the school versus being there too early with nothing to do and two kids to mind is going to be an art form, I think) and Ellie had a good day. She wore her sequined skirt over her pants, letting everyone know that it's day two, time to show her crazy.

The other big development now that Ellie's in school every day, is that I gave away our double stroller. I know! Seems like crazy talk, but the truth is that we rarely take it out in public because it's so big and unwieldy and at the mall or wandering around, both kids usually want to walk. And walking's good for them! The park is close enough that Ellie could walk most of the way (and ride on the foot rest of the single stroller if she needs to) and if we really go out to make a big day of something (like if I ever decide I hate myself and want to go to Disneyland) we could always borrow from a friend.

You've been a good friend, double stroller. Thanks for hundreds of good miles!

Day One.

It's happened! Our little baby is a school girl! Everything went well this morning - we got up on time, had a nice breakfast and she got dressed in her new outfit from Mimi. I wore my workout clothes, because I am forever a slob. Tim came with us for the drop off - today is one of the few days that all of the kids start at the same time, so we had to park a bit off in the neighborhood and walk over, but no problem there. She was absolutely happy as a clam. We met a few friends before class (including the other Ellie) and then everyone lined up and headed in!

The first day was only an hour and a half, just to get the little friends ready for real school. It's a pretty diverse cast of tiny characters - some English learners, some kids who have never been in school before, but at pick up Mrs. G reported that there was no crying. And in case you were wondering, no crying on my end. I love that kid, but it's good for her to have her own thing, and for me to have a little time with my second little nutball. And then we got to go have coffee and hang out with the neighbors, so a good day thus far! Plus Gigi and Grizz are back from their sailing trip and hopefully ready to swim.

Super cheese face!

Okay mom, bye, please leave!

Both cute friends!

A Little Flippawaffa Action.

Well, it's hotter than blazes here and I want to melt into a puddle. Thank goodness for air conditioning, and for having a single story home. Otherwise I think I would die. The other bonus is of course, Grizz and Gigi's very nice pool, which has remained warm fairly late this year. Good news, because Ellie's end of summer trick is mastering the flippawaffa. What is a flippawaffa you ask? Well, it's this:

And yes, I am chucking a toddler into the air away from me, despite the fact that he can't actually swim.

Hey School Girl in the Second Row!

ooh-baa-baa-lochey-baa, you're mine!

Well, here we are, the end of summer and actual back to school time. Who would have thought it? Because of October birthday, Ellie can't start regular kindergarten, but instead is registered for transitional kindergarten, offered through the public schools. Monday I had our parent information meeting and got to meet her teacher, and it was great! She's going to be going on the early schedule (upside, she'll be home for lunch. Downside, the days of sleeping in until 8:30 are OVER) five days a week. Her teacher is in her sixties and has been teaching TK since they first offered it four years ago. She's also a trained reading specialist and fairly forthright, which reminded me of Grandma Rosie. I think she'll be a really good fit as Ellie's teacher.

I have already joined the PTA (no volunteering, but the money I spent on joining goes back into the classroom, so why not) and I bought Ellie a school shirt for spirit day. She of course, began crying and saying she would NEVER wear it. Okay then! We'll see how you feel when everyone else is wearing their shirt on spirit Friday.

This morning Ellie had her introduction to Mrs. G and a brief evaluation. From what was said at the parent meeting, I knew Ellie would nail it. She was happy to go over her letter and numbers and talk all about her life. When asked who lives in her house, Ellie goes "well, I have two cats, Lulu and Thory." Yes, definitely mention the important family members first. She said her favorite food is spaghetti (not true) and her favorite game is Mario, because then she can play with her dad. It was really cute and funny to listen to her answers while I filled out paperwork. I was very proud of how friendly and outgoing Ellie was - as much as she's whined, I think the transition is going to be fairly smooth. She's smart, she's used to a school environment, and her classroom and teacher are great. Monday is the big day! And afterwards, the PTA is hosting a boohoo/woohoo drop off coffee, so perhaps I will go and be friendly to some other parents. Or just scowl, hard to tell.

I think Adam is going to be sad to miss his sister friend every day during the week, but Kristen and I are looking into activities for the boys, now that things are beginning to settle down. Poor second children, only allowed to tag along thus far, no actual fun activities of their own! I don't plan on starting Adam in preschool fall 2016, when he'll be three and potty trained. This year between Tuesdays with Mimi, MOPS on Fridays (I'm on the leadership team! Smiling, not scowling!) and Wednesday with Juddy, he'll be able to keep busy. And keep me busy too!