Three-day weekending...

I am not sure if I've ever taken the time to express to you my abiding love for the three day weekend.

Oh?  I have?  Oh.  OK then.

Well, this weekend did nothing to dissuade my passion.

It was wonderful.

Sunshine and seventies and two days in a row at the beach and two cookouts in a row on Memorial Day.  Time in each day to play and to clean, to be with friends and with my family.  Stretched out, easy time, complete with a few gin and tonics.

A movie trailer for summer, that's what this weekend was. A little taste of the good things to come, set to the perfect music, a dazzle of sunlight splashing across the lens...

 The highlight reel:

Friday

My mom and Ivy met me at the zoo where I was having an arduous day taking my class on a field trip.  :)  My brave little girl took a camel ride, all on her own.  She's something else.

A quick evening walk around the block got a lot more fun when our sweet neighbor, 9 year old Rachel joined us with her little dog Sky.  Ivy really loves Sky.  Rachel and Sky joined us at home for a bit where they both ended up in the treehouse.  Getting a little dog down from the treehouse? About as hard as you imagine.

 Not pictured: a wonderful evening of mini-pizzas and really good cookies and hanging out with our Friday nigh friends.

Saturday:

The kids had some time with Gram and a playdate at neighbor Lou's house while I had the privilege of singing with West Shore Chorale friends at the wedding of one of my fellow sopranos.  A lovely ceremony and a lovely couple who sparkled with joy.  It felt great to sing in a smaller ensemble (about 30 of us were able to sing) and I think it came off well.  I love the opportunity to share the gift of music.

After the wedding, the kids and I went to the beach.  Because it was the MOST. PERFECT. DAY.    We played in the sand and threw a stick for Corydon and soaked up the sun and quiet, peaceful time together.  The kids covered a log with wet sand and were very proud of themselves.  I pushed Ivy on the swing for a long, long time and didn't, even once, think about doing anything else.

We had thought of going down to the Blossom festival in Chagrin Falls but opted instead to stay home and watch Aladdin and take baths and head to bed early, ready to see Daddy again in the morning...

Sunday:

Sheep Shearing day at Lake FarmPark! We had a laid back morning of goats and sheep and wool and sunshine and playgrounds.  The kids got to help shear Wyatt, the rainbow-dyed Wesleydale sheep.  Nat bought a whole fleece to use for his spinning hobby.  It was good.

Then, we went to the beach.  Because it was perfect, again.  
This time, Fairport Harbor.  We were already way east-- what's another half hour among friends?

The kids collected rocks and brought them to me...

Who needs a swimsuit?

Certainly not these two!  Not pictured:  The actual ROLLING in the sand that occurred moments before the dashing into the icy cold lake...

This is what kids look like after you let them play in said icy cold lake for an hour without any towels or dry clothes to put on after.  We managed to scrounge a blanket one of Nat's Tshirts for them.  Quality parenting at work.

and this is what they look like on the way home... we took the picture to prove to jack that he does in fact sleep in the car, as he always insists he doesn't sleep...

Our baby birds are getting so big!  

 Saturday evening we had a fire, and our across-the-back-fence neighbors joined us.   With the exception of the mosquitoes it was a perfect night, and great to get to know this sweet young family.  Three year old Felix and Ivy were fast friends, and Jack loved playing sports with Wes, the young and energetic dad. :)

Ivy, loving on baby Harvey.  Harvey, not loving it so much.

Monday (god bless the three day weekend!!)

We started the day off with a run.

Jack and I ran an 1.5 mile fun run together and then I ran the 4 mile race at a nice small run in University Heights.

 My earnest, hardworking, competitive little boy was fun to run with.  He almost lost it at one point after several people passed us, thinking that he was last.  We turned around to see people behind us, and he picked up the pace right up.

The unexpected surprise was that Jack and I both managed to get third in our age groups for our races!  He was the only 6 year old who ran!   And he is SOOOO happy with his award.  The proud little smile just slays me.

We headed home for a shower then to an impromptu cookout with the dinner swap crowd.  It was probably the last gathering at the Perry's current house, as they are moving out to the burbs this summer.  I am happy for them but it feels a little like the end of an era.  We will have to keep getting these kids together, though, because they are AWESOME.  They all play so well together and they are all stunningly beautiful children, don't you think?

From there it was off to Lakewood to cook out with Gram, Bec, and Joe.  Becca spoiled the kids with smoke bombs, poppers, and snakes and a good time was had by all.  Plus I got to ride in a 1990 Corvette.  :)

A little glimpse into this week, because it's not off to a bad start itself:

Looky!  We have a piano!  Not bad for a freebie, eh?

Tonight, a little spontaneous picnic at Wade Oval.  I love living here.  I love that our kids will grow up taking this beautiful space for granted.  Lucky, lovely little ducks.

Happy Wednesday, all!  Summer is around the corner, and so many good things are yet to come!

An Ordinary Day (subtitled: I could get used to this...)

Nat is in Chicago this weekend, presenting at the annual NAPS conference.   (For those not in the know, that is the National A-something Patristics Society.  They all study dead guys who did religious stuff centuries ago.  But I just LOVE that the mysterious acronym spells NAPS.  Because a conference all about napping?  That would rule.)

So anyways.  Someone had to take care of the kids today in his absence, and I stepped in to do the job.  Thank you, personal day.

I could get used to days like this.

I'd looked forward to sleeping in til the decadent hour of 7:30 but my well-trained body had me up at 6.  No matter, I enjoyed the quiet of the house as the sun rose over our startlingly green front lawn until my boy came down at 7 and we snuggled and watched an episode of Batman.  Because why not?  I don't get to do this every day....

A successful morning routine ensued, delivering Jack and his friend to school on time, returning books at the library, and stopping for a coffee date with my girl on the way home...

All before 10am!

Ivy and I continued our "Mommy Ivy" day with a trip to the JCC where my little girl swam her heart out for 45 minutes before inhaling her lunch and playing some more in the playroom.  It was nice to be with just one child, able to focus on her completely in the absence of sibling rivalry and competition for my attention.

This girl of mine?  It turns out she's a delight.

On the way home we stopped to get the car washed and then shop at Trader Joes.  The weather only got better all day and it was a divine afternoon to walk around Eton Place.  Which is good because we had to park about 7 miles from the store.  Apparently everyone else thought it was a great afternoon to shop, too...

Home by 2:00 for a popsicle break in the backyard...

... and some relaxation before walking to school to pick up the boy.  We stood around with the other moms watching the kids clamber on the playground, the warm sun bouncing off the brilliant green leaves and landing, deliciously, on our shoulders.

Definitely one of those "I love where I live" moments.  And an "I really feel like a MOM" moment, too.  I mean, I always feel like a mom.  It's a defining aspect of my life.  But for those 5 minutes I got to be the archetype of a capital-M MOM, standing in a cluster with mom-friends, little siblings coming and going, swinging up a child into my arms without breaking conversation, talking about the PTA and cooing to the 6-week old baby in the arms of a friend.  What with that magical sunshine shimming over us all, I felt like I'd stepped out of some sickeningly-sweet blog post about the joys of motherhood or something....

oh, wait.

Anyways.  It was neat.

We walked home (well, I walked while my children balanced on wheeled conveyances) through Cumberland Park because why not play at two different playgrounds in one 30 minute period....

Then joined up with Gram Sarah to head to the end-of-year picnic at St Paul's.  I can't believe my baby is done with her first year of preschool.  And I can't believe my son was ever small enough to go there...  He was a giant among preschoolers and I think, felt a bit out of place-- but it was all OK because there was pizza and the ice cream truck came....

Here we are all waiting in line...

 ... and enjoying treats that promptly turned all the children into brightly colored, sticky, happy messes.

It was an ordinary day.  I did nothing today that hundreds, thousands of other moms (and dads) don't do every day, without batting an eye. Some might call the events of today routine, boring even.

But for this mom-- it was an extraordinary day, an escape from my own routine and a chance to play-act at a totally different take on the role of Mom.  My day as a SAHM was a vacation for me, I'll be the first to admit.  My experience of full-time childcare today can be compared to a stay at a vacation house.  Of COURSE you love the house and its perfect and you want to move there-- because if you moved there you'd always be on vacation, right?  I know that the reality of day-to-day childcare likely bears little resemblance to this day spent meandering in the sunshine, lavishing treats  and attention on my children.  For instance, I thought I was doing pretty darn well by having the dishes put away and two loads of laundry folded by the end of the day.  I didn't even try to accomplish anything else.  And I didn't have to cook dinner for anyone.  So please, please don't think I am making my one nice little day into some golden, shining example of how all SAHM's should live their lives and feel about their days.

But.... I'm still going to say it.  I could get used to this.  

How to host a Fairy Party

Step 1:  Invite all the people you know and then stress daily over the weather report, hoping and praying for clear weather so all those people can gather OUTside.

Step 2:  Manage to custom-order the perfect part-sun day, with a just-right temperature and a backyard that's almost dry from all the rain the day before.

Step 3:  Breathe for a minute.

Step 4:  Put pink frosting, shiny garland, and/or fluffy fabric on anything that holds still.

Step 5:  Spend a lot of time making little signs to put all over the place, forgetting that 4 year olds don't read.

Step 6:  Fill your yard with 26 children between the ages of 2 and 7.  Add wings, wands, sparkly things, and "Let It Go."  Stir gently and sit back to watch the magic.

Step 7:  Forget all the other steps.  Step 6 is all you really need.

(thanks, by the way, to each and every one of you who attended and helped make Ivy's day so grand)

Before:

During:

The whole gang:

(How are we so blessed to know this many amazingly wonderful people with this many beautiful and well-mannered children?  Seriously.  Every child you see here is perfect. )