I thought I did really well this week, but a) my mom was still here and b) I somehow totally forgot Wednesday? The real test will be this current week, when I’m left with 4 children all day. Will they make it to school wearing clothes?!?! Will Linc try to sit on the baby??? Will the cat finally give up and run away forever??? WHO KNOWS!!

Sunday:

That’s how you know it’s good ice cream

Sitting so politely

WHICH CHILD EVEN IS THIS IT LOOKS LIKE EVAN BUT IT’S TOO SMALL

Monday:

She’s so fancy

Tantrum toddler is tatruming

I should probably just burn it down

Tuesday:

Checking out the other patients

Is he sleeping yet??

It was less than 80 degrees, so she needed a blanket

Wednesday:

All I have from Wednesday, which explains itself

Thursday:

So nice

Cider Mill haul

But WHY can’t the cows come home with us???

Friday:

I caught you helping!

Tired baby

All wrapped up

Saturday:

Soccer is boring

Go Blue Monsters!

New lights!

We got SO many things organized/cleaned/put away/straighten/throw out/fixed while my parents were here. It’s always amazing to have them here and my house no longer looks like the trashiest one on the block. Now all I have to do is stay on top of laundry and dishes for…the rest of my life. That seems unlikely, but at least now the ice maker works, I have a wine fridge plugged in, and my guest room is useable.

I actually couldn’t handle looking at vacation pictures yesterday when I was supposed to do this, because it was dreary and pouring rain and my house was a disaster and my children made me insane and basically it was too depressing to think that THIS is my life versus the beach. But today I am facing reality. At least until Friday. Then school is out and we can pretend life is all just vacation again.

Sunday:

Bubbles on the pool deck

He actually DOES like lunch, I swear

Bo ssam: aka the MOST delicious meal I eat all year

Monday:

As long as it’s not ACTUALLY raining, it’s a beach day

Tiny frog friend in the outdoor shower

Hand and foot, because we force everyone we know to play

Tuesday:

Vacation breakfast of champions

So much driving

That face is because this is NOT the beach house

Wednesday:

MORE DRIVING

A+ relaxing

Embracing lake life

Thursday:

Not bad

Super happy it’s almost summer

Tents for Linc’s upcoming party

Friday:

Cannot be trusted with my iced coffee

I think she’s tired of pictures

MORE CARDS BECAUSE ALWAYS

Saturday:

Visiting the cows

That was supposed to be MY beach lounger

Inescapable floaty is inescapable

Did I mention this is the LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL? I’m feeling a little unprepared for summer (who is going to feed these kids all day?) but I’m so ready to not get up at 6:15 every morning. Plus summer is exhausting, so EVERYONE will do more sleeping. More sleeping is basically my only goal in life right now at 28 weeks pregnant.

We had absolutely STUNNING weather last weekend here in Connecticut. It was perfect for my photography business mini sessions and perfect for doing all the fall things and perfect for making me feel like Connecticut is a kick-ass place to live. IT’S A JOY JUST TO BE ALIIIIIIIVE.

On our lovely free Monday (you’re still a jerk Columbus, but I do enjoy a day off) we spent the morning at Creamery Brook Bison Farm taking part in a Walktober event with friends. They’re open on weekends in the fall for tours and I highly recommend it. They had a feeding and petting zoo as well as a chance to meet the bison up close.

In the afternoon we went to Buttonwoods for their corn maze and fall fun. It’s a tradition! We did both sides of the corn maze, the hay ride, the cow train, the hay tower and the kids went nuts in the corn pit. We all came home with pants full of corn and a zillion pictures. Don’t worry, Linc really liked the corn pit, even when we were pouring it on his head. He ate more than his share. Mmmm…roughage.

We got to Sunflowers for Wishes every year, and this year might have been the best so far. Even though we got rained on. Hard. Which was totally my fault because I insisted on trying for just a couple more photos.

The fields where the sunflowers bloom is one of the most popular photoshoot spots in Connecticut – we must have seen more than a dozen people with their fancy cameras and bags trying to pose families in the sunflower field…without getting all the other photographers and families in their shot. I know in theory a huge field of sunflowers SOUNDS like a gorgeous spot for photos, in reality it’s less romantic. Sunflowers are a lot taller than kids, so posing them in the sunflowers just shows up as posing in a forest of green stalks. The outside of the field is all bright sun. There are TONS OF PEOPLE and you can only Photoshop out so much. Plus if you bribe your kids with ice cream, they’re either whining to go get it now now now or a sticky mess from already eating it.

I am sure there are photographers who get amazing, dreamy, fabulous pictures. I am not that talented yet – plus I went with my kids to, you know, have a good time while they were open instead of waiting until 8 pm for the magic hour light. But I do think looking back on my previous years at Buttonwood is a great example of how far I’ve come:

Sunflowers 2012 – Just a few pictures

Sunflowers 2011 – Evan and Tiny Fat Baby Caroline

Sunflowers 2010 – Avert your eyes from my terrible Picasa photo effects!

So…yeah. Improvement!

Mooing like a cow is hilarious.

Baby cows!!

Pay no attention to the horrible gash on his left eye. He banged it on the couch (????)

Caroline, look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Show me your eyes!

Team Sunflower, roll out!

When we got home, E asked why our daughter was wearing a bag.

Strawberry cheesecake

My precioussssssss…

This is her “Why am I sitting on this quilt when it is raining on me?” face.

Hiding from the downpour. It was an impressive amount of rain. p.s. He had blue cotton candy ice cream.

I tried to talk E into going down to SubFest – the big carnival thing on base – on Saturday night but then he reminded me that actually, we HATE things like that. No parking, crowds, the kind of trashy people who don’t say “excuse me” when they knock your funnel cake out of your hands and force me to yell “Were you raised in a barn?!” at them. In other news, I am approximately 85 years old. Get off my lawn.

So instead, we skipped dinner in exchange for a trip to Cows & Cones, an adorable little farm with delicious ice cream and lots of animals – the perfect toddler date night.

Baby Caroline says "Girl, what is wrong with your hair?!"

I swear her face made out of molding clay.

He liked looking at the cows from far away the best.

Animal picture credit goes to E, who is taking a photography class as an elective

Evan calls them "sheep-baa", with the word and the sound as one thing. I don't discourage it.

The cow says moo, the sheep says baaa! Three singing pigs say LA LA LA!

I may have taken 45 pictures of the different colored chickens. I'm a little obsessed.

I told her if she walked, she could have ice cream. She tried reeeeeally hard.

I don't even care what those horizontal stripes are doing to my hips - it's like wearing a well-ventelated nightgown in public. SO COMFY.

On Caroline:
America’s Sweetheart Onesie – Gymboree
Birdy print skirt – Uff Da Designs

On Little Evan:
Shirt – Hand me down
Shorts – Osh Kosh
Shoes – Converse
Toddlers are extremely hard to photograph when they don’t want to be photographed

On Mama:
Nursing Tank – Target
Dress – Old Navy
Fake Wayfarers – Target
Necklace – Allora Handmade
Flippy floppies – Ancient and ratty but I love them

And for the record, I had delicious watermelon sherbet (which I shared with the toddler) and E had a sundae with white chocolate raspberry ice cream, caramel sauce & whipped cream. He wins.