summer vibes

looking back now, the only way to describe this summer is to use an abbreviated phrase I used to use in my preteen journal: it f. & d.'ed (flew and dragged). so many things about it were different from previous summers -- since I was on maternity leave, the girls were home except for when they had specific camps lined up. we're so blessed to live in a neighborhood where we know (and love!) most of our neighbors, and both girls have a little squadron of friends their own age. they're old enough now to ride their bikes around a few block radius or go play at a friend's house by themselves as long as I know where they're going. often, four or five kids (mine included) would rush in from the backyard to play, stopping only to heed my reminder to "shut the doooor!!", and stampede upstairs to the girls' rooms or down to the basement play area. just as suddenly they would all stream out the front door on their way to other adventures and the house would be quiet except for the whimpers of poor Elizabeth, who was left behind.

the girls set up a little pretend shop called Coffee Katz for a few days (with no respect for the feelings of their mother, who cannot stand misspelled business names especially when they're not even alliterative!! Nick has heard my rant on this topic many, many times)

park playdate with friends! (thanks the photo, Autumn!)

watching the Simone Biles compete in the US Classic -- Elizabeth was inspired to try a few moves

the older girls went to the pool several times, twice with me and a few times with a friend. I think next year we'll spring for a family membership -- our local pool charges $15 per person for admission, which is insane, so we ended up at the neighboring town's pool once for $8 per person. both times that I took the girls, Elizabeth was at daycare, and the girls now swim well enough for me to just snuggle Victoria and read my book, glancing up every so often to make sure they were still all right. it was just delightful! 

Cece (about to dunk herself) ran into a friend from school. they were twinning with their matching haircuts and swimsuits!

perhaps their favourite part of the pool day: a stop at the concession stand

3 weeks old and just along for the ride

another school friend

don't worry: Elizabeth had plenty of water fun in our own backyard!

this year, Greta played in a recreational summer basketball league for the first time, with two games per week throughout the month of July. it was a fun way to get some exercise, practice her technique, and make some new friends (one girl from her school team was on her same rec team, which was fun too). Nick took Greta solo to the vast majority of the games while Cece tagged along sometimes too, mostly contingent on what kind of food truck would be in attendance. I brought the little kids just twice, at the beginning and end of the "season"; over the course of the month, the spectator stroller morphed from a single to a double! 

the first game was unseasonably cool with rain showers, but E stayed happy and dry with her snacks!

three weeks later (we've since reconfigured the seating so Elizabeth sits in the back -- it's easier to push that way and she stays happier for longer. in the front seat, she was constantly trying to wriggle down and out!)

some back alley basketball with cousin Alex, Victoria's godfather

since we did have so much more unstructured time around the house compared to previous summers when I've still been working three days a week, I implemented a simple but effective plan to manage the near-perpetual requests for screen time. during the academic year, the girls are so busy with school and sports that I want to preserve plenty of time for them just to play and be bored, so I haven't required too much of them in terms of chores apart from the nightly tidying up of the house after dinner. with summer upon us, I re-hashed our chore system from a few years ago and came up with the following calendar. there were two requirements for screentime: it had to be after 12 noon, and all of the day's tasks had to be completed. this worked very well for the most part. of course there were complaints and sometimes I'd come downstairs to find one of them watching TV at 9 AM (or hovering with their hand over the remote from 11:55 AM onwards, just waiting for the minutes to tick over to noon), but actually they seemed happy for the structure (! who would've guessed?!) and proud of themselves for learning how to do the daily cleaning task well. I even taught Greta how to fold the end of the toilet paper roll into a little triangle point when she cleans the bathroom, a silly little detail that just tickles me whenever I see it (and now I can't remember where I learned it -- possibly cleaning duties at Capernwray?). 

someday we won't need reminders to brush teeth and hair, but... this is not that day.

Cece's vacuuming job involves using the handheld vacuum rather than the upright 14-year-old Dyson beast

I think maybe the windows got washed once, and no one was interested in any other bonus jobs the rest of the summer. oh well. 

now that we're back into the thick of things in the school year, the chores have completely gone by the wayside again. I think I need to revamp the rotation to assign just one or two tasks on Saturday. I'm so grateful that my own parents taught us how to do our own laundry, clean the bathroom, cook, and generally take care of a house. even though I don't always stay on top of all those things now as an adult, I do know how to do them, and I want my kids to be equally equipped!

one of the highlights of summer for me was spending focused time with the older girls with a Mommy/Greta and Mommy/Cece date. I need to be more intentional about carving out smaller pockets of time with them too instead of thinking it needs to be all or nothing, but I loved the luxury of spending an entire afternoon with just one of them, and saying "yes" to as much as was financially and logistically feasible. 

breakfast for lunch at IHOP

we updated her wardrobe at the kids' consignment store, went on a $20 shopping spree at Five Below, and got her nails painted  

Cecilia had been begging to go to the Children's Museum. we took advantage of the last free day (admission was free for the month of August!) and she had a blast, collecting wildflower seeds from this art/nature installation, screenprinting art, and playing at the Wild Kratts exhibit. while family life is an near-constant exercise in negotiation and balancing everyone else's needs, it was a breath of fresh air just to let Cece follow her nose and spend exactly as much time as she wanted at each station before moving on.

freshly painted nails for this girl too! we also got lunch at Dairy Queen and hit up Five Below

next summer I'm sure will look different with the girls being 10, 7, 2.5 and 1, but I can't think about that too much just yet -- one day at a time!