There is an awful lot of my face in this week’s pictures, because it turns out when I am without my children I have a lot more time to put on make-up, do my hair, generally relax and enjoy myself. I also took a LOT of photos of things I ate, because food made my someone else is very exciting for moms.

Sunday:

I went to the spa for a facial like I’m some sort of fancy celebrity

And then I went to lunch with these weirdos

This is one of my favorite views

Monday:

Packing

Watching Animaniacs “for the kids”

Me: Don’t shine that in my eyes. Linc: OK *shines it in his eyes*

Tuesday:

Mocha mint whatever. It’s delicious.

Not real life: Kia arrives to take me to dinner because I’m in the right place at the right time.

I ate/drank like 75% of the things in this photo all by myself

Wednesday:

Palm trees…swimming pools…

Not real life: when Olive Garden leaves you wine and glasses in your room

My only photo of my insane rainbow caftan. It was PERFECT.

Thursday:

I’m wearing a romper in this photo. Tiffany looks like a model and I’m basically a toddler.

I have known Kim on the internet since before I even HAD a blog.

Not real life: Hair stylists and champagne

Friday:

I’m not stealing all the cheese I’m just taking a picture. And then stealing all the cheese.

Fancy hair again

They’re going to kill me for posting this photo

Saturday:

Diet coke for breakfast, as it should be

Blue skies

Exhausted sweaty face IN FIRST CLASS

I had such a good time at Mom 2.0 in Florida. Because this isn’t 2011 I won’t write a whole recap post, but I will say Mom 2 is still my favorite conference where I feel like I meet the best people and always feel like I belong. The scary “omg she’s so famous”-ness I felt at other conferences just didn’t exist. I don’t know if I’ll make it to 2018 in California but if I don’t I will spend that week crying under the covers because I miss my people so much.

The good news is now we are officially LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY from our family Disney trip and I can freak out in earnest. I’ll have everyone 100% packed by next week. The kids are going to be like “Mom, why can’t I find any underwear or shorts?”

Not only am I going out of town away from my children tomorrow for the first time in 3 years, I got ALL the self-care stuff done this week. I got my hair cut and colored, I got a facial and spent some time at the spa relaxing, and I got a gel manicure and a pedicure. So for the next four days I am totally prepared to look like a fully functional, stylish adult who doesn’t go a year between haircuts and wears pajamas to the bus stop. Let’s just hope I meet all new people and not anyone who reads here regularly and already knows I’m a mess.

Sunday:

Honestly I have this on my Timehop from EVERY year

One of these kids isn’t mine

Very fancy dessert

Monday:

EYELASHES

SO MANY NAPS

I am such an amazing fashion blogger

Tuesday:

He thinks it’s hilarious that he’s outside with no shirt

Linc, did you eat all Finn’s dried strawberries? “No”

Dinner assistant

Wednesday:

Mini-me

Tree full of vultures

Hey, Snuggles

Thursday:

May the 4th Be With You

I took these guys bra shopping. They were remarkably patient.

Yoga time

Friday:

Friday vibes

Linc hated the shower until this exact moment, now he likes it

Saturday:

I love this corner

Linc loves chips and salsa

Finn HATES hospital bracelets

The hospital trip was because Finn was super grumpy and warm and when I took his temp it was 104.9, higher than I am comfortable ignoring, which is what I usually do with fevers. So I called the after-hours number and the doctor on call told me she’d feel better if I took him to the ER to make sure there wasn’t anything seriously wrong. They couldn’t find anything. He seemed fine, except that it was midnight so he was really tired. But the diagnosis was basically “you have a super cute baby, take him home and get some sleep”. So we did. And he’s been mostly ok since, except that he’s still got a low grade fever and hates sleeping.

Send up lots of good thoughts and prayers that he cheers up and doesn’t have a fever at all this week while E is solo-parenting!

I should he packing but I also figured I should get my blog up to date because I’m going to a blogger conference. So I’ll probably forget my underwear but at least anyone who looks will know what we did two weeks ago.

Sunday:

“Mommy take my picture on this rock like a magestic unicorn”

New England baby doesn’t care the water is freezing

Hikers

Monday:

Muffin helper

Chopping down a tree

INSISTS on walking on walls, even when blocked by bushes

Tuesday:

Peek a boo

Naps

More naps

Wednesday:

He loves feet

Puddle jumper

ALL THE NOPES FROM ME

Thursday:

Naps

More naps

SO EXCITED FOR THIS ROLL OF FILM

Friday:

Messsssssssss

Running in the daffodils

I love this view

Saturday:

Fresh eggs are the best eggs

Photographed a wedding at a castle!

Making mud pie on the back steps. In his pajamas.

I am watching Animaniacs with my children and trying to decide how many jokes to explain to them. Is “Boo-ryshikov” the chicken still funny if you don’t know there’s a person named Baryshnikov?

Considering how hard they are laughing, I think the answer is yes.

Our Disney Training Plan continues! We’ve walked these kids all over town, practiced wearing Linc and Finn in different carriers, worked to break in new shoes, discovered Evan’s new sandals give him blisters, tried different combinations of kids in the stroller, and caught a ton of Pokemon. Because it turns out PokemonGo is a really great incentive to get a reluctant 8-year-old out of the house. Our town has lots of pokestops and plenty of gyms, so if we’re willing to put in a couple miles it’s pretty much guaranteed something exciting will happen in the app. I am fine with this plan. My new sneakers have proven themselves to be both light-weight and comfortable, my portable phone charger works great, and my legs are showing some definite muscle definition. WHO KNEW walking was good for you? WHAT A TOTAL SURPRISE.

As a photographer, it kills me a little when we’re in an amazing location and my kids are in…not the best outfits for pictures. I want them to be comfortable and be allowed to express their own preferences. I also want to take pictures I can hang on my walls. But as far as real life goes, this is accurate.  No children wear spotless neutrals ALL the time.

The next time we went walking, I brought my film camera. I’m super excited to see how this exact same photo looks on Kodak 400. It’s hilarious that after all the money and time I’ve spent on digital photography I am most into my $26 film camera right now.

p.s. She doesn’t have a scrape on her forehead. It’s barbecue sauce. I didn’t ask any further questions.

I will never stop being amazed by how much happier I am when I’m getting a daily dose of fresh air and sunshine. I mean, I’m not ready to throw out my Zoloft quite yet, but my stress level being down means the whole house is calmer. I few more weeks and we’ll all like each other so much our Disney trip will be extra magical.

Currently: It’s raining, Linc is sleeping on the couch, Finn is napping, Caroline and Evan are finishing homework, and I’m knocking out busywork while watching this crazy-ass photography show on Netflix called Tales of Light. It’s part nature documentary, part adventure story, party Canon commercial, but the cinematography is gorgeous and it’s great background noise.

Sunday:

Linc was acting like he was going to eat this goat

But then it followed us all over the property, so he didn’t scare it too much

My face on the last day I am 34

Monday:

This is the “before” picture of my vegetable garden

SO EXCITED that Bumpa offered to wear him for a walk

Star Wars obsessed

Tuesday:

Chance of me every being able to do that: less than zero

Blogger baby slept through half the show

But was totally into the candy store

Wednesday:

I pulled the covers off my patio furniture cushions. It didn’t do much good.

Cheese face

That’s not where I left my baby

Thursday:

Doing a little chilly morning photo modeling

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT SAYS (it’s to go over the baby carrier)

Egg decorating is serious business

Friday:

Doing important grinding work at OSV

Tiny woodpile helper

“Good news! You get to play Jesus in the pageant! Bad news…it’s for Good Friday.”

Saturday:

SO EXCITED TO SEE THE BUNNY

This is adorable

How many times is too many times to watch Moana? (The answer is it’s never too many)

Now I’m only a week behind on iPhone posts! And if it ever stops raining I’ll have actual content to share too – it’s just hard to get my vegetables in the ground when we’re expecting 48 hours of downpours. I also have a baby who refuses to stay put and keeps trying to pull up on things but then getting stuck and crying. That means I have about 3.2 minutes to get stuff done at a time. Turns out I’m not super productive in that timeframe.