Summer so far

Okay, well, it’s only been a few days, but so far it’s going better than expected.

Between them, they boys can now cook fried and scrambled eggs and ramen, so I don’t have to think about feeding them too much.

Oliver about to enjoy the fried egg he made.

Speaking of food, I made smoothies and they finally drank them! So now I just have to slowly work towards adding some spinach or something to them.

Friday I worked while the boys played Laser Tag…

And afterwards, I took them to Five Guys for lunch. Miles and Linus had never been, and it was a hit. 😀

We’ve also been playing board games, including an entire game of Monopoly. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to finally go bankrupt.

We also played Life, and while Linus ended up with a singleton, two sets of twins, and triplets, Miles was genuinely sad not to get any kids at all. (I got one girl, FINALLY!) Again, Oliver won. Hmm.

The boys are also feeding the neighbor’s cats for some money, and I got a lot of sewing done, including a dress that I’ll post about later. Tomorrow they start soccer (just low-key rec soccer, thank goodness) and until the end of the month when they have one week of camp, we don’t have a lot going on other than board games and teaching them how to cook more things.

Fingers crossed things continue to go well and they don’t drive me insane with their fake British accents!

Good stuff vs bad stuff

Good stuff: My coworker Sarah’s new podcast. I love it. It’s funny, smart, and random. My favorite things. It’s called Hey, Bestie, and Kristina and I have already bugged her for a guest slot. (Which doesn’t even exist yet, but I already even came up with the perfect title for the segment: “Hey, Guestie!” so I think we definitely deserve to be on.) There’s a new episode that I haven’t listened to, and I am doing my best not to listen because I hoard podcasts I like.

Bad stuff: I mentioned Miles was going to be in an episode of Claws last week. Well, his part was cut. I was super sad, but Miles was like, “oh well.” He’s obviously more cut out for the cut-throat world of showbiz than I am.

img_1717Good stuff: This apple slab pie I made for the fourth of July. As usual, a Smitten Kitchen recipe. This was my first pie crust, I think! It wasn’t easy (mostly because my bowl was too small) but it came out pretty well. No one complained, anyway.

Bad stuff: I’ve been terrible about blogging. I’m working on finishing up a post about Kristina’s and my adventures at Epcot, so hopefully I can get back on a roll.

Good stuff: The boys start camp tomorrow! And it’s the only week of camp they’re doing all summer. It’s at the same performing arts school where they take guitar lessons. Hoping they’ll have fun.

Bad stuff: We all put our bathing suits on and it immediately started thundering. I think I could probably help out in areas that are susceptible to drought by just getting the boys excited about swimming and putting our bathing suits on.

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Good stuff: Our new grill. I have been using it a ton, and it turns out I’m a natural at grilling. I’ve made pizza (okay, on a storebought crust – homemade crust is next), pork chops (divine), hamburgers, hot dogs, veggies, corn…and all delicious. What can I say? I have finally found my calling.

Bad stuff: My allergies have been horrific this summer. What is up with that? Not fun. I’ve been sneezing constantly for the past six weeks.

img_1633Good stuff: Kiki’s visit! I hadn’t seen her in a year and a half. Not good. Not good at all. It wasn’t a long visit, but we’re going to Virginia in August so we’ll get to spend more time together then. (And also to see cousins!)

Bad stuff: The job I have been doing at keeping the boys engaged and off screens. We just bought a Circle (recommended by Deborah) so hopefully that will help with managing that. They’ve been doing a little reading and a little guitar practicing, but not as much as I wanted. Work has been extremely busy for me, so I just haven’t had the bandwidth to monitor them as closely as I should have. Sigh. MOTY.

Good stuff: Speaking of MOTY, I bought 15 Lunchables for the boys’ camp lunches. Yeah, that’s good stuff. Not having to make 15 sandwiches.

More good stuff: Seeing babies! So far this summer, I’ve gotten to snuggle a coworker’s adorable baby, my cousin’s new son, and Lindsay’s little monkey. And there’s another cousin’s new baby yet to be snuggled!

Even more good stuff! Slumber parties for the boys! Getting rid of the climber in the backyard! Making fun tank tops for working out! Blueberry jam on toast from the coffee shop down the street!

Summertime!

It’s been an eventful start to the summer already. Gareth‘s sister and family are in town, which has been really fun for the boys. Rachel has two boys who are nine and twelve, and all of the boys have become fast friends.

There was hanging out at the pub, coloring all of the bricks…

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Swimming on Memorial Day…

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Taking over the levee last night…

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and generally just being goofy. I’ll be sad when they leave at the end of the week! Hopefully we’ll see them again soon, either over on their home turf (the UK) or back here.

I also took Miles to see Angry Birds (terrible, but look, triplets!)

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and Linus and I went shopping, where I bought him his very own plant to take care of. (It’s spearmint.) (He liked the smell.)

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And some movie nights on the sofa with popcorn.

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Fun times! Next week will be camp for the boys, and the week after, I leave for Europe! Eep!

Psych!

Turns out Millie and Linus played a trick on me and hid my camera in his bag. Whew!

I didn’t get many good pics on Sunday anyway, but this video of Linus doing a flip underwater is fun. Nice, eh?

Laaaazy river

Last weekend, the boys and I met his friend Diego and his mom and baby sister at the Cool Zoo at the Audubon Zoo. I was reluctant to go because of the cost, but it ended up being a ton of fun and I’d say we got our money’s worth.

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There were bridges going over the river, water features, and it went right by this exhibit. Hey peacock!

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Floating selfie!

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Best buds.

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Love those smiles!

The unofficial start of summer!

We were bored last weekend and the weather was nice enough, so I decided it was time to join the pool for the summer. I also wanted to make sure the boys got some swimming in before they head to the beach with Grandee and Larry in a couple of weeks.

As usual, I pulled out my trusty waterproof camera and got some fun pics!

It was also notable because it was my first time swimming post-Lasik! Pretty awesome not to have to worry about wearing contacts.

Happiest surprise ever

…was finding this (Kiki found it actually, when we went to the grocery.)

 We mixed it with lemonade and seltzer water. I think I found my summer beverage of 2015!