Summer Lovin'

Summer is happening, even though the weather is staying cool. Sometimes the pool water is warmer than the air. Makes for some blue babies.

We never can get over how different Miriam and Vivian are, yet they are so close. Sometimes Felicity can be a smash-up - her personality leans more Miriam while her looks are Vivian Part Two. There are moments we're caught in a time warp when we turn around to quickly or catch Felicity out of the corner of our eye. It's Vivian! Nope! That's Felicity! But she's outside-run-around girl, just like Miriam. Outdoors aren't really Vivian's thang. Last weekend we went hiking with Grandma and Grandpa. The trials were nice, the maps weren't - despite getting turned around and maybe lost, we did get a good walk in the woods. 

HOWEVER. 

About 15 minutes in, Vivian wanted to know if we were done yet. "When will we be OUT of the forest? How many more minutes? I'm tired. Someone needs to carry me. I'm thirsty. Are we almost out of these forests??" Felicity was a happy little camper in her toddler backpack riding along on Daddy. Miriam was playing with sticks, making nature discoveries, hopping all around. Vivian is excited about so many things and is generally a happy pants. But the outdoors...in limited quantities only, please. Eventually she convinced Grandpa to carry her for awhile. As soon as she was up in his arms, she caught Mommy's eye and gave a smug little grin. The world was again as it should be.

But as different as the two oldest are, one without the other is nonsense. This last week they've been going to Zoo Camp. Separately. Miriam's 4 year old group met on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Vivian's group was on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We got up close and personal with some animals, went behind the scenes, made crafts, ate snacks, and made friends. Money well spent!

The girl NOT at Zoo Camp is lonely and wants to know when her sister will be home. An adult for a playmate is fun for a little bit, but adults aren't as silly as a sister, they're not very good at dressing up, they don't understand the proper way to color, how to pick a fight...adults just aren't kids. No matter how hard you try to make them be a child, it just isn't the same! (And that's probably correct in reverse. No matter how hard we try, children just aren't adults. If only Mommy had some Patience Pills she could take in the morning to remind her of that truth.) 

But can we also say how much we're enjoying our one-on-one time with each of the older girls? Daddy even took off work two mornings this week so he could be with each of them at the zoo and then take them out for a quick lunch date afterwards. These girls are the cutest, best people we know.

And speaking of sisters, Mommy got to spend some time with her Little Sister, Emery this week! We did a Cookies and Canvas event put on by the local United Way. Emery is a total natural. She's artistic in about every way imaginable, while Sarah's art is very limited: follow a pattern and sew something. It was so much fun, and with Emery's guidance, Sarah's painting wasn't horrible!!

One more thing about the other best people we know (maybe we just know a lot of the best people God ever made). Becca and Eric, some of our closest friends, are having a BABY in October!! 

It's coming up fast and we wanted to get in some fun without kids before that next best person arrives. Sarah's parents kept the girls OVERNIGHT! It was their first time sleeping away from home without Mom and Dad and they did great! Back to the story. A day away at Michigan City was the EXACT thing we needed. Beaches, outlet malls, a brewery with AMAZING food (Becca didn't imbibe...because she doesn't like beer), and a "gimmicky" ice cream shop. The shop was called Bubbles, had hand dipped ice cream that was delicious, and outside there was a bubble machine blowing magical bubbles around the patio. It felt like a whole week of vacation wrapped up in a day. We laughed, relaxed, and loved it. Someday soon we'll get to take our family and theirs back - watching our kids play together will be its own little dream come true.