Just Keep Swimming

That was Sofia's motto today. I FINALLY got her to wear a "bubble" around her waist. My friend D and her two girls came along with us, and Sofia only wanted D to hold her (not me). But once we got that bubble on, and a "noodle" under her arms, she was off. She realized she could "swim" all by herself, anf that's what she did...for the next 2 hours! I followed her closely, but any time I tried to touch her or her equipment, she'd yell "No, Mama, Go Away!".

Can your 4 year old eat with chopsticks?

Ah, the value of life-long OT:






We went camping this past (RAINY) weekend, with my friend L, her husband, and their 3 kids. It was soggy but fun. Now my mosquito bites have mosquito bites!

David lays down some rules:


Micah and E & S doing a craft:


Sam and Mommy:


Micah & E decided they had to paint their turtles EXACTLY alike!


Sam and his doggy:



Last Wednesday night was Arts Night at Sam's camp, and I finally got to see this summer's artwork:

The guitar playing shot was actually on the camp's website; Sam and his counselor played "Ground Control to Major Tom" for the whole camp at a lunchtime concert!

Quick Check In

The weekend in New Hampshire was lovely. We got up there quite late (stopped to have a picnic in Boxboro, where we left S's car), but the hotel folk kindly waited for us. Nice place, Perry's Motel, family run, teeny rooms or cottages, but clean, nice playground and pool, cottages had kitchenettes.

Saturday morning, kids up bright and early. Breakfast, then StoryLand by 9:15. It started out with overcast sky, but eventually turned into a gorgeous weather day. Not horribly crowded, very comfortable. We had a great "team". Micah and his buddy E stuck together like glue all day. S's older daughter, M, is 16, so she could either help out with Sofia, or could take Sam off to do "big kid" stuff. That made Sam feel so grown-up, so he was easy all day. Sofia mostly stuck with me and her stroller, unless she was asleep and I could really take Sam off on his own.

Sofia likes the Carousel the best, but she won't sit on a horse! Just on the bench, going "round round round" and waving "hi" at everyone. Must have gone on it about 6 times. She also, at the end of the day, asked for a Boat ride, so I took her on the Fairy Princess swan boat, which was so calm and lovely and princessy, compared to the things the boys like. Micah and E spent over an hour in the afternoon in the splash park area (in their clothing, but fortunately they dried off fairly well). I took Sam on the Polar Coaster and the Crazy House and the Flying Fish. And we all, in various configurations, went on a variety of other rides.

Got ice cream, cotton candy, snacks, and bought each child just one or two little things, like a new pirate sword or a fairy wand or a necklace or pirate gold.

Left the park at 5pm, took a quick swim at the motel, out for yummy dinner (but I was exhausted!). Sunday, meandered around North Conway a bit, and S took the 4 older kids to Pirate Mini Golf while I tried to get Sofia to nap.

Ride home was long but pretty. We did not get home in time to see David before he left for Michigan, though. Boo hoo.

Camp week, fairly regular. I had my OB checkup Monday morning, which was only interesting because the babysitting at Southboro Medical is closed for construction, so I finally brought Miss Sofia into the office with me. They had never actually met her. The NP says she has lent out "Gifts" to several patients, though. Rest of the day was lovely, so I took Sofia to the pool, but she was in a MOOD, and kept yelling at me and arguing with me (or ignoring me) all day. Got her to nap a bit, and I napped in the car for about 10 minutes, too.

Tuesday after I dropped Sofia at preschool, I had a meeting at the Day School. I will be handling the technical part of the Online and Live Auction for the Winter Gala. After meeting, I got to do a quick bit of shopping and walking around. E showed up after I brought Sofia home, and I got to go out for lunch with my friend C for her birthday. That was nice.

When I picked up Micah, he said he'd had a Massive Allergic Reaction at camp. I asked for more details. His Unit had done a craft project with food, and he thought it had Peanuts in it. "My whole unit had Peanuts".

"Did you eat any?" No
"Did you touch any?" No.

He apparently had an anxiety attack. (And I found out later there were no nuts involved anyway).

Yesterday, Another friend, J, had a Ladies Lunch at her house, but since I was going to have to leave before noon to pick up Sofia, she invited me to come early to visit. It was nice to see everyone. And as I was leaving, Micah's camp called to say he wasn't feeling well and he wanted to come home.

So I picked up Sofia, fed her a quick lunch, and drove down to camp and back. He was having more from the anxiety attack. So I let him come home. Rested a bit, then met E over near Sofia's gymnastics place. Gave her the kids and the carseats, and then I had to go pick up Sam at the JCC, because it was Arts Night.

I took him to a coffee shop first, and we worked on his laptop for a bit, learning to use the Voice Recognition software that he will need for school. He was able to read the Children's Story for the program really well!

After that, we had a quick dinner at the kosher Chinese place, and then got a little lost trying to get back to the JCC, but we made it. It was nice to meet his friends, and I exchanged kid emails with another mom.

Sam wasn't in the play, but he wanted to stay and see his friends. It was cute. "Alladin", with only 4 boys and about 16 girls.

Got home around 10, and David got home shortly after. Watched Torchwood - I caught him up on episodes 1 & 2 last night, and i just watched episode 3 this morning. CCCCOOOOOLLLL.

Camping this weekend, with L&K and their 3 kids. Should be interesting. David can't get there until late, so I will have to do everything. Oy. He also doesn't know if he will be able to go on vacation the weeks I have set aside, so I might be stuck with all three kids by myself for 2 full weeks without ANY plans. That won't do - we WILL be going somewhere... and I'll find someone to join us!

Heading to Storyland

Kind of a boring week, really, after all the fuss last weekend. Boys had camp, Sofia had summer school, David came back late Tuesday night from his trip.

Oh, Tuesday, E stayed home with Sofia, and I picked up Sam from his camp and went to Family Night at Micah's camp. That was nice. A lot of my friends were there, so we had a big gathering for the picnic. And nice to have time with just the boys, without worrying about chasing the little dynamo around. Micah and his buddies are SOOO cute!

I'm off the migraine med that was knocking me out; doc wants to see me again before we decide a next step. But hopefully I'll shed the exhaustion a bit. I've taken many naps this week.

I'm driving up to Storyland, in NH, tonight, with my friend S and her son (who is Micah's friend) and her 16 year old daughter. Should be fun. It's supposed to pour tomorrow, but it rained last time we were at the park, and it was still fun, with fewer crowds.

I have to learn how to chant the Ten Commandments aliyah for August 1, in the "upper trope" method. First I need to get it in larger print, because I can't see it in the books and I'm having trouble finding the text on line. Ugh.

Next weekend we will be camping with friends. We have definitely given up the idea of Washington DC for August, so now I'm open to suggestions for a RELAXING family vacation...

Not Done Yet...

Whew, another whirlwind weekend.

Thursday was busy. After I dropped them all off at their various camps, I went to the library, and managed to find the sheet music for "Free Bird", which Sam had insisted he NEEDED for his guitar session at camp. Proud mama, I was hoping for some appreciation...didn't get much.

Did a bit of shopping, then picked up Sofia and came home for lunch and a rest. Then was on our way to go take a walk at the park, when I got a phone call from Micah's camp nurse: "Micah's green, and says he feels like barfing."

Oh. Would he perhaps like an early ride home? Yup. So off we drove, super-quick, to his camp (40 minutes away), trying to get in and out before the buses started arriving for the afternoon run.

Got home, dropped the little ones off with E, then back to get Sam. Managed to get a 10 minute walk around their neighborhood before they got back, and ran into a friend.

I did make homemade sushi rolls, per Sam's request every night this week, which was fun but labor intensive. Then I got to take a walk while E had them bathe and clean up.

When I got back, she was putting Sofia to sleep (or so she thought; Miss Sofia ended up getting out of bed a few more times that evening...), and I tried to get the boys to finish cleaning their room, because Friday the cleaning ladies were coming and needed to be able to find the dirt!

Well, Sam decided to have an OCD fit, because I would not let him go wash his hands each time he touched a toy. I had to wrestle him to the ground, and he was sobbing "Why won't you let me wash? There are germs everywhere!". It was kind of scary.

When he started to settle down, we had a few giggles with a wrestling session (and Micah said "Hey, can I get in on this?", which was adorable). But OY.

Friday was better. After Micah got on the bus, his friend's mom (who is my friend) and I took Sofia to a nearby playground because it was finally a nice day. David had been down to his doctor's office, and called deciding to play hooky from work. Yeah! So David and Sofia and I drove in to Boston, to see the Tall Ships in the harbor. It was lovely (and Sofia napped in her stroller, which was peaceful).

Got home, threw the challah dough into the oven, finished my d'var, grabbed the cooked challah from the oven, raced out to get the boys. Took about 45 minutes to swim, because it was still lovely out, and then off to our friends' house for Shabbos dinner.

Micah had an allergy attack and I had to Benadryl him, but he and David stayed until 10 pm. I came home earlier with Sam and Sofia (we had both cars, because David had gone back to work while I picked up the kids).

Saturday, packed up the car, and off to shul, where I delivered the D'var Torah (sort of like a sermon). It was very well received, so here it is.

Right after shul, we drove down to the Cape, and had a nice visit with my friend R and her gang, who are there for 2 weeks, right on the beach. Stayed until about 9pm.

This morning, Micah and I were up before 6am, and I was out of the house by 7am. Had to drive down to CT to pick up my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law Laura (and, it turns out, her daughter Lilie). Then we drove down to Syossett NY for a bridal shower for H, a close family friend.

It was nice. I'm glad we had Lilie, cause she is SO FRIGGIN' CUTE!!!

We decided to take the Port Jefferson Ferry back, because I didn't think I could really manage that much driving and there was a lot of traffic on the Long Island Expressway. We got to Port Jefferson about 45 minutes early, so we had a chance to walk around, and I rested (but did not sleep) on the ferry, so it was worthwhile (and lovely).

I got home at 9pm. David, meanwhile, took the three kids out to the Berkshires to meet his dad, and they just got home now at 9:55. This would be ok, except that now David has to drive to Lebanon NH, another 2.5 hours away, TONIGHT. So he's a little stressed (nothing unusual, right).

So here are photos from last Sunday in Sakonnett, and Friday in Boston, and today:

Just a little check-in

It's been a really busy time. Last week was ok. Some of Micah's playdates were canceled, but some were still on.It poured most of the week, so we did a lot of hiding in the house.

No camp on Friday, so I had them all home. My girlfriend D and her daughter came for late lunch, and then her daughter stayed to play with Micah while D went to the farm and E came to take Sam to the library for tutoring. Then D and her hubby came back for Shabbos dinner, which is always fun.

So fun, in fact, that we spent all day Saturday with them, too. There was a parade in Natick center, which is walking distance from their house, so we went to the parade and then hung out all day. It was finally a gorgeous day, so it was really fun. We walked up to a playground late in the afternoon, and otherwise, the grownups talked, Micah and A played, Sofia had a terrific time with all the girly toys, and Sam amused himself and played a bit of basketball. Their older daughter, who is in Sam's class, is at sleep-away camp.

Sunday, we went to the RI shore, to my college chum's beach house. Always beautiful there, and it was another nice (although WINDY) day. She has a son Sam's age, who Micah plays with, and a daughter a year younger than Micah. Lots of relaxing. Her mom lives there all summer, and she's a wonderful lady.

We got home very late, and the boys were quite tired the next morning. So tired, that Micah refused to get on the bus for camp! I had to get him more breakfast and then drive him to camp (which is half an hour away, but at least Sofia didn't have camp so I had enough time).

Another gorgeous day, so I took Sofia to the pool club, and she napped in the stroller while I had some peace and quiet, and David met me for lunch. Then Sofia woke up and we splashed for a few hours. When I was changing her out of the bathing suit, I heard a small voice shout "That's My Sofia!" It was a girl from her preschool class!

Monsoon yesterday. Sofia had camp, finally, and I had a massage. Ouch. My arm, shoulder and leg are all a wreck. Went out with The Girls last night, which was fun.

My new migraine med makes me exhausted. I've been taking (or at least needing) two naps per day. Hopefully it will start kicking in and actually stopping the migraines soon. Doc said it would take a couple of weeks.

Ok, off to preschool and then a meeting at shul, to hand over all the Early Childhood Education Committee stuff to the new co-chairs. Yeah! And then Sofia has gymnastics this afternoon.