Back to it

Although I can't quite believe we are in the last week of September, it does feel like we are back to the school year grind.  A month of classes are under our belt, a couple of fall colds have been weathered, and most activities/groups started again.  Things are plugging along.

Lucy has started dressing up.  She leaves dress up clothes sitting in the bin, and instead reaches for James' and my clothing.  It makes for some interesting outfits.

I know this is really fuzzy, but it was the only picture I captured that showed the full outfit. 

 Just reading some books while still in jammies.

 James and I made these sandpaper letters for Lucy (a work of love for sure).  She loves tracing the letters, which is supposed to be good practice for writing.  She especially loves when we spell words with them that are relevant to her like "Lucy," "walk," "park," etc.  James spelled "sick" for her during a particularly rough fall illness.  I thought it was a little sad, but Lucy was very pleased and gazed at the word for a good part of the day.

 Another fabulous outfit.

We found a little pink flower on a walk and clipped it in Lucy's hair.  We laughed all night at how much joy it brought her.  

 These first two I couldn't get her to look at me, she just wanted to keep looking in the mirror.

Charlie, refusing to smile.

Charlie's newest therapy move, which he can accomplish with just a bit of help!

I have to put books up on the couch to lure him up there.

 After quite a bit of work, I got a smile.

 

Bubbles are still popular in our house.  Lucy requests them every afternoon.

A Lucy story: at a recent visit to the Children's Hospital, I took Lucy.  I usually leave her with James or a friend for sanity's sake, but I knew this visit would be short.  While there, a nurse gave Lucy some stickers.  They were Barbie stickers, and Barbie was pictured a little bit more mature than I remember her being.  I told her if she wanted to she could trade her Barbie stickers for different stickers when we got home.  After the appointment, James came to pick us up and made a comment about the Barbie stickers too.  I could tell Lucy was listening to us, so I told her Mommy and Daddy just didn't like Barbie very much, we thought she was kind of boring, etc.  She said, "Yeah, I will get different stickers when we get home," and that was that.  Several hours later though, and totally out of the blue Lucy quipped, "Mommy and Daddy don't like barbecues very much."  :-)

Last Day of Summer

We've had a long full summer, but it's time to say goodbye.  James had his first week of the PhD program this past week.  The hectic speed of the week reminded me how much good the summer does us, how much we're able to re-charge our batteries and spend good quality time with each other. 

For our last Saturday, we decided to make a trip to what I've come to think of as our happy place.  A 20 minute drive to a park we almost never found (the locals had no idea what we were talking about when we stopped to ask for directions), a short hike on a trail, and a little adventure around and through some bushes and hills.  And there is the perfect point to sit and have a picnic on while watching the stream below.  Climb down the rocks and here is a log laying across the stream.  It's the perfect bridge to get to the other shore, where the water is more shallow.

 Looking for fish.

 

 

 So, we go back to piles of books, late nights, and schedule syncing.  That's okay.  A lot of good comes with it too-- the re-start of playschool and atrium for Lucy, a rhythm to our days, the community of school friends who have been away for the summer.  It's been a good summer, but this next season is good too.  Now, we just have to find a place to live (it's been a rough hunt-- pray it ends soon!).

Wisconsin

After a packed week in St. Louis, we loaded up my mom's car and drove to Wisconsin.  We've made this drive many times, but we finally did it the right way, making extended stops at parks along the way.

On Friday, James' sister Kristy got married at a botanical garden in Madison.  Here are some of the girl cousins hanging out on the rocks.

All night long Lucy ran with this crazy crew.  If she stopped to have some cake or dance a little and lost track of them, she would come up to me and say, "Where are my cousins???"

Lucy's favorite thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa Stanley's house was feed the farm kitties twice daily.  It was a major motivator: to behave, to take a nap, to finish her meals. 

Here is Lucy concernedly calling a kitty in to eat.  "Oh, come kitty, you will be hungry!"

She only got scratched once.  Miracle.

We also had a bonfire day with the Stanleys.  Charlie hanging on the blanket with Bella.

Charlie's adoring fans.  Charlie is the first boy grandchild (out of 10).

S'mores.

Charlie and Adra. 

 Lucy enjoying her very own ice cream cone!

 A trip to Turtle Park.  There were fish who needed feeding too.

 Heading out to feed the kitties again.

Here is Grandpa's very impressive garden.  Charlie had another spell of early mornings while we were there, and I must say, I prefer walking him around the farm in the early morning much better than trying to hush him in the back room so as not to wake James and Lucy.

Some Wisconsin pictures I failed to take were one of Grandma and Grandpa with the kids (I guess that just means they'll have to come visit us soon!), and one with our friends from Madison, especially Steve and Amanda who drove all the way from the Twin Cities just to see us!  I also ate the world's largest dairy-free ice cream cone while we were in Madison.

A tearful goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, a long drive back to St. Louis, a plane ride back to DC and we were home.  Thanks to all who visited with us!  See you next year!