Lake time....

We are gradually settling in to our time at the lake. It is so very different to be here with two kids, I'll tell you that. There are many parts of my life that ae very different with two kids, yes-- but the differences here are hitting me a bit harder, I think. Must be that we are beginning to acclimate to our situation at home. Beginning to find our routine, figuring out the best places to keep the baby paraphenalia, and how to structure naps and bed. Then we change spaces and everything else changes right alongside. We have lost the container of diaper wipes at least 16 times since we've arrived. In our 1 bedroom cottage.

Even more than the loss of routine and a consistent diaper-changing area, though, I feel the loss of the freedom which Farley's once stood for. Open-ended time, to be used productively-- plowing through books, scrapbooking, kayaking and running-- or not-so-much--gin and tonics and endless hours in the front yard, chatting away with family and neighbors. This freedom was cut a bit with the advent of Jack. But somehow with just one it was still pretty easy to get away. One at a time or hand him off to a relative and sneak off just the two of us in the boat. With two darlings to leave or hand off, well, alone time and together time seem to be harder to come by. Down time? Easy to be found when the loves are napping. Or when even one is napping and the other is off with daddy (as we are right now...). But it is a snatched and stolen sort of down time. I miss the feeling of time stretching out before me like the lake, sun-drenched and open and breezy...

That said, it is awfully fun to take our little man out in the kayak this year, as he valiantly tries to paddle us both. And we had a lovely time at the Aurora Fest, camping out by the "kids' games" area so that Jack could run in and out of the bounce house (he's been wanting to try one for ages but has been scared.. he did it yesterday and can I tell you how much he LOVED it??) or join in at the sponge-relay at will. Ivy was well behaved and adorable on a blanket, and we got a chance to talk almost like grown ups with some of Nat's HS friends, who were there with their own children, of course. Moments like that, when we manage to fully embrace and surround ourselves with parenthood, I feel like a little bit of my freedom might be coming back, actually. I suppose its a matter of adjusting my expectations and letting go of the way things used to be, in favor of the way they are now. And looking ahead to the way they will be. Ivy won't be 9 weeks old forever! Sweet and tiny, that she is. But I think Farley's is only going to get better and better, for all of us, as the kids grow...