Once more, with feeling

Look.  We WERE home, for four whole days, OK? And we did, like, 15 fun summery things and cleaned a lot.  Give us a little credit here. 

We just happen to be away, again, vacationing by the water, again.

We cannot be stopped.

Quick retrospective on our four days in Cleveland (maybe I should reframe my thinking and imagine that Cleveland was our vacation destination??).... Here's what we were up to:

Playdates and pool meet-ups with friends.  Jack was SO happy to see his buddies.  And play video games with them. 

 Exploring Nelson's Ledges.  This place is just as magical as we remembered.  We convinced Ivy that fairies live here.  Jack loved squeezing into the tightest gaps and climbing the rock faces and discovering caves...

Get ready for the cutest 6 seconds of video ever.  She is roaring.

More swimming, at the JCC pool...

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 Relaxing in the backyard.  Note the kids giant new school tennies.  They were SO excited to pick these out...

Harvesting our first tomato!  I think we may have more than 4 this year!  If we roll in the cost of taking down that tree in the front yard, this tomato comes in a the bargain price of about $250.  :)

Also, Nat has been hard at work on our coop, which is nearing completion.  Now, we just have to succeed in getting our permit at the meeting next week, and then we can go pick up our girls!  And hope that this thing is predator-proof....

Wednesday:  A visit from our friend Donna inspired a meetup at the lake, to enjoy our North Coast.  I like the ocean but I LOVE my lake.  It was an utterly perfect night to be there, and we soaked it up by eating pizza, playing frisbee, getting  ice cream, and swimming/talking on the beach until the sun set...

Here is a photo of my children, snuggling in the sunlight and being golden and lovely and wonderful together.

And here is  a video of those same children squabbling over the Frisbee moments later.  Keepin it real.

Beat that, East Coast.

Shoes on the beach.  How are my babies getting so big???

Thursday:  We had a nice relaxing morning before throwing the bare minimum of supplies in the van and leaving town for one last weekend at Farley's.  Here's what we've been up to since our arrival:

Family Dinners...

 Looking at Sunsets...

Driving the boat...

 Reading in the cottage...

 Hanging out at Claire's house...

 Exploring in old barns...

 Relaxing at Long Point...

 Relaxing by the cottage...

 Going out on the boat some more...

who let these kids take the boat out on their own??? :)

 Hanging out in Aurora (its too cute for words!)

The kids went to the "Teddy Bear's Picnic" with their Lulu.  Seriously, this town.  You can't handle the cute.  The library has the most amazing window seat ever.  And a hearth.  

 Taking the boat in to town to get Chocolate milk, just because we can...

Riding bikes around the point...

 Reading in the cottage some more...

Playing with cousins...

 Looking at sunsets some more...

Can you blame us for running off again?  We've got the rest of the year to be at home, and all the good festivals are in September these days, anyways...

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Ok, I think I am all caught up.  More verbose posting to come, I am sure, as I grapple with the impending transition back to real like, AKA the school year, wherein my baby starts kindergarten and my all-grown-up boy, third grade.  Lots to process on that front.  For now, soaking up the last rays of summertime and turning my face away from reality for another couple days.  See you soon...