With only a handful of days left of summer, I feel like I should be soaking up these hours with my kids, wanting to spend every possible moment with them because I know I’ll regret not having done enough of it once school starts. But honestly? I’m so ready to move into fall. SO, so ready. This past week I’ve found myself wanting to just hide away. Desperate for silence and nobody needing things from me. Every morning when Caden is either awake before me or follows me down the stairs, I just want to cry. It’s good he’s on schedule for school mornings already. But I just want time for myself!! The boys have also had their friend over basically every waking moment for the past two weeks. Which feels really overwhelming after having no friends over all summer long. And nothing against the friend at all – it really helps the boys get along to have a third playmate. But just the fact that there’s a non-family member running around my house all day long, every single day, is just really getting to me.
Anyway! Overall, I’d say it’s been a pretty good week. I’ve let go of my need to go out and do things to try and enjoy time together. We still did go out a bit, but I also spent a lot of the week working while they played. Which was fine too. We did enough this summer and I’m okay with these last few weeks being less eventful than originally intended.
On Sunday, we went to my brother Timmy’s 30th birthday party. There were lots of people to pass Hudson around to, but I definitely had a few turns! 🙂
Caden made sure he had a few turns too! He sure loves babies.
The party was lots of fun! We had some delicious Ian’s Pizza and salads for lunch. Cake pops for pre-dessert. Timmy’s favorite ice cream cake for real dessert. We all walked down to a big park in the middle of desserts for the kids to play on the playground and for most of the group to play a soccer game.
Hudson needed some cooling off after being packed tightly in his black stroller.
Birthday boy.
Shepard actually cooperated for a cousin picture this time! Still refused to hold him, though.
Another cute family pic!
A few last snuggles before we left. This is his favorite way to snuggle with me. I’m very cushy lol.
On Monday, Greg worked from home so he could watch the solar eclipse with the boys. He was pretty cranky that the weather wasn’t cooperating and it was super cloudy. We watched the live Nasa coverage online, which was pretty cool. And when the time came, we actually saw the eclipse pretty well with our glasses.
Trying to get a selfie when you can’t see a single thing through the glasses to know where to look! It was a fun memory for everyone.
Afterward, I had to take the cats for their annual checkup. Rory went first and we found out he lost 1.2 pounds. The vet was so excited and wanted to know what we were doing to help them lose weight. I said um…got a dog? Then we found out Jack lost 3.3 pounds. Jack, who has gained weight every single year of his life. So the vet was pretty concerned about that. She did a full blood work panel to see if he had any diseases. I can’t believe how much hair they had to shave off of him to get the blood draw. And apparently it wasn’t working in his neck, so they also shaved one of his legs. Poor baby! Fortunately, we got the results right away Tuesday morning. While his kidney levels are pretty high (though technically still in normal range), he otherwise looks really good. I’ve just been instructed to start feeding them soft food to increase their fluids. Jack will be retested in six months to see if anything has drastically changed.
Tuesday must have been pretty uneventful, because I recall nothing. Same with Wednesday during the day. But Wednesday night, Caden and I had a date! A monthly date night is something I’ve been wanting to do for years with each of the boys, but Caden especially because I spend the least amount of time with him. The problem is that he never actually wants to go out with me – or go out AT ALL – so I’ve given up on making it a regular thing. I’d like to start trying again, though. Preferably on the 23rd of every month, so it’s easier to remember (his birth date).
We went to Five Guys for dinner. Caden loved the peanuts ahead of time. He’s a big burger eater, so this seemed like a good place for him. He didn’t think they were any better than other places, though. I had the cheese dog, which was good. We had way too many friends to even make a dent in. And some shakes. I don’t think I’d go back to that particular restaurant, but it was a fun experience!
Afterward, we went to the mall. Caden wanted to try the demo games at Gamestop. Unfortunately, the only game he was interested in had a man playing at it the entire half hour we were in the store. Caden was pretty disappointed, but he handled it well.
We finished the night at Barnes and Noble. Now that he’s done with all the Harry Potter books, he’s having a hard time getting super interested in anything else. I thought if we looked through the bookshelves he might find some new ideas. Of course then he wanted to look at the actual Harry Potter things. Overall, it was a really great date! He’s such a different person when you get him one on one. So much better behaved and much more interested in having actual conversations about things. I definitely need to make this happen more often.
Thursday was a work day. I thought I’d be able to finish up these dolls right away in the morning, but it took me until 4:15 in the afternoon. Which was pretty frustrating! Everything always takes so much longer than I want it to. But within two hours, I sold five of the nine dolls, which always makes my hard work worth it!
Friday was supposed to be our last big hoorah of the summer. A day at the Milwaukee Zoo with Grandma, Uncle Timmy, Aunt Brittany, and Hudson.
Hudson looking pretty sleepy.
We haven’t been to this zoo in a couple of years and the last time we went it was spring break and half the animals weren’t out yet. It was fun to see everything this time. And the weather was so perfect! Sunny and 70 degrees. We also waited long enough into the summer that I think many schools have started already. Crowds were definitely pretty low, which was awesome.
The baby gorilla beating his chest was the funniest thing!
They looked so sad! But I liked how he used his tail as a pillow.
Smiling here, but he was being pretty obnoxious all day long. He kept getting fixated on things he wanted to do ($15 super high rope obstacle course) or things he wanted to eat (Dippin’ Dots) and he WOULD NOT shut up about it. He couldn’t let himself (or us) enjoy anything because he was so obsessed about whatever he couldn’t have in that moment. Meanwhile, Shepard was pouting and kicking me because I made him stop eating all of my mom’s snacks. We brought plenty of snacks too, but of course it wasn’t what he wanted.
Spent lots of time staring at the giraffes. I love giraffes.
Hudson didn’t see many animals! 🙂 We’ll have to try again next summer.
After we saw most of the animals (with the exception of the Australian exhibits, which possibly exist, yet we’ve never been able to find them- they’re not on the map or signs, BUT you can see them from the train…), we went on a train ride and Tim, Brit, and Hudson went home. The boys had some Dippin’ Dots to finish it off. I loved the weather and lack of crowds and it was fun to hang with extra family for the day. But the boys were also very exasperating. I don’t feel like it was very much fun for any of us.
We had a late snack/lunch at a restaurant called World of Beer that I scoped out online. First the boys through fits because they wanted to sit on the soft chairs and I said we needed to be at a real table. Then Caden kept crying because he didn’t like their soup selection. When has he ever ordered soup at a restaurant?! It was just one thing after another. But, my chicken sliders and tots were good. The giant pretzel and beer cheese were delicious. I’m still glad we went, just because restaurant food is almost always worth it!
On the way home we stopped at a giant Marshall’s and that was our big day. I’m disappointed in how it all worked out. I was so frustrated with the boys. Then I wanted to go home and make something that was quick and easy for Saturday’s plans. I saw a recipe for churro popcorn, which ended up being way more trouble than it was worth. First I couldn’t find the regular popcorn kernels and ended up throwing pretty much everything out of our super messy pantry. Finally found some in the basement and then proceeded to spill them everywhere. Then the first batch didn’t pop enough. Then the recipe wasn’t coating the way it should. And then I assumed it would be too mushy to even bring, so I had to make something else after all. It was just a day that needed to end.
Shoveling churro popcorn in as fast as he can.
And finally Saturday. We had plans to go to Cedar Lake because we somehow haven’t gotten there all summer. The boys went Memorial weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, but we haven’t been since. Of course just our luck the weather turned out crappy! It wasn’t pouring at least, but it was definitely chilly and raining off and on. We spent most of the time by the fire! But it was still nice. The lake was pretty quiet!
Caden still swam and Shepard did a lot of paddle boating.
The boys were insistent that they get to put their own hot dogs over the fire.
After lunch we went out on the boat. It was definitely raining at that point, but seemed like it was only going to get worse. Caden really wanted to tube.
We went around the lake twice and he never fell off! I think he was probably freezing and the water kept spraying right in his face. But when it wasn’t, he had a huge grin. It was really great to see him having so much fun!
We went home soon after that. Despite the weather, it was a nice and relaxing end of summer day out at the lake. I spent the rest of the night hanging out with Annie for National Dog Day. And hiding from everyone else because I needed a break. That’s about it!
THIS WEEK
The big week is here! Our last few days of summer. I don’t have plans. I don’t think I’m going to make plans. I feel like everything I’ve tried to make special and fun lately just gets thrown back in my face by one or both of my children. So I give up! They can do whatever they want and if they don’t want to be with me, then I’ll work!
We were talking about going to Curd Fest as a family this afternoon, but it’s been raining all night and morning and supposed to continue throughout the day. So I’m thinking that’s not really in the plans anymore. Maybe we can have a movie afternoon or something.
Tomorrow night I was supposed to have dinner out with my friends, but I’m not sure that’s happening anymore either.
Tuesday is our last obedience class. Oh yeah – that’s what happened last Tuesday! It was the most stressful and long night of class because we did trial runs of what we’ll be officially tested on this week. Annie passed everything, but I feel like it was a bit of a fluke. I’m really worried about this week. Do dogs ever fail?? She usually does really great at all the exercises, but one of them requires her to sit and stay while I walk back and forth across the room twice before calling her. I couldn’t believe she did it last week. I’ll be amazed if she does it again. But either way, I will be SO HAPPY that it’s over.
Wednesday afternoon is school orientation. I’m anxious to get all the info and have a better idea of how this school year will play out. I think Caden is going to have a lot of really fun things to look forward to. And while I really like the teacher Shepard will have, I’m not sure she’ll be as understanding about his bathroom issues as his kindergarten teacher was. I can’t even believe we’re still dealing with this. SIGH.
Thursday – last day of summer!
And finally Friday, first day of school. It seems a bit ridiculous to start school on a Friday before a three day holiday weekend. But maybe it eases kids’ anxiety over that long weekend? Who knows. Hopefully it’ll go well. I’ll write more on that another day!
Enjoy your last days of August!
