We've started saying a Lutheran prayer before dinner, the one I used to say with my grandparents when I visited them in California. It's useful to have a group prayer, because when we just had one person pray they would often have trouble figuring out what to say and then someone would misbehave and do silly things during the prayer and it's awkward to punish a child during a time where you are talking to God ... anyway, group prayer is best. I barely ever close my eyes during prayer though because it's so fun to watch Juliet do it.
The kids talked me into a lemonade stand on the hottest day of the entire summer. I said my only assistance in this endeavor would be bringing out a table for them, the rest was up to them. No problem!
Grandparents drove over specifically because they had heard the exciting news about a lemonade stand.
But mostly they've just been excited to be around each other and play.
Reading to Juliet before bedtime is a sought after honor and privilege. Although you have to be careful what you read to her. I was reading the book It Looks Like Spilt Milk and Juliet would holler, "I say what it is!" then stare at the picture and mumble until I told her what the picture was which she would loudly repeat and then lecture me that she can do it on her own. Ah Juliet.
She got to go to Wonderscope with a buddy and they were pretty adorable together.
Driving the bus remains a favorite activity.
As is playing with the babies in the toddler area of the museum and yelling at anyone who tried to touch one of "her" babies. Juliet insisted on these socks and shoes with her outfit, we got a lot of commentary about how cute she was. Which was good, because she was yelling at anyone who tried to come close to any of the toys she was playing with.
Shopping time!
It's gone surprisingly well bringing all of the kids there on my own. The older kids generally hang out in the art room or come play by Juliet. No one is tired of going there yet, it's a pretty great little museum.
Sister reading time when we got home. Juliet emulates everything the big kids do so you better believe she's all about reading books to herself. It's actually a bit of an issue to have kids who sit and read at every opportunity. Especially when there are new library books, reading is all they want to do. The other day I had to bribe Patrick with candy to stop reading so he would go play ninja robots with a bored Juliet.
Patrick and Juliet got to go to a fun summer reading program event at my parents' church.
There was a monkey theme this year, Juliet was a fan of the swag.
Then we went down to the lake again. Hurray! We geared up so I could ride my stand-up paddleboard at the big lake. We looked pretty classy with it strapped to the top of the golf cart ...
Lake days are the best days. Although it turned out that it's rather exciting to ride a stand-up paddleboard when people are driving big boats and jet skis by you and there's plenty of wake. The boys loved riding out with me - they would try to stand up and fell off about every 5 seconds and they thought it was hilarious and the most fun.
Play time in the little play house. One of our best purchases for the lake.
Obligatory Patrick fishing pictures.
This kid has started to catch some big fish!
He's so proud of himself when he catches a big one.
We even went out and hit up the driving range with the kids.
Although there was some confusion about which direction to swing.
It was pretty tiring business for a little girl.
The next day we sent the older three kids off to Youthfront day camp. Yes, I sent all three off at once leaving me and Juliet home alone together. We had a fun time but I have no idea what I was thinking, next time I'm splitting things up and making sure Juliet has a friend at home with her at all times because it turns out I'm boring.
And Eleanor has been a champ all summer so when I was told that there was an emergency and she needed a fanny pack for camp because they were so so cool, we went to Claire's at the mall and got her one on a Tuesday night. Juliet went with us because girl shopping trips are the best and you never know when you also need to ride on a merry-go-round together.
Juliet had never been on one but let it suffice to say, she is a fan.
Watching her feed the goats is so fun. She yells at them when they try to push each other out of the way in order to get to her and her bottle.
Playground time.
Pretending to eat a toy elephant on the way home ...
Having a popsicle to cool off when we got home. Check out the three cats in the window.
Her cousin Katie showed up for a visit and they were excited to score some pool time together.
She also loved getting in on Bradley's playdate with his friend Luca AKA her playdate with her friend Luca.
Playing video games with Uncle Daniel. A much anticipated event anytime he visits.
Eleanor was there too, they had a blast. I was at home with Bradley and Juliet.
Puzzles only ever seem to happen at the lake.
They fixed up the mini golf course this year and we've been playing quite a bit more than I anticipated we would.
Eleanor remains Daddy's helper when it comes to building anything.
They built a ladder and have been fixing up the loft space of the skid shed.
Then they came home and I got to take a walk with my favorite 3rd grader.
Emma is one of Bradley's friend's little sister so Luke joined us one morning for a playdate car ride with Bradley.
More kitties!
The final day. Eleanor got to play with goats as she waited to show off her riding skills to me.
She looked so good riding a horse!
We signed her up for another round of lessons in the fall. It turns out Eleanor doesn't hate sports, she just hates the inexpensive sports.
I came back from horse camp and was going to have the boys go watch shows together but then they were so incredibly cute in their little blanket fort together, whispering stories, that I delayed show time until later in the day. If you look closely you can see Bradley looking out by the red pillow. Patrick is snuggled in behind him.
Juliet had been feeling rough and I was fighting whatever she had gotten exposed to so I had to rest during her quiet times each day. If the cats could make me sick on purpose they would, they were SO HAPPY to have additional cuddle times.
We had to wait a while. Technically this is still an appropriate use of the mask, it's covering both her nose and mouth.
It's so weird I was feeling sick too. Juliet likes to be face to face with me these days.
The covid test came back negative, she just had croup. Which was serious enough, she ran a fever for a few days and her cough was terrible and didn't go away completely for at least a week. It was rough. Fortunately she had her lovely sister and a bunch of Elsa gear to make her feel better.
Juliet had a lot of comfort from her fan club.
Eleanor learned how to braid at horse camp and has been enjoying practicing on me.
Nathan had to work from home one last day before school started.
He did have a comment at one point because literally every other person in the house (including me) was in the office either playing or working and apparently this made "concentrating on work difficult" and "is there really no other place you all can be?"
Juliet is a big girl and likes eating at the island now. I like it too, especially when there's plenty of cute little baby skin showing.
Marble run with Bradley. I'm not sure if she insisted on putting her necklace on him or if he just wanted to wear it.
Patrick got to spend a morning with Eleanor's friend Naomi's sister Elise (phew, that was a sentence) at the creek and apparently she is an expert at catching fish. He was so happy and it took a little effort to convince him to free them and not keep them all as pets.
Cuddles with sweet Juliet.
Playing a new game with Bradley. Sometimes I think it's silly that I keep introducing new games to the kids, maybe we should just have a few family favorites. But then they get SO excited about trying out the new games and I feel better. This is Infinity Gauntlet - Marvel themed Love Letter.
More mini golfing with Daddy at the lake. Juliet started to complain a bunch about everyone going to the "tarvee" except her. She was still getting over croup and we were trying to take it easy on her.
Doesn't this make motherhood look so sweet?
Reality.
We went to the park and it turns out Juliet was not interested in pretending Bradley was a baby on the swing.
More sister cuddles. Juliet mostly only tolerates cuddles from Eleanor.
Eleanor taught Juliet how to be a kitty.
Eleanor taught Patrick how to flip upside down on bars at the playground.
Helping Juliet balance on the perimeter of the park.
Ignoring our cats and making a special trip to visit the neighborhood cat Chewie.
Juliet barely got to see Katie on this trip because of her case of croup but they finally got to swim together one last time before Katie had to go home. Sitting in the back seat in booster seats was incredibly exciting for all three girls. Juliet keeps asking to do it again. Oops.
Juliet has other things to focus on though - she's in a big kid bed now! She made it until 2 and a half in her crib, that's longer than any of our other kids. She had a rough first night and definitely was a bit of a crab the entire next day, but now she's a champ and is in love with anything to do with her big kid bed. She even calls her room her "big kid room" now.
Eleanor, building yet another thing with Daddy. This was the night before school started. The night before this I had the following conversation with Nathan:
We had four barstools for the first day of school! Unfortunately, we had to return the one they build, it turns out my master plan of having just one that didn't match was a bad plan, it looked bad, and I need to go get a matching one now.
First day of school outfit.
The crew! Bradley is in 4th grade with Mrs. Stark, Eleanor is in 3rd grade with Mrs. Brewer, and Patrick is in 1st grade with Mrs. Sturm. Fun fact about Mrs. Sturm - she just graduated from college and she has a little sister who is 7 years old and is in 1st grade. I about died laughing when I heard Patrick's teacher has a sibling his age. I like them young and full of energy for the lower grades though! She has been fabulous for Patrick so far!
Walking up to the school - we're planning on biking to school but not until it cools down a bit.
There are still masks at school. I'm so grateful. Whatever it takes to keep them healthy and at school!
Juliet loved meeting the wildcat mascot and was desperate to get out of the car and see it again and pickup the next couple of days even though I kept explaining that it was just a first day thing. She hates car line and I've finally started bribing her with a dum-dum sucker to wake up from her nap and go pick up the kids every afternoon. Otherwise there is screaming.
Layla was okay with the kids being back in school.
I took Juliet back to Deanna Rose to celebrate the return of our solo outings.
She's so cute there. I'm so happy it's open this year.
Patrick and Juliet helped me test out a game I was reviewing that was due to be released on Kickstarter. My board game channel and website are starting to get a little attention!
Patrick took this picture. Juliet loved the magnetic pieces.
She got really mad later when she wanted to dance with Bradley and that darn Patrick was trying to steal her cuddles. Turns out Bradley loves being fought over.
A morning sprinkler rumpus. Patrick has been wearing his hair in a mohawk every day at school.
Then Juliet and I had the best morning down at the creek together.
She loves climbing dangerous rocks.
Sometimes I forget to take pictures of our dinners over at Grandma and Grandpa's house and they're pretty lovely times.
Bradley reading to Patrick once we got home. The boys are looking so tall now.
With school back in session my dad has started taking Juliet again for their Monday mornings together. The pool is still open so they got to play there this past week! I played tennis with my friend Julie, it was fantastic.
Naps in the big kid bed have been a little too exciting it seems.
Kitty cuddles! Lucky Meg!
We had a bit of a heatwave the first week or so of school and we think Patrick managed to get heatstroke. He came home from school feeling bad and running a low grade fever and fell asleep on the couch. But by the next morning the fever was gone! I still kept him home for the day but he was all better after that and was happy and ready for school the next day. I really liked having him at home - we played a bunch of games together and he was so fun to have around with me and Juliet.
Juliet was so excited about her first gymnastics class that she slept in her little leotard. Then she was delighted to get to sit on the counter and help me make banana bread.
Weird news - Eleanor made blood art. Out of a nosebleed ... I found this on the bathroom counter and asked her about it. Apparently she had a large blood clot and used a q-trip to spread it around. I'm simultaneously impressed and concerned.
First gymnastics class. Oh the joy.
We went with a little friend Olivia. I have one other friend with a two year old! Thank goodness!
Afternoon rest time for me and my support squad.
Friendship hug time! Eleanor is so lucky, Juliet barely even hugs me.
Playing Space Escape - Mole Rats in Space. It's our new favorite game, it's pretty great.
We tested out a Parents as Teachers group because I wanted Juliet to have more friends. But she played by herself the whole time and many of the kids had behavioral issues so we decided to quit and just go to the park more often and make friends there.
Patrick and Mabel got to visit Mrs. Scarborough at school and Patrick couldn't believe she still remembered him. Honestly, I think it's pretty hard to forget Patrick.
I'm starting to get pictures from kid activities at school and they're so cute. Everyone is doing so well at school, we've had a great start to the year!
In total I think Patrick and Eleanor made $20 and had an absolute blast sampling their wares and yelling at every car that drove by. A few stopped. These kids were ridiculously cute. Juliet also enjoyed sitting out there with them and munching on the chips I left out for snacks.
The girls have been really into Wellie Wisher dolls lately.
Everyone practiced their golf game.
This is so the perfect spot for us. We were the only ones at the driving range and the kids all had a blast and best of all, no one got hit by a ball or a club. Great success!
Youthfront was amazing though. I heard great things from all the kids.
Juliet had to make new friends while the big kids were gone. The cats have mixed feelings about her insistence on picking them up.
The lower lip at the end of this video ...
Juliet is my only child who has ever pulled the true toddler move of scooting around on her bottom at the grocery store.
Juliet decided that she was obsessed with Elsa and hated all of our dumb princess items that were Ariel or Rapunzel so I asked some friends if they had any Frozen themed items they might be done with and oh my did they come through!
We did okay while the kids were at camp. I took her to Deanna Rose!
Pedaling the tractors is tough but man does she look cute trying to do it.
An example of what it's like to play with Juliet. She's something.
She had her 2 and a half year check-up and was a champ at wearing a mask. But it had to be Yoda.
Nathan got Bradley a Link sweatshirt as a celebration for completing a video game and he officially never gets to question any of my parenting decisions. Of all things. Of course Bradley loves it.
Yes, Patrick took that video. It was after he started chanting "I'm a pretty pretty princess" and twirling in the hallway so I took a video of him and then he ran off to show it to Bradley because he was so proud.
Then this happened. This is a small view into what life is like with these four kids right now. It is adorable but so very ridiculous.
Nathan took a trip down to the lake with Patrick and they were excited to be able to take a boat out together to fish in the middle of the lake.
And Juliet fed me a bunch. She's really into feeding me right now, which we both enjoy tremendously.
She also stole her brother's special Link sword, another part of the insane gift given to him by his father as a reward for completing a video game (!?!) and Bradley was a very good sport about all aspects of his baby sister stealing his new fancy sword and also attacking him with it.
We fit in one week of horse camp for her before she went back to school.
She went with a friend named Emma and we had a tough time getting the girls past the barn kittens and into horse camp every morning.
Fun story - Eleanor decided she hated tennis camp and wanted to quit halfway through. In order to punish her I signed her up for a far more expensive camp and bought her cute new clothes like fancy riding boots and a jean skirt and shirt to go with it. I think she learned her lesson.
We were sticking around the house and letting Juliet watch shows while we tried to figure out how sick she was. She's still feisty even when she's a little under the weather.
We called the doctor and said the word "cough" so they made us come in so they could give Juliet a covid test.
Eleanor has some fun lake tricks she does off the lily pad.
Patrick has been learning too!
These photos are called: does Juliet have a personality?
Filming board game videos with my dad in the basement. Whenever I don't shut the cats in my room they come down and beg for cuddles. Sookie is probably the neediest.
Me: I want to celebrate our last night of getting to stay up later with the kids before school starts. Can you make popcorn and Eleanor and I can watch Full House?
Eleanor: If I had a tail I would be wagging it right now!
The girls like to play kitties together at bedtime.
Juliet's current favorite show is Doc McStuffins and she loves having pretend checkups.
