It’s summer!

(more…)

I don’t often have a favorite child. Sometimes I have a least favorite child (defined as the one who is currently misbehaving/throwing a tantrum/crying/keeping me awake at 2 am) but that only lasts for a few minutes. Mothers have an infinite amount of love, so loving one kid infinite plus a little bit more is almost impossible.

That being said, I’ve been finding myself scheduling extra time with Caroline whenever possible lately. Four and four months seems to be a nice age for her. I mean, she’s still FOUR. Life is hard when you are four and you have to wear sneakers instead of sparkly shoes or can’t have candy for breakfast or have to go to bed when it is still light out or when the half-zebra is too far away from the fence and you can’t pet her. Caroline is the middle child, my only girl, the one who I worry about the most as she moves from being a baby into real life. She has so much confidence and curiosity and willingness to try new things right now but I know the day is coming when being herself will feel harder than going with the crowd. I want her to hold on to herself and be fearless as long as possible, so if she’s up for an adventure, I am up for an adventure.

She wakes up every day and wants to Do Fun Stuff. As soon as she hears about a cool place or fun activity it goes on her mental list of Fun Stuff We Should Do so if we have a whole in the schedule she is ready to fill it. And on the way to Doing Fun Stuff she wants to grab a frappuccino. Because who doesn’t love a frappuccino?

Our Sunday included TWO frappuccinos. We went to Target with the Starbucks at 8 am for the Lilly Pulitzer collection release but failed – our store didn’t even get any kid sizes in stock and the first 10 crazy women in the doors bought EVERYTHING else. There was one beach towel and a couple of glasses left at 8:05. Luckily Caroline found a couple of Easter dresses on clearance that she was perfectly happy to accept instead of Lilly (because she’s 4, she doesn’t care). Then when we came home she begged to do more fun stuff. I heard from a friend there was a fundraiser at Ray of Light Farm, so Caroline and I jumped in the car and went, leaving the boys at home. On the way back we had “frappuccinos” i.e. Coolatas from Dunkin Donuts and talked about what we would do for our next adventure.

I made the mistake of telling her people sometimes have guinea pigs as pets, so obviously now she wants to know when she can get one. Maybe I should have told her some people eat guinea pigs instead.

More goats. We really like goats. Also, they sold us that food for the special fundraiser day – I’m not THAT much of an a-hole to just feed animals right next to the sign that says don’t feed the animals.

This horse was named Belle, which made her Caroline’s favorite.

Waiting patiently for the half-zebra to wander over. She eventually did so our day was a success.

Caroline’s outfit:
Hat – Gymboree outlet
Dress – Target
Leggings – BabyLegs
Boots – Zulily
Sweater (in the other pics) – J Crew Crew Cuts from the consignment shop
Glasses (in the other pics) – Zenni Optical

For the record, Caroline is only allowed non-coffee drinks. I’m not pumping my 4-year-old full of espresso – it’s mostly whipped cream and ice. And delicious.

This week (the one I am typing in, not the one in the pictures) is spring break and the weather finally got the memo so I am tempted to turn off my laptop, toss it in a closet and not look at it again until the weather gets back below 50 degrees. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen again until October.

Sunday:

Grumpy baby wanted to walk around instead of sit through Easter service

Brunching

Evan picked this one from ALL the grocery store cakes

Monday:

No match for fresh air

I MISSED 100000 EVEN

Grocery store assistant

Tuesday:

Best Legos Ever

Style

Attention Target shoppers: Adorable baby in the main aisle

Wednesday:

More Style

DEFINITELY GINGERY

He’s pretty convinced that is his bed.

Thursday:

Thoughtful baby

Her style now extends to swim class

I am not sure why this is necessary

Friday:

Terrorizing the ponies

Terrorizing the dog

Terrorizing himself (your doing it wrong)

Saturday:

Uptown Fairy

Wallet thief

They demanded I take their picture next to this “sports dog”.

I have both Easter pictures and Evan’s birthday post to write, but instead of eating Easter candy I stole from the kids and sitting on the couch this morning I went for a walk. I am feeling the “summer is coming” stress and really regreting bascially everything I’ve eaten for the last 9 months, so I’m making a conscious effort to increase my activity level and decrease my candy consumption. At least I will, after all these Reeses Eggs are gone.

Sunday:

When it comes to vintage spring dresses, she’s covered

HEY GUYS I FOUND THE EGGS THEY’RE OVER HERE

I sold this wrap. I’m pretty sure it was because of this picture.

Monday:

We did this a lot this week

No, that’s not disturbing

This art is delicious

Tuesday:

That’s supposed to be MY spot

Happy to be outside

WTF is this? It doesn’t look like nursies.

Wednesday:

Caroline the creeper

Every. Single. Wall.

Sad baby needs daddy cuddles

Thursday:

He loves the baby in the mirror

Porch ennui

LASHES

Friday:

The kids have asked to have this happen again EVERY DAY since

Neither of these children plays piano

Sure. Go ahead and eat that cardboard. Hashtag third child.

Saturday:

Saturday morning photo session

Why are you letting this goat eat me?

I’m going to steal this one.

I need a weekend to recover from our super busy weekend. I also need the weather to get above 70 degrees just for ONE DAY so I can open every window in the house. “Fresh linen” scented candles can only do so much when you haven’t had any fresh air inside in 6 months. Plus we all pretty much permanently smell like goats, so that’s not helping.

It snowed again yesterday. They had to move the Easter Egg hunt at church inside because of snow. I can’t.

Sunday:

Home Depot is always a family event

Weirdos

TA DA!

Monday:

Actual babywearing in action: cleaning, sorting, folding and putting away clothes to consign/donate/keep

Snack time

A girl of many skills

Tuesday:

Big kid, little kid fun at the aquarium

Eye appointment

Anyone want to buy a really soft wrap?

Wednesday:

Happy grocery store helper

New Ebay score = success

Not so into the monthday photos this time

Thursday:

SASS

SIT DOWN

Another Ebay find. I might be in trouble.

Friday:

Peeping bunnies

Her 100% self styled Easter outfit

I would be way better at eating healthy if they hadn’t put that 5 Guys in town

Saturday:

BABY GOAT PILE

Baby goat stand

Baby who also stands, but I’m way less happy about this one

I registered the big kids for super fun Mystic Seaport summer camps this week. Which made me think “Oh yeah, summer is coming, I’ll need to do something with the kids.” But unfortunately, planning for summer did not make summer come. Remind me not to complain AT ALL about a single hot day once they FINALLY get here.

April should be better though. A little warmer. More stuff to do. Evan’s birthday (no big party, just some fun). BABY GOATS. And my own birthday, which will probably go entirely uncelebrated besides the Facebook mentions, but since I’m turning a very boring 33 that won’t bother me much. I’ll be pretty happy with a nap and some Mexican food.