I’m still here. Sort of. I guess. I mean, I’m definitely still alive and a mom of four kids and married to the same guy and living my life. But keeping track of all of it, sharing it on the internet, posting regularly to my sad little mommy blog hasn’t been at the top of my to-do list.

But I was looking for a memory the other day, pictures from the last time I took the kids to Washington DC, and so I googled my own blog. It’s very handy to have a decade of our lives documented in a searchable way, with tags and SEO headings and alt text and one million pictures. So here I go, let’s document some shit.

Quick life update: we’ve moved. We sold our 1913 craftsman home in Connecticut (it was heartbreaking, I hated it, I’m sad every single time I see a photo taken there) and moved to Northern Virginia so my husband could take a job in Washington DC. He’s still in the Navy. We’re renting a house in Herndon, which is part of Fairfax County. Fairfax County is where I lived from the age of 15 until about 20, when I stopped coming home from college and decided I was never going back. Surprise, I am now back.

I have so, so, so, many feelings about being here. We don’t live so close to my high school home that I drive past it every day, but we do live close enough that I use the same roads, often go to the same shopping centers, and see a lot of the friends I’ve kept in touch with for the last 20+ years. Sometimes I feel 17 again, driving with my windows down and singing along to the radio (the rock station I listened to as a teen has the same morning DJ, it feels like a time warp). Then I remember I’m on my way to Costco in my yoga pants to buy 7 lbs of chicken to feed my enormous family. I will not be sitting at home later, 3-way-calling a boy I like on my private line while one of my frenemies listens in and then tells me there is no way he’s going to ask me to Homecoming. I will be dropping off a PTA donation on the neighbor’s porch and sewing black spots onto white t-shirts so my children can participate in the town Homecoming parade dressed as dalmatians.

Besides a daily identity crisis, our new lives here are pretty great. Northern Virginia is a really nice place to live, especially as a military family. There are opportunities galore for free tickets, cool events and day trips.

On Monday, everyone was off of work and school, so we drove out to Great Family Farms in Bluemont where we did every fall thing in one day. Animals, mining for gems, bounce pillows, cow train, hayride, rope swings, ninja course, apple cannon, corn maze, cider donuts and more. Five stars, highly recommend.

(Evan is 12 now, Caroline is 10, Lincoln is 7 and Finn is 5)

Every year in New England, on September 1st, we all prepare for fall. It’s September. It’s Fall. It’s time to get out our cardigans and boots, sleep with the windows open and four blankets, pick apples, drink lattes, and throw around as many decorative gourds as we can.

And every year, on September 1st, we remember that it’s actually still summer.

But our surprise is a gift – doing fun summer stuff in September feels like cheating. I’m swimming in the ocean in September! (And don’t tell anyone the ocean is actually crazy warm in September, or we’ll have to share the beach with too many people.) I’m wearing sundresses in September! We’re having ice cream for dinner in September! Let’s jump in the car after school and do ALL of that on a Thursday!

All the things I was tired of – sand in my car, washing a million towels, late bedtimes, no plans for dinner, car naps – are once again charming and fun. I can sit on a towel by the ocean wondering why we don’t go to the beach EVERY day with absolutely no irony. It’s like my brain was wiped clean on the first day of the month and I’m ready for summer all over again.

The most pleasant part of the whole thing is in a few days (a week, maybe three if we’re lucky) it actually WILL be fall. I’ll vacuum all the sand out of my car and deflate all the floaties until next year. We will all start wearing pants and I’ll buy 3 new striped shirts. We’ll eat apples and chowder and cider donuts and the bakery in Mystic will smell like pumpkin and cinnamon instead of lavender and vanilla. We get our bonus, stolen summer right before the very best part of New England.

This is why we’re still here.

This year, Evan is in 4th grade, Caroline is in 3rd grade, and Lincoln is going to full-day child care preschool. That means from 9 am until 4 pm every weekday I have only ONE KID to take care of. So far it’s going great, both here at home and at school. Evan and Caroline both love their teachers. Evan gets to take band this year and he’s chosen the trombone, so he’ll also get a pretty good workout carrying it back and forth on the bus twice a week. Caroline is pretty jealous but she’ll get to pick an instrument next year. Lincoln has gotten on and off the bus cheerfully every day, even if he is still mad he’s in a “downstairs” classroom instead of his old class upstairs. I’m not even sure his best friend goes to his daycare anymore, but I’m sure he’ll make a new best friend quickly.

Besides these big kids, Finnegan and I are SO excited to hang out together. He’s so NICE when he has my undivided attention. His language has exploded, he likes riding in the car and he has chosen to take naps almost every afternoon, so I’m getting our disaster house back under control and preparing for some big renovation work this fall. It’s a good time of year for all of us.

It’s well documented that matching pajamas are one of my favorite things. I did my Christmas pajama shopping super early this year, since I was worried about getting them in time for our early December events. While I was shopping, I came across a pair of baby deer pajamas with a matching hat. I thought “My baby has plenty of pajamas, he does not NEED these pajamas.” And then I thought about the state of the world right now and how I’m willing to throw money at basically anything that makes me super, super happy so I bought them.

Please enjoy this photo shoot of Finnegan, 14 months, frolicking like a fawn in the leaves. He ate sticks and dirt and threw rocks and drooled everywhere and was just perfect.

If you need deer pajamas, you can find the hat here: deer pilot cap

And the pajamas here: baby sleeper 

We had a storm Sunday night. I ended up sleeping on the couch because it was so windy and loud on the top floor where my bedroom is. Then the cable and internet were out. Then the basement flooded. On the other hand, we didn’t lose power here at the house, but because it was out in other towns our super crazy busy afternoon ended up being a pretty relaxed afternoon. I’m still so tired I almost fell asleep in the McDonald’s drive thru.

Sunday:

My little pirate tried her first macaron

The face is part of the costume, he liked the cookie

Why does Linc look like he’s 10?

Monday:

Literally the only photo on my camera roll from this day

Tuesday:

Playing trucks while we wait for the bus

Package protector

I bought 4 of these in August when I heard they might be popular. I guess they’re not THAT popular.

Wednesday:

Hello gorgeous

He’s getting so LONG

Things that went through the washing machine this week

Thursday:

HUGS

Friday:

Caroline’s teacher suggested she might want a retake. Caroline couldn’t figure out why, she LOVES her picture. So we’re keeping it.

Fell asleep face down in the cookies.

Saturday:

Fancy fall hair

My little monkies on their favorite boat

He demanded I take this photo

I have this horrible cough that will not go away. I think it’s allergies causing post-nasal drip that’s clogging up my lungs, but whatever it is it’s ruining my week. I have these coughing fits that sound like I’m an old-fashioned lady dying of consumption. It causes a pounding headache and keeps me from sleeping. MOST of the time I’m totally fine and don’t feel sick at all, but then I get hit with an episode. Too bad I can’t take the nighttime cough meds during the day, That stuff is amazing.