The Most Magical Summer Ever, Vol. 2

I know y’all are on pins and needles waiting for the conclusion to The Most Magical Summer Ever. Without further ado … 

Vacation and Summer Sleepover

Ok, so we’ve finally reached the much-anticipated vacation. A friend of ours invited us to her destination wedding in Cancun and we were happy to hop on a plane, enjoy a few kid-free days and celebrate her beautiful wedding. The kids, meanwhile, were happy to spend some quality time with the grandparents. Henry went to my parents’ house and the girls went with Scott’s parents. We decided that all three might be too much for one set of grandparents, especially since one of those three was Henry. Henry asked about us one time and after that, seemed fine with his new living arrangements. The girls had a grand time, too. And Scott and I — well, let’s just say it was AH-MAZING. We woke when we wanted to wake, we leisurely got ready, leisurely ate breakfast, leisurely swam, leisurely walked, leisurely … leisurely … leisurely. Exactly what the doctor ordered for two parents who hadn’t been away from their kids for any extended amount of time in more than five years. 

Camping

A couple weeks after coming back from that leisurely vacation, we took our annual camping trip with my side of the family. In addition to camping, we also celebrated my parents’ wedding anniversary and my nieces’ birthdays. I didn’t grab many pictures, unfortunately, but it was a delightful trip!

Volleyball Camp

This is one of those activities that the girls signed up for at the beginning of summer and then complained about it when it finally rolled around. Scott took them to a few volleyball games last fall and they were pretty into it, so we signed them up for a couple of camps to see how they liked it. The first day of camp was the only day I had to drag them there. The coach was fantastic and they had so much fun, they didn’t complain the rest of the week. Each day they had some contest (crazy shorts, crazy socks, crazy hair, etc). This was crazy shirt day and Claire won!

County Fair

Growing up, I loved the county fair. There was something about the livestock, the carnival rides, the funnel cakes … it was an exciting few days during the monotony of the summer. The girls are developing a similar affection for the tradition. Henry loved it this year, too. Maybe a little too much. When it was time to leave, he threw an embarrassingly huge fit. I just dragged him out by his toes, smiling and nodding to all the people wondering if I was kidnapping that child. No, no, he’s mine. You think I’d kidnap this hot mess? Hopefully he’s a touch more reasonable next year. 

Parks

Oh, the parks. We played at parks like it was our freaking job. We hit all the usual ones, then the less usual ones, then the water ones, and we even hit one in a nearby town. After we tired of the traditional parks, we started in on the school playgrounds. We were interested in finding out which school had the best playground. For a small fee, I’ll let you know how they ranked.  

The Most Magical Summer Ever, Vol. 1

Want to know what’s worse than writing a summer wrap-up blog that you’re sure no one will be interested in reading but you have to write because you didn’t write all summer and you want to want to remember this most magical summer ever when you’re 85 and missing your babies? 

I’ll tell you what’s worse. Re-writing it because you wrote the stupid thing 2 weeks ago and haven’t posted it yet because you were trying to round up all 162 pictures for it and then somehow your blog is nowhere to be found and you are certain you saved it and HOW COULD YOU NOT SAVE IT??? 

Ugh. 

So, take 2. 

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Three weeks into summer, I declared that this summer was the most magical summer ever. After reviewing the summer in its entirety, I’m stickin’ to it. 

We slept in, lounged around, participated in several fun activities (zoo camp, volleyball camp, summer musical, softball, etc) and most importantly, reconnected in a way that we all needed very much, especially me. I was missing my girls something fierce by the time the school year ended. 

Because these stories are really best told in pictures (all 162 of them), I’m turning this bad boy into a two-part series. 

Softball

Probably one of my most favorite memories of the summer was coaching the girls’ softball team. I have wanted to coach softball since I was young and always dreamed of doing it for my daughters. Last year, Scott coached t-ball and I was sidelined with a Henry schmoodle poodle. But this year, I tossed the toddler to Scott and grabbed my clipboard. Working with kids is my passion and I don’t get many opportunities outside of my own children, so meeting these girls, teaching them, laughing with them, cheering them on, feeling their mistakes and their victories was AH-MAZING. 

My Beauties

Grace is known for her penchant for drama, and while Claire is considerably less dramatic in her day-to-day interactions, she loves to pretend as well. So, we signed them up for the summer musical, which happened to be Beauty & the Beast. Now, something you may or may not know about my girls: they loooooove to complain. They’ll beg to do something, so I’ll sign them up and then they’ll complain about it when it’s time to participate. Then they’ll also complain when it’s time to leave. I’m pretty sure it’s just a psychological experiment to find Mom’s breaking point. But surprisingly, play practice (which was 12 hours a week for six weeks) was something they looked forward to each and every time. And they didn’t even have speaking parts! As soon as the play wrapped up, they were already asking to do it again next summer. Here they are as the cutest villagers and candlesticks: 

Mother-Daughter Bonding

Scott and I took a trip BY OURSELVES this summer (more on that later), which was the first time in a loooong time that has happened. And naturally, because I’m me, I was fairly worried I was going to die in a plane crash and leave my children mother-less. So, to mitigate this worry, I did some special mother-daughter bonding before I left. (Mother-son bonding happens all day, every day so future Henry don’t be disgruntled that I didn’t get your nails done, too). My mom, sister and I took the girls with us to their very first pedicures! It was a treat for Grace, and Claire might have liked it more if there wasn’t so much waiting around. In addition to pedis, we also saw Wonder Woman. You might be asking yourself if these activities send conflicting messages, but I say the message is clear: You can be a powerful woman AND have pretty nails while you’re kicking butt. 

Fourth of July

The day before we left on our adult-only vacation, we celebrated the Fourth of July in our traditional way — spending way too much money at a nearby carnival, loading up on funnel cakes and watching one of the best fireworks show in Kansas. As always with Henry, I was exhausted by the time we left. He’s a bit of a firecracker himself, but it was fun watching him enjoy the carnival rides for the first time. 

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Come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of The Most Magical Summer Ever!