Dear Summer,

Never end.

xoxo, Suzanne

Lazy boy, lazy dog nap

I made a fascinator out of leftover tutu tulle and a flea market pin. E thinks I’m ridiculous.

Don Draper, marry me. No wait, you’re an asshole.

Monday:

Look Mom! I found a hypodermic needle! (Not really, just the most dangerous/poorly maintained playground I’ve ever seen.)

Checking to see if his ears are broken

C25K – I’m smiling out the outside but crying on the inside.

Tuesday:

A few morning minutes of sleep thanks to PBS Kids

Snacks with their penguin friends

Who says knitting is a winter hobby?

Wednesday:

Zoo animals looking at aoudads

Water painting at Hasbro’s Big Back Yard. AMAZING place.

Such a busy day…this looks like a good place for a nap.

Thursday:

Very classy breakfast

This is the first time Caroline ever noticed sand.

I heart gingers buttons, headed your way

Friday:

He didn’t understand why I kept calling his football a soccer ball (cc: Elliot & Sara)

And lead me not into latte and cinnamon bun temptation…

…but deliver me into Week 3 Day 3 of running.

Saturday:

Family reading time

This is where E works aka his second family.

On the water is the best way to end a week

And now I have to go finish cleaning my kitchen because I have people coming over today to talk about blogging. We’re trying to get a super-local group going and I volunteered to host. I hope they bring wine and not too many questions, since I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ll have tons of haunted lighthouse pictures and a new recipe to post this week, plus one embarrassingly late set of fishing photos from our vacation in Virginia.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

I picked the funniest photos as an apology for not getting this up sooner. My only excuse is I was busy watching all 24 episodes in season 8 of Grey’s Anatomy this weekend. I somehow forgot to watch all year until Twitter BLEW UP during the finale. Now all I can say is WHAT THE HELL, GREY’S?

Sunday:

Family hockey practice - I'm sitting in a chair drinking coffee, obviously

SHUT UP AND GET IN MY FACE, CAKE.

Obviously really excited about the twinkle lights

Monday:

I cut Evan's beautiful hair without crying.

Apparently a haircut was all he needed to be a BIG KID

Raise your hand if you're the cutest person here!

Tuesday:

Stroller Strides stretching!

Mini Gene Kelly

We had a really rough afternoon, so as long as they weren't crying I let them do whatever they wanted.

Wednesday:

See? I left the giant pile of clean laundry there ON PURPOSE so my kid could use the iPad in comfort. WISE CHOICES.

That blur is one really happy gymnast

I don't even have a caption for this face

Tiny baby reading a tiny book = GIANT SWOON

Thursday:

The narrator on this dinosaur app reads like he's doing the trailer for a Michael Bay movie.

WHEEEEEE!

I look way less cute when I nap on my face

Judge all you want, this pizza is DELICIOUS. I'm going to judge you for NOT eating it.

Friday:

And now he's 80 years old.

Mommy, the porch is my favorite.

Finally the kids are up someone else's butt.

Saturday:

Barking at the sea-lion

Back off you crazy lady, leave us the duck alone!

Being three is awesome.

We did some stuff this week. And some other stuff. Honestly, I can’t even remember right now, so it’s a good thing I have a whole bunch of pictures to remind me!

Sunday:

We left Rochester early early to get home and pick up Brutus

Holding hands while watching TV

Giving bedtime the side eye

Monday:

Doing his stretches after Stroller Strides

He thinks putting his socks on his hands is the HEIGHT of entertainment

Uh, someone took my shirt off during nap. I'm not saying who.

Tuesday:

I'm thinking of getting a fish tattoo. This one might be cool.

Watching the sea lion show like Big Kids

Suspicious spy toddler is suspicious of spies

Wednesday:

How YOU doin'?

Oh look, I bought seed to kill

Horrifying dental tools of DOOM (I got a cavity filled)

We had to go do a quality control check on the new Five Guys in town. They passed.

Thursday:

He was mad I wasn't scared when he jumped out of the closet

Doing art while he waits for the dentist

LASERS!!!!!!!!

Friday:

Our attempt at a self portrait was foiled by the super bright flash

Sleepface

May the Fourth be with you!

Saturday:

"Weeding" my garden is more like "cutting down a jungle" in my garden

VERY EXCITED to be going to the dump

VERY EXCITED about goldfish. Also about her adorable romper, because OMG ROMPER.

Luckily, now no one needs to see a doctor or dentist for at least 6 months and we can use our time to do more fun stuff like playdates in Mystic and visiting the Seaport and using our NEW zoo membership at Roger Williams Park Zoo. That is, if it ever stops raining. Although this is perfect nap weather so many I’ll just…close my…eyes…for a…secon……zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

Yeah, so we went to the aquarium again. I know you’re super excited to see more fish pictures. I don’t even know why I TAKE them anymore, since my hard drive is full of out-of-focus, blue-tinted photos of the back of my kids’ heads. Every time I get home all excited because I KNOW that THIS time I got a killer shot of a hermit crab I discover that it’s just an orange blur and I am not actually talented enough to take photos in such low light.

BUT! This is one of those times where I can genuinely say I’m posting on my “oh I started it as a journal of my pregnancy to keep my family updated blah blah blah” blog and mean it.* My mom buys us our membership each year and when I don’t post enough photos of us using it she starts to ask if we’re still using it.

YES, MOM. Enjoy the pictures. At least I put them in collages so the rest of you don’t have to scroll through all 30+.

I’ve been to this aquarium several dozen times and I have NEVER seen the octopus do anything put hide in the corner. This time he was trying to eat my kid through the glass. Cool but kind of (totally, completely) freaky.

 Yep, I’m petting a shark in that bottom picture. Badass, right?

And then my 2-year-old touched a shark. I feel much less badass.

Someone was having such a good time he had to be dragged out and then bribed with Five Guys for lunch. OK, maybe the Five Guys wasn’t absolutely necessary, but it was delicious.

Also, we all wore clothes. Shocking, I know.

On Me:
Dress – ModCloth
Leggings – Old Navy
Sweater – H&M (From college! It’s missing 75% of its buttons so I used pin)
Boots – Old Navy
Evan Bracelet – Gift from my Aunt Susan
Silver cuff & earrings – Spiffing Jewelry

On Caroline:
Jacket – Hand-me-down, Toughskins
Top – Hand-me-down, Carters
Leggings – Old Navy
Shoes – Hand-me-down, Converse

OK, next weekend maybe we’ll go someplace else. Or not. Probably not.

*True fact: I actually started the blog to entertain my online friends with gross pregnancy symptoms. My family was never supposed to find it.

I might have mentioned we really love the aquarium this time of year. It’s close, it’s fun, we have a membership and it’s always EMPTY. The kids love running around and I love the nice clean carpeted floors so they don’t hurt themselves. There’s a limited amount of trouble they can cause (KNOCK ON WOOD) and unless Caroline accidentally gets the crap scared out of her by a barking sea lion (oops) they both enjoy themselves.

Yesterday when the choice was either Finding Nemo from the couch or finding Nemo down in Mystic we went with the house-leaving option. One of these days Evan is going to start asking questions about why Nemo is locked up in a tank instead of living out a long and happy life on the reef – and when he does I will distract him with a cookie. It’s hard enough to explain what happens to Coral in the opening sequence. Hey Disney, could you QUIT KILLING OFF EVERYONE’S MOM? Kthanxbai.

Oooooh let's name the zones, the zones, the zones

I feel like this fish is judging me

Those BOOTS. I die.

Some of the creatures at the aquarium weren't excited to be in my pictures

Evan wants to know why the school of fish won't do impressions

On Caroline:

Sweater – Hand knit by me
Shirt & pants – Hand me downs (Gymboree)
Boots – Hand me downs (Target)

On Evan:

All of it – Children’s Place

I tried speaking whale to the beluga. I think I offended him.

Photobombed by a WHALE

 On Mama:

Sweater – Express
Henley – Target (I think it’s technically a pajama shirt, which I totally forgot until just now)
Jeggings worn as pants (HORRORS) – Nordstrom Rack
Boots – Old Navy
Cuff – Rue 12 (too bad you can’t see it, it was the most interest part of my outfit)

This whale REALLY wanted to tell me something. Also, you can see my hair, which I actually did something to for the first time in ages.

Tired of real life fish. Time to go home and watch them on TV instead.

I’ll try to go somewhere more interesting next week so you don’t have to look at any MORE fish pictures. Maybe Evan will suddenly get obsessed with the Starbucks at Target or the clearance section at Old Navy.