After the kids bent our sunglasses into oblivion, we decided maybe it was their subtle way of saying that they’d like some sunglasses, too. So when we were at Target, Neko picked out a glittery pink pair. Shep picked out a green Diego pair (but nearly picked out some glam Hello Kitty ones). And then we decided we should get some Thomas ones for their cousin Chris, who would be arriving in a few days.
In the meantime, Neko has decided that Ellery should wear them.
We clearly cannot stay on vacation, because it has been filled with so many cute moments that we might start dancing on rainbows with unicorns and puppies if all continues.
When we put Neko to bed at night, we always rub her back, tummy, and forehead. Tonight, after we read a story, she decided she needed to help Ellery go to bed by giving her the same routine. And I’ll be darned if they weren’t both sound asleep ten minutes later.
The kids can’t reach the counter to brush their teeth, so we’ve been boosting them up to see properly. One night we started singing that Sesame Street song, “one of these things is not like the others” and it’s kind of become a nightly ritual.
The kids think this is hilarious because I’m the one who’s not like the others. I knew I should have ordered those pirate dog pajamas in my size.
Chris and Dan have come to join us for a few days. This is totally the way to do vacation—a few days with just your family, then a new batch of people come rolling in just as you start to get bored with one another.
Neko has been in heaven because they totally play with her and listen to her stories and romp on the beach. And Dan has so many neices and nephews that he offers to hold Ellery even when she drools buckets all over him. But most of all it’s just been really nice to spend evenings together when the kids are sleeping. We never get this kind of quality time, so it’s been really fabulous.
Well, except for that part where Chris taught Neko it was fun to draw on other people with markers. Now everyone is sporting strange-looking marks all over their bodies and her career in tattooing is pretty much a sealed deal.
I should mention that the camera got left on the weird settings from when we were trying to capture the sunset last night, so the top two photos are totally blown out. But the first is Chris being the letter V and the second is Dan and Ellery trying to out-cute each other. I declare it a draw.
Last night there was this really amazing sunset over the lake and I swore that tonight I would take pictures. But tonight was a little more cloudy and Neko kept demanding “just one more story” so I missed it. I will take picturesque photos tomorrow, I swear.
In the meantime, I will treat you to the true meaning of vacation, which is that you let your two older children watch an episode of Pinky Dinky Doo on the computer while they eat dinner and then prop the other one in her bumbo seat on the dining room table so we can eat almost ten bites of food in a row. I thought I’d document because I don’t want Libby and Kevin to think that they’ve got a lock on that Parent of the Year award.
Today was mostly a “get organized” day. We went to Target to get a few things to babyproof the house and insure that we won’t lose our entire deposit due to the members of our family under the age of five. Visited the natural foods store so we can get healthy food to feed the children. Went to the grocery store so we could buy crap food for the adults because we’re on vacation and who wants to eat all that healthy food? (All items discreetly hidden in a tall cabinet.)
I will now try to figure out how to communicate with the kids without letting on that I have a mouth full of Pringles.
It took us nearly nine hours, but we made it to Michigan. It was only supposed to be a six hour drive, but we made a stop at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. The good news: the dinosaur exhibit was great. Ben and Andrew should definitely make the trek. The bad news: they no longer accept reciprocal memberships. Boo.
Then there were a few other bathroom/nursing/food stops, so it tacked on some time. I have a feeling the way back will be much quicker. But the kids were troopers and we had no major incidents.
Except that Tom and I may have to go shopping for new sunglasses.
It is very possible that I have spent more hours packing than I will spend relaxing on this vacation.
I’ve got to get my diaper bag situation figured out. You don’t want to hear the gory details, but its causing me to continually leave the camera in the car or at the house or some other place that makes it really hard to take photos.
Like today. The camera sat forgotten on the floor of the car while we had our outing. Sigh.
So imagine these beautiful pictures of kids happily running around Highfield on a perfect low 80s day with little humidity. Akiko and Gregory joined Kate, Irene, Ezra and my crew. We made it in time for the class, which I was convinced was about compost. Turns out that on July 20th, they will be talking about compost, but today they were talking about root vegetables. Which was fine, but we didn’t get to hold worms which I’d really talked up to Neko.
Even though there were no worms, everyone had a great time and we left with happy, tired kids.
Neko pulled down the robots this morning, and suddenly we were in the midst of an amazing robot show. In the first photo, they are hidden behind the curtain. When the curtain came down, there was a play that involved the robots not being very nice to one another and one scaring the other. But I think they ended up being nice to each other with some sort of happily ever after.
Shep accompanied the play on harmonica.
Ellery slept through the whole thing.
