I went to bed at 9 pm twice this week but could NOT figure out why I was so exhausted. I mean, sure, the baby has been getting up twice a night while we transition her to her nursery. But why would that make me tired? I’m a stay at home mom! I obviously don’t DO anything all day. I must have gotten a super heavy box of bonbons this week.

Oh wait, or maybe I did a zillion and one things.

Sunday:

Splits!! And I just spent 15 minutes trying to remember what it's called when you do a split with your back leg bent like that. I still don't remeber.

I think he likes his hat

 Monday:

Caroline wants to know if Twist is actually ON meth or just ACTS like he's on meth

If you're wondering where I find the time to craft new decor for my upcoming Halloween party, the answer is "There's PLENTY of time in the day when the baby gets you up at 5 am"

Those are my teeths. Why does posting this x-ray feel like posting a naked picture?

Special lunch with a very handsome daddy

Tuesday:

My toddler can't hold his pee for five minutes until we get to a bathroom but he knows that Tuesdays are TRASH DAYS

I ran out of this red yarn to finish Caroline's fall coat, so let's just hope it doesn't get cold before next week.

Husband: What's for dinner? Me: I don't know. Let me go check Pinterest. Pinterest: Buffalo chicken rolls and parmesan fries.

Wednesday:

It's cute she's helping, until she grabs a knife. She ALWAYS goes for the knives.

I wore real clothes AND real bra. It gave me a mild case of mastitis. That'll teach me to be fancy.

This is the cart of groceries I had to abandon at BJ's because I forgot my wallet. AGAIN.

THE CUPCAKES.

Thursday:

And this is why my family is going to survive post-zombie apocalypse. We've got skills.

Friendly's for lunch??? NO WAY!

She plays with this toy correctly. It blows my mind that she understands it already.

 Friday:

Women's shoes and a guitar. Future rock star??

Evan almost got whiplash on this ride at the fair...and he LOVED IT.

Fair food, you are in me.

Pink cheeks from a long day of fun

Saturday:

Geez, what a lazy ass

Yes, those are my feet. Yes, I went for a run. Yes, I could have been sleeping. Yes, I am an idiot.

On my way home I found this in the trash. I carried it 5 blocks. Expect to see a LOT of play kitchen inspiration on my Pinteret boards.

And now it’s time to feed everyone lunch, read a little bit and then nap for AT LEAST three hours. Tomorrows plans are the same. You might call it boring and lazy, I call it saving up my energy so we survive the winter. IT’S SCIENCE.

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 will spare you the other 398 pictures we took during our quick trip to Washington DC on Tuesday, but these were fun.

And if you’re my mom and just said “NO!!!! Where are all the PICTURES?!?!” don’t worry, I’ll put them on Facebook. Like a normal person without a blog. Those people still exist, right?

Also, can you freaking BELIEVE how EMPTY the Mall is??? Washington was post-tourist season but pre-field trip season and we practically had the place to ourselves. Most enjoyable visit ever.

If a genie came out of a lamp right now and offered me 3 wishes, they would all involve going back to the beach house on Kiawah Island and never ever leaving (after the wish for more wishes. DUH.) I would need the extra wishes to cover the bazillion dollars for maintenance and the electric bill and the toilet paper delivery guy. Because people who own beach mansions on gated islands can’t be expected to purchase their OWN toilet paper. If you happen to know of any genies looking for work, please send them my way.

(Totally unrelated side note except for the genie thing: we’re watching Aladdin right now with the kids for the first time as a way to ease back into home life and I am proud to report I can still recite all of it from memory.)

Leading up to this vacation, E was kind of…what’s a nice way to say “suffering from an epic eye-rolling condition?” I would say “Yah the BEACH!” and he would say “Blah, I hate sand.” I would say “I heard they have a fully stocked liquor cabinet!” and E would say “They sell beer in Connecticut.” I would say “It will be so nice to get away!” and he would sigh and say “But we have to drive SO FAR.” He was like Vacation Eeyore.

But besides a few screamy moments from the kids in the car – truly just a FEW and pretty justified on their part after so many hours strapped into carseats – it was the perfect vacation. It took E less than 10 minutes to be totally on board with the whole thing and become Vacation Dora The Explorer. “WOW! LOOK AT THIS POOL! IT IS GREAT! DON’T YOU LOVE THIS POOL? I LOVE POOLS! AGUA!”

I already mentioned that my friends were great with my kids, but it also helped that my kids were REALLY REALLY well behaved. All my (not unreasonable) fears about the toddler escaping the house and falling in the pool or running down to the beach proved unnecessary and he was more than happy to just hang out with whatever adult’s arms were currently empty. And besides the sleeplessness related to a brand new top tooth, Caroline was a tiny ginger angel who did nothing but coo and make doe-eyes at everyone. It FELT like a vacation, even with a 2-to-2 parent-child ratio, which is pretty damn amazing.

This here is the part where I post fifty bazillionty photos of the beach and the beach house and brag until you want to punch me in the face, so if you’re currently in your third straight year of never having a vacation that doesn’t involve sleeping on an air mattress while visiting your in-laws in Tulsa you might want to click away. I would totally hate you for going on this vacation too.

Beach house - front side

Beach House - beach side

Walkway to the beach

Low tide puddle stomping

I'm not sure that couch is big enough.

Floating spiral staircase

Looking up from the ground floor

One of the bedrooms NO ONE USED (There are six total).

The bathroom attached to the bedroom Little Evan used (We put the kids on the top floor to keep them away from the noise but accidentally took the two nicest bathrooms too)

Grow-your-own-train-set capsules with Aunt Sara

Having a very serious football talk with Erin's husband Elliot

Probably going on our Christmas cards

Father/daughter

Fun with our camera remote

Run fast!

I think I'm going to use this one for Caroline's Modern Bird art (minus my Photoshop effect)

We are smiling because the ocean was as warm as bath water

Bird chasing (taken with the super awesome paparazzi lens)

Windblown baby

Is there anything more joyful than a toddler running full speed towards someone who will catch him?

Flying

Pool area, complete with outdoor kitchen, outdoor bathroom and hot tub

Pool time

Someone loves the water

Underwater camera

Little Evan and Sara play "Jaws", where he makes you push him around the pool while he sings the theme song

We'll have her on a surf board by next summer

Is it too soon to start planning to do it again next year?

Hurricane Irene blew through Connecticut on Sunday:

Back patio at 8 am. For the record, we piled all the outdoor furniture over in that corner - the hurricane did not manage to stack our chairs quite so neatly.

This is a game called "Ew, you're stinky!" in which I get a whiff of the toddler's diaper and shout "Ew, you're stinky!" while poking him and making him laugh hysterically. We played for 45 MINUTES.

Rednecks. I'll forgive them since it was REALLY hot in the house with all the windows closed.

Fascinated by the storm

Biggest branch that came down. Luckily it came down on a bush and not through my window.

Skeptical baby thinks we are all fools for going outside.

We didn’t end up with much more than some broken branches and broken patio lights (we forgot to take them down) but being cooped up inside all day might have made us a little stir-crazy. As you can clearly see in the most embarrassing video of myself I will ever post on the internet.

The fact that Little Evan “played” dinosaur with me might be my best parenting moment to date so far.