Taking it all in

The summer has officially begun and we are rolling with it.  While it truly stinks to have to work this summer as opposed to being on Maternity Leave last summer, we are still finding ways to make it rock!  The girls did AWESOME in their recital, as I knew they would.  I am so in awe of Hannah and how much she has matured this year with dance.  She was front and center in her routines and I was so proud to be watching her every move.  Reliving my childhood.  Layla was a hoot.  That is probably an understatement.  She was so darn cute and her mannerisms during her performance were priceless.  Perhaps the most priceless of all was during the finale when the curtain opened and she was right up front facing backwards.  Once she heard the laughter, she turned around and laughed too.  Then, somehow she spotted Papa and that was it.  She spent the rest of the finale screaming out to him and waving frantically, "HI PAPA!"  Can't wait to receive the video and watch it over and over again. 

After the recital we headed out to lunch with Daddy and then came home to give Cameron a nap and pack the car back up for the beach.  The four of us (Daddy stayed behind) headed down to RCB around dinner time.  The weather was perfect and we were all excited to have the house to ourselves for the weekend.  We got settled in and had dinner on the deck overlooking the ocean.  Hannah and Layla were so rived up though that it took forever to get them settled into bed that evening.Cameron also had a tough time falling asleep which is so unlike him.  I worried that he had an ear infection.  Finally after everyone's eyes closed, I went on the deck and enjoyed some "me" time.  I listened to the roaring waves crash and I made my wishes amongst the glowing stars.  How I love the beach at night.  It's so peaceful and calming for me.  Cameron woke up crying and I rocked him on the deck for an hour.  He just nestled in my arms and would look up at me and flash me a smile every now and again to show me that he loved me.  God I love him. 

We spent Sunday on the beach before Daddy came to meet us and we headed over to Galilee.  We ate at George's, one of my favorite places and while we ate outside I began to get sad over the vacation I was missing.  My favorite Block Island vacation.  It just wasn't in the cards this year since we had taken our Disney vacation in February.  There are so many of us now that we would have needed our own place, but RATS how I wish we were out there.  This was the first summer in over 10 years that we haven't taken our week's vacation there.  I decided to see if I could make a ferry reservation for a day with the car.  Low and behold, there were Monday spots available so we decided to head to our favorite Island.  We gave Miss Julie Moolie fresh tears upon us running up to the deck to surprise her for the day.  It was the medicine we surely needed and we managed to jam pack our day with all the things we usually do during the entire vacation week.  From the beach, to the playground, to Star Market for our Croc's and sweatshirts.. we fit it in and Mommy even got to have her Banana Mudslide at Champlins!  It was the PERFECT day and we all soaked it up as much as possible.  It was hard to leave and hard to say goodbye to our family and chosen families.  We did with some tears shed, but at least we were able to see our favorite Island for just one day.  We've begun a fund for next year so that we may rent our own place and be back where we belong.  Hannah has already made $10 and has put it in an envelope to contribute.  She'll go to ask for something in a store and then say, "Oh no, forget it Mom, We'll save that money for Block Island."  Poor bug..she is really missing her favorite place.

After leaving the beach house Tuesday morning and heading to work for the day, we had Mr. Nicholas's 7th Birthday Party.  I dropped Cam off with Grammy and we headed to the movie theater.  We partied at Papa Gino's first and then settled into the theater to watch Car's 2.  I LOVED it.  Everyone else said they liked the first one better, but I really enjoyed this one.  Maybe it is because I am so used to girl movies that I get a kick out of little boy's movie's now?  Hmmm???  Anyhow, I loved it and we all had a blast.  Nicholas certainly enjoyed his evening and he LOVED his hockey net courtesy of the Murphy's and Lambrese's.  By this point the kids were exhausted and went to sleep quite easily.

Yesterday we fit in a walk to the park and to Cool Lick's after work.  It felt good to be out and about walking with the kids, even though Hannah complained the entire way.  We've got to get her back into shape for hockey!  I thought the hard play in the park and the long walk would zonk them out, but at one point in the night, Billy and I awoke to the two little princesses in our bed.  I vaguely remember changing Layla's pull-up during the night and practically falling off the side of the bed with no room.  (The good thing about sleeping pills is that you can function in Zombie Land and not remember much.)

Cameron had his 1 year appointment today and he did great.  Well... aside from the fact that he has 5th's Disease.  Common I know and will go away, but there is the answer to his fussiness over the past week or so.  OYE!  There goes our fun filled Holiday Weekend!  lol  I am sure we will still fit in some fun events!  He is 22.5 lbs, at one year and that seems to be the record for the biggest at this age.  Hannah was 20lbs even and Layla was lucky to be 16lbs at this age!  He is going to catch up to her soon.  He did grow and inch, so maybe, just maybe, he will start sprouting up in the height department.  He did excellent with his shots and barely made a fuss at all.  He is just so easy, despite the fact that at any given moment he is into everything and all over the place.  It comes with the age and I wouldn't change a thing.  I love having this baby boy to keep me laughing throughout my days. 


For those of you who don't know, my parent's house is on the market.  There is so much to say on this subject that I am unable to say.  I support my father 100% in this decision because I know it makes sense and is the "right" thing to do.  However, I am not going to lie and say that it isn't breaking my heart into pieces to be faced with losing this piece of my childhood.  I thought there would be more time.  I thought there would be a few more years so that Billy and I would be financially secure enough to buy it.  I am still holding onto a miracle that something will fall into place and we will take up residence where I had the most beautiful childhood any kid could ask for.  I am not ready to say goodbye to this house and the memories that go along with it.  I'd like to hold onto them just a bit longer.  I can't promise you that if someone makes a good offer, I wont try and sabotage it.  Just warning you now.  I'll be the Jan Brady chaining herself to the tree...   Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" has been haunting me all week.  Don't put it past me to do something drastic! LOL  I am not the same goody two shoes I once was for Pete's sake!