July

A quick, very belated summary of July:

We spent the Fourth like we normally do -- taking in some of our rich local history!  This year we watched the Constitution turn around and spent some time at the ship's museum in the Navy Yard. 

We managed to catch her sailing out into the harbor and back in!  Love the 13-star flag and the fireboats.  And the girls are covering their ears in the bottom left shot because the 21 gun/cannon salute was too loud!  :)

Caulking boards for the deck of a ship, getting tattooed, and posing by the model of ol' Ironsides

Some friends with a roofdeck invited us over to watch the fireworks, and so we headed over there are it began to get dark.  We had a great time: beer, cupcakes, a great view, and wonderful company (for us and the girls). 

Best shots I could manage of the fireworks

Kiddos watching the fireworks!

 

Want a project that is relatively cheap and keeps your kids (and cats) entertained for HOURS on end?  Order some butterflies!  We did this last year, and it was such a hit that we tried it again this summer.  They arrive as caterpillars in jars, which our girls can sit and watch for unbelievable lengths of time.  After about a week, they spin themselves into chrysalises, which an adult must then pin into a mesh cage.  After about another week, they emerge as butterflies and are good for about another week of entertainment before they have to be set free.  Really a pretty neat science experiment for kids. 

Butterfly release!

I didn't catch the butterfly in this shot, but you can tell I just missed it from Amelia's body language and Chad's face...

In mid-July, Amelia and Ramona went on vacation with my mom -- but without the rest of us!  They spent about 10 days in Lyons, visiting with my extended family, swimming, crafting, and basically having a great time.  And Chad and I spent a week and a half parenting only one of our girls -- and wondering how on earth we ever thought that life was complicated with one!  The house was entirely too quiet. 

On the second Friday after my mom took the girls, Chad and Louisa picked me up and work and we drove over to Lyons ourselves for a long weekend of catching up with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

No summer weekend in Lyons is complete without some fried dough at the Farmers Market on Saturday morning!

Amish buggy

We spent Saturday at my grandparents' house with my dad's side of the family, swimming and eating and relaxing and basically reliving many a summer afternoon from my childhood.  Two of my cousins have kids of their own -- Mason is two and a half and Coleton is two and a quarter -- and the girls are old enough to remember them now, if not quite old enough to be interested in playing with them... Maybe next time.  :)

Kiddos each doing their own thing at Great Gram and Great Pa's house

Pool time!

We had to take advantage of the opportunity to get a photo of all five of the second cousins by the corn, so reminiscent of photos of my cousins, my brother, and me 25+ years ago... But getting a decent shot of five kids under age five (in the afternoon when no one has really napped)?  Good luck to us!    

Outtakes.

Best photo we could get!  Coleton, Mason, Louisa, Ramona, and Amelia



This was my favorite, even though Louisa chose not to appear.





We spent most of Sunday at my aunt and uncle's house with my mom's side of the family.  Kid activities for the day included bug catching, golf cart rides, sidewalk chalk, playing with toys retrieved from storage, and even a bounce house!  Adult activities included drinking beer, eating, playing basketball, shooting pool, and lounging in the hammock.  

 

Not bad, right?

 

Weekends like that make me glad that we live close enough to Lyons that we can drive over for a long weekend, but also make me wish that we could make the trip more often.

 

Who doesn't love a bounce house?

Just a summer Sunday...

 

Drawing dresses (with long skirts and poufy sleeves) and writing her name

14 months old at the end of July

Fascinated by the katydid

 

On Monday, we took the girls out to lunch with my mom and Grandma Anne, and then to the movies (Despicable Me 2 -- hilarious).  All three girls fell asleep on the way back to Grandma Anne's and since they hadn't taken naps all weekend, we decided to take a drive... Perfect excuse to take some photos of upstate NY barns.  And to detour past the farm where Grandma Anne used to live, where my mom and her siblings grew up, where we spent countless hours catching frogs and running around the yard as kids.  (I still miss it.)

 

Barns, silos, clouds, corn, and Queen Anne's Lace

 

Love it.

The farm

On Tuesday, we headed back to Boston...  So long, Lyons!