Recovering

Nat is home.  Triumphant and ready to revise and submit a dissertation.  We have been happily calling him Dr. Morehouse.

And I am so glad he is home.

Everything is easier with two of us here.  Even our often-difficult children.  Turns out their behavior did not improve overnight with Nat's return home.  But now, at least, we can take turns.

In the midst of the dawdling at bedtime, the skinned-elbow-dramatics, the non-listening two-year-olds-- there have been some lovely days, summer sunshine, and memories worth saving.   Here are a few of them.

We met my friend and co-worker Christy, and her two daughters, at Lake FarmPark on Wednesday. It was a perfect day out, a little breeze to cut the heat.  We wandered, petted sheep, and tried our best to avoid the crowds of daycare children swarming the grounds.  We had a picnic lunch and let our littles wander while we chatted.  We rode the wagon around the grounds, and the children clambered on a playground.  One of the best moments came at the end when Jack called us down to the water's edge to see the fish and frogs.  The frogs leapt into the cover of self-created muddy swirls ahead of our steps, but the fish lined up at attention, little schools of them facing us and swimming as close to shore as they could.  And so began 15 minutes of gathering up crusts of bread and tossing them to the feeding frenzy, little fish bodies swarming and flipping and darting to get the crumbs.  The children were entranced and delighted (and I was too!)

Gosh I love them.

Jack really liked this sheep.

Audrey and Ivy.  They are about 3 months apart in age.  I still catch myself thinking of them as little babies.

I love this shot.  Little shoes, cast aside at the base of a slide. The fun is implied.

It only LOOKS like Ivy is coming out of the cow's butt.

Thanks to those fish, we didn't head home til about 3.  Girlie crashed in the car, boy relaxed in front of the TV, I packed a picnic, and we were off at 5:30 for Wade Oval Wednesday.  

My children, rolling around in the grass together.  This was how they spent most of the evening.

Did I mention that it was perfect out?  A golden evening complete with bounce houses, puddles and fields of revelry and frisbees, a lovely picnic (if I do say so myself) and good friends.  Oh, and overtired children who wouldn't eat dinner and then proceeded to sink into a fit of low-blood-sugar induced  whining on the way home.  Sigh.  It is easy to do a bit too much when one is trying to squeeze every bit of lovely out of a summer day.

Thursday and Friday brought us a trip to the splash park and lunch with Melinda and Will and their girls, and a trip to Chuckie Cheese for the kids with their wonderful Auntie Bec.  Not to mention a much needed break for mom-of-the-year-Amanda, who spent more of the first part of the day yelling at her children than she'd care to remember.

Friday-- rinse and repeat only sub in a movie in the morning, followed by more yelling, followed by a break sponsored by my mother.

Sigh.  My endurance is not up to par, apparently.

We did have a lovely evening of watching the Olympic opening ceremonies.  Both children were enthralled. Jack asked a million questions about smokestacks and London in general and we're both excited to travel there together someday...

Saturday:  regrouping, and a "less is more" approach.  We visited the book sale at the South Euclid Library (bag day, how   could we miss it?) and then off to the Shaker Square Farmer's Market.  The children carried dollar bills around and helped to pay, and Jack lusted after jewelry (for his treasure chest of course!) that he was discouraged to find out of his price range.   We picked out sunflowers for Daddy and a tiny watermelon and corn and eggplants and tomatoes and onions and cucumbers and berries... (why don't we do this more often??)  The kids' favorite part, though?  Watching the rapid train go by as they climbed on little rocks...

For all the trials and tribulations and exhausting bedtimes of our week alone-- our mornings have been consistently sublime. Thanks to my abnormally clingy and cuddly children, I got to wake up each day to this:

(Imagine me squuezed in next to them and the dog at the foot of the bed,..)

We lingered in bed until after eight every day. Can you blame us?

And now-- Nat is home.  The children have been testing him a bit and clinging to me  as we work on recovering our equilibrium and our routine, which will soon include work time for me at school and for Nat on his revisions.  We have been watching a lot of Olympics.

Today treated us to glorious sun, playgrounds, the lake, and a lawn party at the parent center.  Bedtime was a little smoother today than yesterday.  I think that summer is going to recover well, and finish strong, if today was any indication...

The kids and I spent the morning at the Boulevard Playground, trying to ease Jack into the transition to Kindergarten.  He is not very excited yet... and spent his time here today watchful and thoughtful about it all.

We went to Kate's lakefront to splash, wade, and steal rocks for our garden project.  Next time, we will get to spend time with Kate, gosh darn it!

Idyllic fun outside of the parent center.  Complimented by chatting with like-minded parent friends and watching children splash in pools.  You guessed it-- another "I love my community" evening for me...

Soak up the sun, lovelies!  Summer is not over yet...

Home again, home again...

Jiggity-jig.

It is hard to come home from vacation.  Really hard.  I spent the first two days of our return alternating between anger and hopeless despair at the injustice that is this giant, cluttered, dark, falling-apart house of ours, at the lack of a lake just outside our door, at the steady intrusion of "real life" into our days.

Bleh.

So I hope you will forgive me for the quiet blog these past days.  You didn't want to listen to what I had to say, trust me.

But I am better now.

A few good trips to our pool, walks in the neighborhood, removal of a box of toys from the playroom and everything that was not nailed down in the living room, along with a lot of mopping... and I am starting to be able to see the glow of our lives here again.

Its not so bad.  I am really happy to have my garbage disposal back.  It sure would be better with a lake, though..



Nat left yesterday morning for Winnipeg.  (Really, it was just yesterday??)
He is off to prepare, defend, and revise his dissertation.  This is a big week for him. Huge. He has been excited and terrified and ready and dreading this for a long time.  I know that it is not a week of laurel-resting for my amazing husband, to be sure.  And I am fairly certain that I would not trade places with him, even knowing that he is starting each day with breakfast at the Pancake House and that he gets to hang out with Nicole and Rob and spend time in the Icelandic Reading Room...

OK, I thought I was certain that I wouldn't trade.... hmmm..

In the meantime, here I am with the kids at home.  I am so very soft, so very spoiled by my husband, by our team. Our shared efforts at parenting and housekeeping that make everything lighter.  It is daunting to be here on my own.  Daunting and very quiet at night. I have no excuse to be as tired as I am, as I think about all the single parents out there, who keep up with all of this and work too.  I have my 7 days of "going-it-alone" while I am on vacation and I know how lucky I am.  Lucky, because this is about all I can handle.

Let me preface this by saying that I adore my children, that they are beautiful shards of light on this earth and I am grateful to be their mother.

But good lord are they a demanding and whiny and energetic pair of little things!

Whew.

It's good to get that out.

It is hard to be the sole provider of all of your children's fun and excitement, the one who ensures that they use and enjoy their summer days.  It is even harder to be the sole provider of food and comfort and discipline....

 Did I mention discipline, and the fact that they've needed plenty?? And to know that you're on call, for all of these things, 24 hours a day...

Tonight, I am grateful that I only have to do this for 5 more days.

We've had a nice couple of days, overall, don't get me wrong.  Pool time and playground time and help from my mom and picnics with friends.  All the trappings of summer in place and duly enjoyed.

I'm just tired, that's all. And looking forward to Nat's triumphant return on Sunday.

Here are a few glimpses of the trappings of summer, in action...

Something to hold on to

Our last day at the lake.

 It's prettier out than expected, the chance of thunderstorms evaporating with the day, soft hazy sunshine and amenable temperatures allowing for two swims already.

 We cleaned the cottage this morning in preparation for leaving and I wonder why we haven't kept it this way all week, why we allow sloth to creep in and clutter to pile up. Neat and tidy and shiny-clean, the little cottage fairly glows and exudes spaciousness beyond its tiny footprint. There's somehow more room for the lake to come right in, with everything inside neatly stowed away. The art of living in a small space: tidiness.

 Just don't look in the bedroom.

 The triplets are over for the afternoon. They've just been swimming and 4 lake-soaked littles are sitting on the picnic table now, slurping at orange popsicles. The play-doh and art supplies are at the ready. Ivy is passed out on the bed (one of her new skills from these two weeks, along with using the potty and giving up her bottle at night-- napping somewhere other than the car!)

 The lake is calm and eases out to the soft blue horizon. Nat's making coffee and the cottage smells divine. I may go for a kayak later on. The evening promises a family picnic at Long Point. I plan to put off any further packing for as long as possible.

 This moment-- this is what I want to hold on to.

 That's it.

A mix of clouds and sun

  Cloudy weather has rolled in this week with much needed rain for the Point.   Humid, still mornings make for hard running and home-staying, with lots of playing on the porch and a definite increase in the amount of youtube videos we let the kids watch.

In the midst of the clouds, though, there have been lake breezes and brilliant afternoons on the raft, boat rides and bonfires and the ease that comes with sinking into lake life. The kids wander freely from cottage to cottage to playground to dock; they know how to wave at every passing car.  We lounge in the shade at midday, making simple meals and doing the dishes by hand.  The sun glints on the water.  The dog is tired and perpetually wet. Life is very, very good.

We have two more days here and I am at that point in the trip where I feel ready to either go home, or just bite the bullet and move in here.  Why not make this the year we just stay?  Why not live in a one bedroom cottage year round? We'd have to simplify our lives a bit, yes, but I'm forever wanting to simplify my life.  And there is nothing simpler than waking up by the water every day...

Sigh.

Sadly between winterizing the cottage, downsizing our 2700 square foot lives by 75%, and that whole pesky job business, simplifying our lives would be a terrifically complex job.  So for now, we'll be doing laundry and packing up to return to the real world  on Thursday.


But not before we squeeze out every last bit of lake we can get.


And now, for your viewing enjoyment, a whole lot of pictures.

Swimming lessons at Harris park, including sitting around on blankets in an idyllic fashion...

Swimming, canoeing, fishing and general water play here at the point...

Hanging out around the point-- flowers and swings and puppies, oh my!

All this fun can really wear you out...

A perfect motor-boat ride courtesy of our wonderful neighbor, Barb.  She has a very schnazzy boat.  We cruised all the way to Long Point, scoped out the real estate along the way, Nat got a ski in, and Ivy learned how to pee over the side of a boat.  Good times. 

They are hiding from the wind.  It was freaking hilarious.  Ivy will be so embarrassed by this picture someday.

Pretty baby.

Playing at Stewart  Park in Ithaca after the kids morning with Lulu at the Science Center.

S'mores and sunset swimming at the Deitrich's cottage around the cove.

The whole family.