Farley's, continued...

There is something about being at the lake that makes our children grow up faster. Since we've arrived, they both seem older somehow. There are the tangible changes, new skills learned-- the fact that Ivy can now walk over uneven terrain with tremendous aplomb, that Jack can navigate the point on a scooter... But there is something else too. They have flourished in this climate of freedom and independence and in just these 5 days they seem taller and more competent in a million subtle ways that I cannot seem to capture in words.

What I can do, however, is try to capture a few of the past days' events for you.

Yesterday we attended the Aurorafest Parade, the highlight of which was most certainly the copious quantities of candy being thrown out the windows of city vehicles. ( At least, that was the highlight for Jack. Personally I enjoyed the fife and drum band...) Jack and Elliot (son of Nat's friend Sara) jumped with excitement at the approach of each new vehicle, waving and shrieking, then raced after the loot as it scattered to the pavement. Elliot, being 6, was much more proficient at the candy grabbing and probably had a 3-1 ratio to Jack, but our little boy did manage to procure a pretty good haul. Today, as Jack and Ivy and I took a morning walk around the end of the point, Jack was admiring his ziploc baggie-full of candy: " Look at all these! I can't believe I got these many! This is the BEST!" Pause. Then, "Mom, did you tell me the parade was going to be AWESOME????!!!???"

Can you just hear him saying that? And can you sense that he is, somehow, older? See what I mean?

We also attended the annual Joust. (Of course Aurora would have a Joust as part of its summer festival..) Both kids were pretty tired but Ivy was riveted by the horses and Jack was a big fan of the sword fight at the conclusion.

This weekend, in addition to being Aurorafest, was also highlighted by a visit from Jamie and Casey.

Jamison cooked amazing gourmet dinners for us all both nights (the man is a master of the grill! Ever had grilled pineapple? My new favorite thing...) and we enjoyed staying up and having a drink with grown ups after the kids went to bed. Novel idea! And, a tiring one as the kids never do seem to understand when mommy and daddy just want to sleep in. Or, maybe they do understand and they are just cruel and vindictive little things.... hmmm. At any rate, it was wonderful to see our friends! We will be seeing them again in just over a month for their wedding, too. Exciting times!



Cousin time and swimming continue to define most of our days, though Jack did get some one-on-one time with Lulu today while the rest of us had some consumer therapy (5 days without Target! How have we survived!). Then, it was back to the lake and back to family immersion for the traditional Sunday Dinner. We served 21 tonight...




Family picture! One of the few with all 5 of us. This may end up as our Christmas card picture by default..



Finally, a little video for you. I've offered Ivy a lick of a popsicle on a few occasions and she's never gotten into it. But, oh, you should have seen her eyes light up when I handed this one to her! Apparently she just wanted to be in control of things...


We have about a gazillion wonderful pictures of the kiddos to share (lake lighting looks good on them, what can I say?) but running after our growing darlings all day in the 90 degree heat? I need some bedtime before I can sort through and post any more...

Look for pictures, in some form, tomorrow!