I’m not going to lie, things are not going great around here. We see E for less than an hour a day (which will happen every day for at least the next 36 days) but to see him at ALL means we have to skip our morning activities. Caroline has decided napping is for the birds, but so is going to bed before 8 pm (those last 2 hours in the evening are ROUGH). And Evan is still three, which means he recently learned the word “attitude” – literally, he now tells me all about his attitude – and I’m about ready to sell him to the circus. Our week felt a bit like Groundhog Day – the same things over and over and over – so I’m REALLY looking forward to the end of this coming week, when we head off to Long Island for an end of summer adventure.

Sunday:

Exhausted from a weekend with friends, THANK GOD.

HAHA JAY KAY MOM! I’m not exhausted I’m trying to give you a heart attack!

Hand washing device aka drinking fountain

Monday:

Fish through a fish-eye lens are fun

Giant Oreo cupcake is no match for two toddlers

Then I almost killed myself trying to do C25K Week 5 with a stroller on a hilly path.

Tuesday:

Cheeeeeese!

Filling out pre-k applications for NEXT year. Cross your fingers (it’s a lottery).

Dream big, little ginger

Wednesday:

I asked her to put her jammies in the laundry basket. At least she followed directions?

That blur in the middle is Evan jumping off the tumble track all on his own for the very first time!

Not impressed with BJ’s

Thursday:

Oh no it’s a ghost! A friendly ghost – It goes “woooooo!” and tries to tickle you.

Evan is obsessed with his shadow. Time to watch Peter Pan, I think.

Those popsicles were a mistake.

Friday:

So happy to be back at Stroller Strides!

Sharing!!!

I’m starting a diet challenge in 2 weeks. Guess I better order BOTH of these sandwiches NOW!

Saturday:

He says this is much more comfortable. Whatever.

Me: That’s you Caroline! The baby in the pictures is you! Caroline: *mind blown*

After ALL THIS she still refused to nap.

In case that last picture isn’t clear, it’s Caroline in MY BED with two dollies, two blankies, two stuffed mice, her water, her baby laptop, her sound/light machine AND Daddy’s iPad. She insisted I drag it all up to my room and then lay in bed talking to herself for 90 minutes (even after I turned off the iPad). It was a really long day. So now I’m going to bed – good thing I never took off my pajamas! – and hoping we can get out of the house tomorrow for something that takes a LOT of toddler energy.

I’m guessing since Amy had a baby (!!!!!!!) this week, the linky will be off for a while. But feel free to leave links to your iphone posts in my comments, I love looking at them!

I can’t believe a week ago I was in NYC. Not that this week was busy – it was, in fact, the laziest I have ever been since having children – but it feels like a million years since I was hugging my people. At least this week ended with one of my peoples coming to visit!

Sunday:

BEBEH FEVAH

Just hanging out here, 50 feet over the river on a train with the door open. NBD.

Epic puzzle ball is epic

Monday:

I told them we were going to go through the toy box and give away the toys they don’t play with anymore. Their reaction was to sit on it.

So I did it while they were sleeping. One giant bag of trash, one medium bag for Goodwill, two bags of baby toys put away until I have a baby again.

Tuesday:

Somehow, a cool fisheye lens makes my dirty house look less awful

I took this picture right before I fell asleep on the couch too

Yes, that looks safe.

Wednesday:

Love is patient (with the baby), love is kind (to the kitty)

At the aquarium, er…I mean the grocery store. Whatevs, he likes the lobsters.

Caroline takes sleeping very seriously

Thursday:

I don’t even know

What do you mean “poor choices”, Mom?

Fish-eye bathtime

Friday:

This is why I never say “no” to her. THAT FACE.

Sometimes we play NEXT to our friends

And sometimes we share a stool with them

Saturday:

Snack break at Hasbro’s Big Back Yard

Aoudads are like mountain goats – good climbers. Very similar to toddlers.

Caroline and JD check out the penguins while Kim and I die of cuteness

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!

Today is my 8 year wedding anniversary, which means I have a completely legitimate excuse to post wedding pictures!

Remember, in 2004 most fancy photographers were still shooting with film, so excuse the quality. You’d think having 2 kids and a minivan would make me feel old but thinking about film – FILM! – pushed me right over the edge. Excuse me while I go cry into a pillow.

In my head, we’re the kind of super romantic people who take balloon rides and drink champagne at sunset and buy each other extravagant gifts for our anniversary. In real life, I usually remember to buy a card and E usually remembers to say “Happy Anniversary” at about 11:28 pm. This year, I’m sick and E is working so our entire celebration will probably consist of watching the Olympics for 10 minutes before we both pass out. Last night he helped me clean out the bottom layer of dog hair and juice residue from the bottom of the toy box.

And you know what? I’m totally OK with that. Obviously I would love an all expenses paid vacation to a private island (we’d bring the kids AND a nanny) to celebrate but the fact that I still think “Hey, this guy’s pretty awesome” after spending almost a decade together is cool too. Sometimes love isn’t so much about romance and flowers as it is about having someone to complain to about your crappy day and knowing they actually care.

Happy Anniversary E! I’m so glad we’re on this adventure together, even when it’s more like a Griswold family vacation than Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.

(Anyone remember Zoobilie Zoo? I can still sing the song, but holy cow was that a trippy show. I should really stop complaining Yo Gabba Gabba is weird.)

It’s kind of hilarious that this post is sponsored by Connecticut Tourism, since my entire blog could pretty much be seen as a commercial for Connecticut Tourism. Between trips to the aquarium, the seaport, parks, and various bodies of water all I do is post about the fun we have living here. I’m constantly amazed at how much there is to do in an hour radius of my house. I’ve lived here 7 years and I’m still discovering new places and activities all the time!

A few months ago, my friend Erin said “Hey, so I’m getting four days off over Memorial Day weekend, would it be cool if I came up to visit you?” and I say “It would be THE COOLEST.” I warned her two kids kind of put a damper on the crazy, carefree, childless life she was used to but she assured me she loved my ginger babies and would be happy to hang out doing ginger baby-friendly stuff. Luckily, we managed to do plenty of things that were fun for EVERYONE – although I needed 18 hours of sleep and a diet of nothing but carrot sticks to recover from SO MUCH FUN.

Here’s a quick (but extremely picture heavy) rundown of all the things we did over Memorial Day weekend. I PROMISE it’s worth at least scrolling through so you can check out the giveaway at the bottom: Saturday morning we drove down to Mystic where we walked around looking at shops, watched the drawbridge go up and down and ate delicious ice cream at Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream(I highly recommend the lemon custard with shaved chocolate).

On the way home we stopped at two local vineyards – Stonington Vineyards and Maugle Sierra Vineyards– for wine tastings. E kindly volunteered to make wise choices and be DD so Erin and I could try all the wines. I came home with three bottles, include the most delicious Riesling ever.

In the evening, we took the stroller and walked down to the Norwich waterfront where the Rotary Club was having a carnival. My daredevil son enjoyed half a dozen rides while Erin and Caroline and I enjoyed a delicious fried dough.

*That tall thing in the distance is Mohegan Sun Casino*

On Sunday, I took Erin to the Jewett City Flea Market, which is in a huge old mill building. We wandered around looking for treasures and wondering WHO exactly is going to buy something like this:

But we found plenty of cool stuff too:

On Sunday evening our awesome baby sitter came over to put the kids to bed so all the grown ups could get dinner and drinks at Mohegan Sun. We had dinner at Sol Toro Tequila Grill and spiked milk shakes at Bobby’s Burger Place. Then we played craps and tried a few slot machines until we decided we’d lost enough money. I always feel so glamorous at the casino, even if I’m playing penny slots.

black & blue mojito

After sleeping in for a little bit on Monday we went out for family brunch and then walked down to the green where the town was having Memorial Day festivities – and my kids got to see a zillion firetrucks.

Even reliving all that as I was writing it was exhausting. We did a lot! And we only did a TINY bit of the stuff we could have done – we didn’t go out on the boat, or to the beach, or to the Nautilus Museum, or Mystic Aquarium or Seaport, or any of the other vineyards, or go get fresh seafood, or down to Clinton for antiques and outlet shopping.

Which Connecticut destination would you like to visit? Leave a comment below and you will be entered into a sweepstakes from BlogHer to win $1,000 to help you plan your trip! (more…)