SPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Sunday:

E models the latest in fashion: a ginger-shaped hat

BOOM! MOE’S!

Bubble rocket launcher in action

Monday:

He gets an A+ in relaxing

Special Monday treats: shopping alone, Sbux, and driving the new car

I don’t feel the need to explain my art to you

Tuesday:

I make the EXACT same face when anyone tries to wake me up in the morning

Yarn store visiting

Monkey see, monkey do

Wednesday:

Inside fishes first!

Bacon, tomato, caramelized onions, blue cheese, mozzarella on sourdough

Peek a boo at the Seaport

Thursday:

Hat

These cookies are full of LIES (and regular sandwich cookie cream, not taffy)

This one’s for sale and only 2 blocks away. Be my neighbor!!

Friday:

The queen on her throne

Feeding ducks

I have no idea what this is

Saturday:

Trendsetter

Bluff Point

Rainbow sprinkles = MIND BLOWN

Our spring-like weather looks like it’s here to stay but since this is New England I’m not taking anything for granted. We’ll be repeating this week with extra locations (zoo, beach, etc etc etc) thrown in for the next two months. More baths + later bedtimes are going to cut into my blog-writing time, but I’m OK with that. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to remember we can live our lives even if I don’t write about every second of it online.

We’re having some beautiful weather in Connecticut right now, much to my surprise and happiness. Between the time change and the onset of winter-like temperatures I had resigned myself to feeling grumpy and sun-deprived until at least April. The truth is, we don’t go outside more than we absolutely have to when it’s cold. I’ll bundle up the kids for a real snowfall so we can take a few pictures for next year’s calendar but as far as playground time, long walks and adventures go, I don’t have the energy or desire to wrangle two coat-and-hat-adverse children into coats and hats more than absolutely necessary.

So getting a few days of warm, early fall temperatures is like getting a surprise vacation – and not just because we’re not burning through our zillion-dollars worth of heating oil in the tank. We spent 3 hours at the beach park on Sunday, getting dirty and wet and salt-air covered. The kids slept last night like only kids who’ve been at the shore can. Today is less sunny but just as warm, so we’re headed to the park to collect pine cones and rocks for Evan’s treasure chest. If I’m REALLY lucky I’ll talk Caroline into her fairy wings to take some birthday pictures but I’m so excited to be outside and not freezing I don’t actually care if she cooperates or not. It’s a November Miracle!

BlogHer asked me if I’d let you all know about this survey they’re conducting. It’s not an ad or anything, just some research:

Would you please take a few minutes (no more than 5) to take our survey about watching video online?  Your thoughts are so valuable to us and your opinions will help BlogHer.com make better decisions about video content on our site.

In case you thought my blog was in danger of turning into just pretty pictures and lifestyle crap, I present the anatomy of a photo shoot with my kids.

The plan: A relaxing afternoon of hiking and playing at a local state beach, followed by a few shots of the kids being adorable together as the sun sets.

The reality: Leave the house at 5 pm as the sun is already setting. Forget memory card. Find 4 GB memory card in side pocket of camera bag. Unbuckle Caroline to discover she found part of a cookie in her car seat and is COVERED in red frosting. Clean up Caroline, get kids out of car, shout at them to stop running away stop running away STOP YOU JUST RAN THROUGH A PARKING LOT GOD HELP ME.

The plan: Beautiful shots in the golden light on an abandoned beach.

The reality: Turns out I’m not the only genius who likes the beach at sunset, so there are people all over the place.

You do not belong on my living room wall, lady smoking on the rocks.

The plan: Smiling children.

The reality: Evan, look at me. Evan. Evan. Evan. EVAN. Smile. SMILE. Look at me WITH YOUR EYES.

The plan: Reflection shots right at the edge of the water.

The reality: No Caroline, don’t get wet. No, honey, it’s all muddy, stay away from the edge. It’s muddy! Caroline. Caroline. CAROLINE.

The plan: Photo of the kids standing on the path.

The reality: Hey, kids, the path is kind of rocky, why don’t you slow down. Kids. Guys. GUYS STOP RUNNING IT’S DANGEROUS COME BACK HERE.

The plan: Photos of the kids throwing rocks, something they had been doing for 10 minutes.

The reality: Guys, stop picking up the seaweed. Guys, no, stop playing with the seaweed. Look at all the rocks, throw the rocks! GUYS.

No, seriously, GUYS. It’s just drifting back to shore, there’s no point. It’s wet and dirty. Stop.

EVAN AND CAROLINE. STOP. THIS IS NOT GOING TO END WELL. Ok, fine, whatever, I’m not responsi-

I TOLD YOU SO.

The plan: One shot of the kids standing next to each other, looking at the camera.

The reality: I DON’T KNOW WHY I EVEN BOTHER.

Alright, if you’re not going to listen I guess hugging is OK.

The plan: It’s only going to be 30 minutes, how dirty can they get?

The reality: Filthy, filthy children.

Wrap up: 400 photos taken in 30 minutes. 50 deleted on the camera, 50 more deleted at home once I see how out of focus they are. 200 like the ones above, another 60 that are OK but not worth it. 40 left to resize and edit, 20 of those are worth putting on Facebook, 10 are nice enough for the blog.

Total time invested: 4 hours.

Total energy invested: ALL OF IT.

Total sanity invested: Ask me after I finish this bottle of wine.