Life Lately

I've been avoiding writing this past week.  I've felt pretty scattered and harried what with the imminent end of summer and all that that entails.  For me?  It entails crossing all those oh my gosh I forgot to do this before fall! things off our list and oh goodness both girls are in school this fall, SO much to prepare for list and finally the sweet Louise is turning two and I've vowed to make her every gift (and all those other end of summer birthdays) list.  Oh my.

But this is how I work.  Sometimes I need a day of two "off".  To just play with the girls and immerse myself in the simple hard life of mamahood, then I can gear back up.  Have 4 loads of laundry going while a peach cake is baking in the oven while 4 separate sewing projects are cut and sprawled on our tiny dining table while the girls are upstairs raucously giggling over the latest antics and pretend scheme.  Ah.  It's getting done.

Last week among all this fluster and flurry the girls and I found ourselves at the local movie theater for a $1 showing of Winnie the Pooh.  It was delightful.

Well, not the movie so much.  I fear those directors took a few too many artistic liberties with the classic characters, but the free refill popcorn and my girls close and snug and cool on a hot summer morning?  That was pretty much perfect.

As hot and icky as this summer has been my stand out favorite memories are going to be picnic lunches with Ian.  We almost never visit Ian at work.  He works at the VA, kind of a lock down situation and it's not a very kid friendly place.  I've run by a forgotten lunch or laptop occasionally, but save for that work is a very private place for Ian.  With him sleeping at work every other night the girls and I miss him extra the next day.  The girls ALWAYS beg for daddy all morning and it helps to have an occasion to look forward to.  We pick up a fun lunch, we meet, we eat.  The girls get their daddy fix and we all end the day satisfied.  For all the turmoil this PhD has brought, daddy picnic lunches are surely a high point.

Then, perhaps from all this worry and fluster of mine, I got sick.  A kind of silly cold that turned into something ickier.  I was down and out for a night and a morning while my boy took over.  Apparently all I really needed was a bunch of ginger ale and a 3 hour nap.  By Sunday morning I was back and ready for some fun.

Ian and I decided to take a new weekend route.  After the success (and expense!) of the book fair on Friday night...oh boy I should do a whole post on that!), we let the garage sales be and focused our energy on Sunday morning fun.  Ian wanted a solo downtown date with Louise, just like he used to have with Ainsley and I was desperate for some orchard picking and Ainsley seemed the perfect companion.  So we went our separate ways and I must say, we all 4 had a blast.

Ainsley and I ventured to Garden Patch Farms in Homer Glen.  We'd been twice last year, once for raspberry picking and another for apples.  This time we hit up blackberry and peach season and it was by far my favorite trip.

We had the berry rows to ourselves, even had to hold off on picking because the ripe juicy buggers were so abundant.  Ainsley's face was purple with delight by the end of our trip.  It was heaven.

I remember seeing the peach trees last year, after their harvest was over, SO bummed out that we'd missed it.  This year?  We capitalized and picked tons of juicy ripe now peaches and some others to mature on the counter.  I made peach cake last night that was divine and am looking forward to another peach concoction in our very near future.

Ah. What a morning.

Then Ainsley slept on the way home so Ian took her to a friend's house for coffee in the afternoon while I gardened and Louise napped.  Well, she didn't nap, so I brought my little garden helper down and she dug and dumped and watered until we were both spent.  We showered and headed downstairs for a little calm time.  Louise crawled up on the couch and I went into the kitchen to get us some water.  When I walked back out, I found this.

So I turned on some Brahms and let my sleeping babe be.  Later when she awoke too soon I cuddled her and we dozed together for the first time in months and months, with a cool summer breeze blowing through the quiet house.

This weekend was just what we all needed.

This morning woke a bit flustered and I realized Ainsley stashed all of our pool passes somewhere in the house and after retrieving three, the last is no where to be found.  But we rallied as we tend to do, got errands done, even found the time to Mr Clean the fridge and splash in the backyard pool before lunch.

Deck lunches with fresh food are the best.  Heirloom tomato and turkey sandwiches with those handpicked peaches and berries.  We made smoothie popsicles with the leftover cut up fruit.  What a treat for the afternoon.

Ah and the garden.  Finally a bit tended to and revived after all that heat and sun.  I'd completely let it go when the weeds kept growing and the sun kept beating and baking.  I bought 8 new perennial plants at the orchard, actually READ up on how to care for them and am doing my darndest.  I was tired of all that weedy green back there.  It feels happy again, definitely a space we want to linger in and enjoy while we can.

For I know and have learned that while I feel SO done with summer, fall will be here all too soon and I'll wish I was where I am right now all over again.

Hoping for a wonderful Monday for you all!