Summer days

There is nothing like a couple days together with just us to make me realize how much I l.o.v.e. my family. This summer has really been a great time for us and I am so sad to see it slipping away already!

The past two days Chase has taken off work so we could do some fun family stuff - kind of a mini-staycation. Our own vacation to Colorado was canceled when we realized our house was going to need some work done. At first we were all heartbroken (me more than anyone....I was looking forward to the cool mountain air and ZERO cell access). But then I realized I could say YES to stuff I normally have to say no to. I could say, "YES! We will spend the entire day at the pool and I will leave Haley with Nana all day so daddy and I can race down the slides with you and play endless games of 'simon says'" and "yes. we CAN go out to eat two nights in a row for no good reason" and "yes, we CAN go to that indoor play place that gets so full in the summer I want to hose you in purel before letting you back in the car," and "yes, you can go ahead and have slushies with your dinner!"

We're only on day two (tomorrow is the last day, then it's back to the normal swing of things), but it's been two glorious days so far.

So glorious, in fact, that I won't even mention how I had to take Sophia home in the middle of dinner tonight because she was losing it, so mommy had to eat cold quesadillas. You won't hear a word about that from me. As with the Go-Go's, my lips are sealed.

I will tell you how Cameron and Miles are great swimmers these days. Miles, who was pretty trepidatious in the water last year, has become an all-out swimmer despite skipping out on swim lessons this year. He spent the last hour at the pool yesterday throwing himself off the diving board.

Cameron is still working on some of the more adventurous components of swimming, like diving boards and water slides. He's always done things on his own timetable and I just don't see any point in rushing him along. Once he's ready to do something he just does it and he's always GREAT at it. Swimming was that way - he hated the water for the first 3.5 years of his life! - and I know one day he'll conquer the slides that Miles and Sophie breeze down. The ONLY sad thing for me is to watch him try, get scared and back out, and then be so heartbroken because he couldn't make himself do it. Yesterday he didn't even want to be around Miles because he felt a little jealous of Miles' fish-like tendencies. It did turn into a good opportunity to talk about how everyone has their own talents. Cameron has his  - he's kind and thoughtful, great at making friends, a great student and artist and doing really well in karate - and Miles has different talents. I even got to tell him how hard it was for me to see MY little sisters be good at stuff that I wish I was better at. That really made him feel better:)

Anyway, it's been such a great two days I had to get it down here. I just love these little people who share my home, and I love their dad. It's such a joy to know them.

pictures to come!