Longing for the days

Missing the long, warm, lazy days of summer. The picnics and concerts in the park, the lack of responsibility, the carefree and lingering mornings. I'm not anxious for summer again just quite yet (my goodness I haven't even gone through the pictures of last summer yet), but my soul has been craving just a little visit. Isn't that just January's way?

Computer is fixed, summer is over, and a bunch of other stuff

It has been a crazy couple of months around here, primarily because the computer has been ailing with some sort of virus that was inadvertently downloaded. By me. And apparently just waiting for nearly two months for it to magically disappear as easily at it appeared in the first place was all in vain. A house call later and we're back. Now it's time to sift through hundreds and hundreds of pictures from summer and back to school and get myself back on track. Technically summer doesn't end for 2 more days, so it's all good.

Weekly Adventure | Discovery Science Center

This summer I made it a point to go on at least one "adventure" a week. Every day we go to a park or the beach, but I have tried to take one day during the week to go do something a little different, something we wouldn't normally do during the school year when free time is scarce. Sometimes I remember my camera, sometimes I don't, and sometimes I am having too much fun to be bothered with it.

We went to the Discovery Center on an especially crowded day, but the boys made their way through and fared much better than I did. I'm not sure what it is about that place, but it always leaves me feeling anxious. Probably (undoubtedly) all the kids. Ha! The floating ball was a hit. As was the recycling truck. And "driving" the Zamboni? Get out. Easy to please, these two are.

OC Fair

The fair is in town. We ate until we were sick, the boys rode rides until we were broke, and we had fun for as long as our moods would allow. Between 2 day old piglets, giant tarantulas in bunk beds, and just about every vehicle ride imaginable, the boys were pretty thrilled. And although we had to forgo a ride on the Ferris wheel ($24 for the four of us was just not going to happen), we had a pretty memorable day.

Summer to-dos

Wow, how different this year's list is from last's. I guess because Beck was at the "too young to really enjoy and too old to just hang out in the stroller" stage last year I made my goals all chore-related. Yuck. Keep those expectations low, right? But this year, these two months of nice weather, no work, and 2 boys that desperately need to be out of the house require a totally different list. This year my goal is simply to relax, have fun, and seek out new adventures. We have already made some decent headway on what we have deemed the "Summer Bucket List" and I can't remember a more enjoyable summer in recent years. This quality time with my boys is exactly what I need right now.

So long, summer

Something has changed since September began. The air is still hot (over 100 degrees last week!), but there is a definite moisture and a slight breeze that tells me fall is waiting in the wings. I suppose I am in a bit of denial about the whole thing. Lazy summer days have already been replaced with busy work schedules, very early mornings, reasonable bedtimes, and strict routines. The days are noticeably shorter and it won't be long before costumes are in the works and pumpkin bread is in the oven. This time of year is one of my favorites but right now I would do just about anything for just a few more beach days with my boys.

Summer from 1-51, according to my phone

Too many moments without my camera in hand made for a summer captured haphazardly on the phone. Blurry, poorly-lit, and at times downright awful, these photos remind me of one of the best summers of my life.

Here they are, fifty-one un-edited mostly! happy memories as captured by my cell phone.

1. afternoons in the lawn while the neighbors babysat played with the boys
2. endless messes
3. babies in sunglasses
4. our caterpillar that perished after nearly two weeks (Anderson still thinks he turned into a butterfly and flew away)
5. sewing projects started, some finished, some not
6. icees, icees, icees
7. buying more fruit than we could possibly consume
8. In-n-Out making dinner a no-brainer
9. fresh-squeezed lemonade
10. Saturday nights with Thia food and Mad Men
11. getting wet every chance we could
12. being too tired to make it through the day, but too proud to ever admit it
13. re-discovering the amazingness of the public library
14. forgetting to return those amazing books
15. first day of preschool
16. taking just morning for my self
17. many trips to the fabric store searching for inspiration
18. celebrating our country
19. ladybug hunting at Shipley Nature Center
20. more than a few melt-downs
21. sunflowers taller than all of us
22. first of many popsicles
23. visiting Prehistoric Pets for a little one-on-one time with our friends in the reptile world
24. picnics, picnics everywhere
25. date night to Pageant of the Masters
26. impromptu late-night coffee date
27. not-so-helpful laundry helper
28. strip with cheese at Dwight's
29. trekking to the pool 3 times a week even though we have one in our own back yard
30. tomatoes on everything!
31. clothing optional dance parties
32. about 437 trips to Target
33. goggle boy
34. organizing way less than anticipated, but thinking about it more than I should have
35. Friday morning story time
36. working on the little things
37. rewarding good behavior
38. celebrating Gabe's birthday like a couple of teenagers on a date
39. a single rainbow that only moments later became a double
40. carrots for breakfast
41. cookies as big as your face for breakfast
42. LA adventures with Miss Jihan
43. cupcake ATM!
44. avoiding the heat and hitting the carousel
45. sacrificing green sweaters
46. grocery shopping with two over active little boys
47. Little Elton
48. spending time with old friends
49. consuming entirely too much ice cream
50. visiting the Mexican market for a birthday fiesta
51. spending lazy mornings at the beach with my two favorite little people

Back to work

Tomorrow I go back to work after spending the entire summer doing pretty much whatever I felt like. Which, sadly, did not include nearly as many chores, tasks, projects or posts as I had hoped. There is always Christmas break, right? And I am feeling surprisingly OK about the whole thing I suppose because I actually went in about every week to do some work. Many years I feel anxious or nervous or just plain not ready, but this year things feel good. Calm. Maybe because life at home with 2 little boys is chaos every minute of every day or maybe because this marks the beginning of my fourteenth year teaching. Fourteen?! Regardless, I am happy to get back into a routine that is all my own, albeit one that begins at 5 am when no normal human should be getting dressed.

Summer has been good to our family but I am looking forward to starting my first school year in quite a few where I have neither morning sickness nor a newborn. It's a very welcome change; one that will make me a better teacher, a better mother, and a better wife. Because waking up multiple times during the night and being ready to leave for work at 5:30 am has never been good for anyone. And so I am off to lay out my clothes and pack my snacks for the first time in months because 5 am will be here before I know it and that alarm is unrelenting.

Quinoa, ice cream, and a couple of cows

It has been so hot and the thought of doing any real cooking is just unbearable. Dinners have consisted of sandwiches, things that can be thrown together quickly in one pot, and take out. And the tomatoes! Well the over-abundance of tomatoes has also factored heavily into any and all dinner making decisions around here. Enter this totally made up, absolutely simplistic salad I made the other night which was not only fast and only dirtied one pot, but it also used up tomatoes!

Basically I threw together cooked quinoa, fresh spinach and broccoli and tomatoes and tossed them with balsamic vinegar, some parmesan ranch dressing, mozzarella cheese (I just cut up string cheese, ha!) and some grated parmesan and called it dinner. And, because it would not be a normal day if I didn't make two versions of any one dinner, I added some grilled chicken to half of it and served the other half with some fake chicken substance just to make Gabe happy. And full. Though none of us got very full because Daddy promised we could go to Thrifty's after dinner. And as everyone around here knows, the ice cream just tastes better when you eat it in the company of the cows in front of The Beef Palace.

Beck's not much for sitting still these days.