the summer shakedown. part one.

immediately following the last post grayson mooned a lady at the airport, i drove a 28 foot RV through oakland rush hour traffic, proved that internet friends could also be real life friends and of course added california to the multi state list of target stores i have visited.


and that was just the first day.
it's been a great trip.

i am currently sitting in the airport for a 3 hour wait with nothing between me and small people meltdown but 11 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches i made in the RV return center parking lot and the little mermaid playing on repeat on the kids dvd player.

i travel dangerously.

i live on the edge.

i broke down and bought overpriced starbucks airport coffee.

good times.

so-- while i know i should be showing you all the incredible pictures of northern california sitting on my memory card .. instead i am going to flood this space with summer. because i just can't move on... and summer is counting on me. and these are the consequences of blogging once a week for the last two months. 

but i promise after these-- it's all the redwoods you can handle. big trees = big fun.

so.... summer. she's  a good time girl.

our summers are simple.
we fill them with plastic pool dips. i've been known to beg nate to go sit out in that pool with me on hot summer nights after the kids are in bed. it's the most romantic six inches of water in town. :)


we do lots of projects.. big and small. 
we use real tools. the kids use fake tools and try to steal our real tools.

we go to the fair/carnival. i will never totally understand how we arrived at this event of the modern age. how we went from a lovely animal showing, blue ribbon winning, bake off to a psychedelic, a carney tried to cuddle my baby, sweat fest. i find it a tad revolting. but we do it.. because i am a yes girl and i believe in hand sanitizer.

grayson went on his first date. he took her around the block and showed her the sights.
there's the creepy carney that snuggled my sister... 
there's the giant dolls headed for goodwill tomorrow... 
there's the cotton candy my mom won't buy me... 
we drew the line when her seatbelt got stuck and he said 'i can hepp yu.'  nope.. date's over. ;)

the cute pig ride is my favorite carnival ride. it's the perfect introduction to the carnival. perhaps over the spin till you puke lovely experience happening on the other side. 
 luci wanted to go and then was ambivalent. we may share a love of carnivals.

 arianna picked the ferris wheel with me for her ride. she is scared of heights. i like to call this exposure therapy. 
she picked it--- i just didn't talk her out of it.

 this is where she was angry with me for swinging the cart to come over and get my picture with her. "mom-- i am really upset with you! i do NOT think they want you to be moving around up here! i am going to tell on you if you can't sit still!"
 i live with my 5th grade teacher i am pretty sure.

then we almost got eaten by a wicked nebraska storm. the end.

this is an hour of luci's life in the summer:
barely dressed...
owning her belly overhang like it's the new skinny jean fad. 

oh to look that good with back fat....

being naughty pushing buttons not meant for pudgy baby fingers...

 when i was in high school i listened to the sleepless in seattle soundtrack on tape. i wore that sucker out. except the last song. the last song is lame but the rest is killer. i liked the song 'in the wee small hours of the morning' when i was 15. yeah.. that's not weird. the kids love it now. although it's possible we skip the makin whoopee song. when i remember. which isn't a lot. 

somebody is not going to be happy that her meal plan has been tampered with.

soap to clean...

soap to eat... all in an hour with a baby. :)

is it time to buy the children some sort of bat? we use a plastic shovel for backyard wiffle ball. the idea of grayson with a bat... basically sounds like a personal invitation to the emergency room.

we made cards for a friend's going away party. everyone got to make their own. grayson thought it appropriate to share his random love of babies. he loves babies. :)

we have been working on the potty training at night of both big kids. they are both ridiculously heavy sleepers so we have to shake the jeepers out of them, wake them up as best we can and even still if they are left unattended can be found passed out in random place within minutes.

like the kitchen floor...

and upside down on the couch.

bubbles and plastic food picnics on the deck at grammy and grandpa's house. 
childhood summer memories are always the perfect blend of big and small. 

 GG the great grandma has been staying with grammy and grandpa all summer. she is always gracious to receive lots of chit chat and plastic bologna sandwiches. and crying babies that don't want pictures taken.

backyard clothing is optional for sprinklers... for most of us. ;)

bananas, peanut butter, nutella and ice. drinkable deliciousness. calorie free. 
just ask luci and her back fat... ;)

arianna planning out her year. she's working out next january. this girl is booked. :)

luci continued to try and drown herself unsuccessfully all summer. it's like her secret wish that i just have to keep squashing. you are not a mermaid. you are not a mermaid.

this was the summer she learned to let go and really swim. i have been saying for at least a year. you know you can swim right?? she hasn't believed me.. until this summer. it's possible there was a lot of peer pressure involved. do it, do it.. being chanted by the diving boards. childhood is as brutal as it is beautiful. but she conquered her fears, bribes were passed out and she swam, unassisted across the length of the pool. 

 the summer shakedown continues tomorrow... immediately followed by your chin hitting the floor in shock and awe of a blog post happening two days in a row. getting crazy over here.. getting crazy. ;)