We have less than 2 weeks left until Disney World and I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to hold off telling the kids for much longer. I’m so bad at surprises.

Sunday:

Really excited to be at Lake Compounce

Evan’s face before we went on the roller coaster. His after face was not happy.

Caroline’s face all day

Monday:

Once Finn is walking these two are going to be double trouble

Evening yoga

Tuesday:

Are you sure this is breakfast? Why is it on the floor?

Couch naps

My favorite child

Wednesday:

You can see our rainbow umbrella is his eyes

Skeptical of the art show

Art show snacks

Thursday:

I gave him nutella, it was a mistake

Now he’s trying to eat his siblings

Peace Out

Friday:

How I feel about getting changed in front of people too

They REALLY love yoga

Saturday:

Took our cousin to the beach

And to the splash pad

And taught him yoga

I don’t know why I’m missing so many photos from this week. I THOUGHT I took lots. I’ll try to do better this week, although so far today I’ve taken zero and it’s 2 pm. But that’s because I’ve been listening to podcasts on my phone while I try to get the entire house cleaned and organized and back to the almost-always-ready-for-company level of tidy that I had achieved at the beginning of the year.

In other news, do you follow my 365 project on Facebook or Instagram yet? I figured I should put those photos someplace where people can see them, since my photography is my main claim to blogging fame (very very very tiny amounts of blogging fame) these days.

Lake Compounce provided us with free tickets to visit this month, but all opinions, statements, and photos are my own.

Here is the Top 10 List of reasons we had a great time at Lake Compounce:

1. Right in the middle of Connecticut, so it’s close to us and lots of other places.
2. Tons of rides in the kid section that everyone over age 2 could ride without grown-ups.
3. Super fun scary roller coasters for the grown-ups.
4. Wicked friendly employees.
5. Lots of shade and places to sit down when you’re tired.
6. Free fountain drinks all over the park so no one ever complained they were thirsty.
7. Stroller-friendly.
8. Nursing-friendly.
9. Parent-friendly (My husband changed all the diapers all day, because the men’s room had changing tables.)
10. Just the right size to spend the whole day.

E and I took Evan to Lake Compounce several years ago, back when he was Baby Evan, and had a great time then too. But I had a very tiny Baby Caroline and didn’t get to ride very many things myself, so I mostly remember just the toddler area. Since then, they’ve done a bunch of renovations, added new coasters and spruced things up so even though it’s the oldest amusement park in the country it’s beautiful and clean. Don’t worry, about the nostalgia though, because it’s still got plenty of that.

We got there at 11 am on a Sunday and the kids walked on to every ride until at least 1 pm. They’re the only ones on those drums!

The only photo of me from the day: Caroline LOVED this thing and was super mad she couldn’t go on the grown-up version.

We got free soda while we waited for E to ride Phobia. It took me several more hours to decide if I was also going to ride Phobia. I did. It was fun.

Praise hands for this Joovy stroller we still love. Finn was happy riding/sleeping/chilling in it all day, between rides in the Tula so I could nurse.

After Evan suddenly, drastically changed his mind about roller coasters (Saturday: “I WANT TO RIDE THEM ALL!” Sunday: Won’t even get on the kid-sized coaster Linc rode with his arms up) I wasn’t sure he would try any of the rides. But he loved the log flume.

Evan also loved the Ghost Hunt ride, probably because he likes shooting games. I did not partake, because haunted houses are not my thing. Caroline and Linc both rode, because they take after their father.

That is possibly the best picture I’ve ever taken.

I don’t remember the dinosaurs from the last time we visited, but the kids loved it.

Caroline clearly didn’t enjoy herself at all.

Despite Evan’s skeptical face, we rode Thunder Rapids twice in a row and got SOAKED. It was great.

The lake/waterpark opens this weekend. I promised the kids we could come back for it later this summer.

I bought extra clothes JUST IN CASE they got wet, which is why they’re in different clothes than the beginning of the day.

Goodbye Lake Compounce! See you again soon!

If you’re in the New England area, I would definitely recommend making the trip to Bristol to have your own super fun day. You can use this link/code to get a discount on your internet tickets:

Link: https://www.lakecompounce.com/blogreader?promocode=BeBehSBlog17

Promocode: BeBehSBlog17

Thank you again to Lake Compounce for providing us with the tickets (p.s. kids under 3 are free)!

We have a lot of stuff going on over the next few weeks, which is good, because counting down to our Disney trip is making time pass SO SLOWLY. I’m terrible at secrets and I’m pretty sure I’m going to accidentally tell the kids sooner than I meant to. I’m still trying to plan how and when exactly we’ll surprise them, but because we had some unexpected reactions to rides at the amusement park on Sunday (Evan hated all the roller coasters and had to be coaxed onto even small rides) I think a few days of watching Disney vacation videos and YouTube ride-throughs will be a good idea.

Sunday:

Happy Mother’s Day to me!

Family Target trip

I’m so well loved

Monday:

Re-entry into real life is hard

Real life is hard for toddlers too

A good summer sunset

Tuesday:

Front porch life

Brother friends at the library

Evening walk

Wednesday:

Can’t keep a kid out of a fountain

Downtown New London is pretty

No biggie, my sister’s wedding is just in a magazine

  Thursday:

Monster attack

Robot vacuum tried to eat the baby

Cosmic Kids Yoga is their new favorite way to end the day

Friday:

Aquarium date with some penguins

Friday night we had the aquarium all to ourselves

Eating french fries in a beer garden

Saturday:

We’re working on moving him to the crib with mixed results

Linc and I invented carrot cheesecake bars and they were delicious

We always play guys vs girls and for the FIRST TIME EVER the girls won both times

Linc has been napping for THREE HOURS and I’m almost caught up on Call the Midwife so even though I slept sitting up in a chair all night today is pretty good. Plus I have a whole fridge full of meal delivery dinners so I don’t have to stress about what I’m making tonight. Now if only the baby will let me eat something without holding him I’ll be a happy person.

Huge thanks to Gymboree for once again sponsoring this post and outfitting my constantly-growing children.

We are T-minus 4 days away from the unofficial start of summer around here because this weekend our lake opens! I’m not actually sure how we survived summer before we had a lake membership, but for the past few years it has been a lifesaver for hot summer days, the cure for too much screen time, a meeting place where we almost always find friends to play with and a much-needed break for me from cleaning up the same mess day after day.

But it’s not just the lake I look forward to in the summer. I’m an ocean devotee – the sand, the salt, the smell, all of it is necessary to my happiness. Just knowing I can be at the ocean in a few minutes makes me feel better. It’s why I don’t know if I could ever live in a non-coastal state. How do you handle so much dry land?

Thanks to a few true summer weather days last week we’ve already been to the beach once this May and are going back during Memorial Day weekend to share it with some flyover state relatives coming to visit. They specifically requested the ocean be on the itinerary, so we’ll probably take them to Ocean Beach where they can get the full Atlantic experience: cold water, hot sand, the boardwalk, the rickety rides, the overpriced ice cream. It’s all important. And thanks to my friends at Gymboree the kids are going to look stylish and patriotic for all our weekend plans. Their new Star Spangled Days collection is perfect for Memorial Day, 4th of July, or any summer day where you’re feelin’ the red, white and blue vibes.

Caroline’s favorites from here look are the sunglasses and her “high heel” wedges.

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You can find the shoes here, which you should definitely do because they’re so adorable. They also come in big kid sizes.

One of my favorite things about Gymboree is that they still make clothes for ALL my kids so it’s easy to match even when my cool-guy 8-year-old maybe doesn’t want to wear exactly the same shirt as the 2-year-old. Although who doesn’t want super sweet glasses like those?

My very attractive and well-behaved children are the perfect fashion models. In opposite world.

Evan has worn that hoodie every day since we got it, which is about as strong of a recommendation as anyone can give.

Four more days before Memorial Day, 18 more days before we ditch school to start our summer vacation, 43 days until the 4th of July, and my fingers are crossed every single one of those days is perfect New England summer weather. What are your plans for the holiday weekend? Is it summer yet where you are?

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?”