Sunday sidewalk chalk.
I love this smile. It’s even better when she adds in a nose scrunch (I’m still trying to capture that one on camera).
A big family hug is the last thing we do almost every night before the girls go to bed. For some reason we call it a “triple hug” (Matt thinks it’s because he started this tradition with the older girls before Lucy was born). We always love it when we finish and Lucy says “One mo’ time!”
I had a really gratifying moment this week at dinner when all three of my kids actually ate and enjoyed broccoli. None of them have ever been great vegetable eaters (I fully blame myself for this), and this small achievement somehow made me feel as if I had succeeded as a parent in some little way. Who cares if the main course was mac ‘n cheese? Broccoli has a way of making any meal virtuous, or so says this post from one of my favorite cooking blogs.
While I have loved being a member of a pool club for the past two summers, I have to say that I really miss all the time we used to spend at the beach before we had a pool at our disposal. We are so lucky to have two beautiful beaches in town. A huge renovation project was just completed at our main beach with a brand new bathhouse and concession stand (in addition to the big playground they put in a couple of years ago), and I can’t believe today was the first time we’ve been to the beach since it was finished. We met a few friends there and the girls had an absolute blast digging a huge trench and generally making sandy messes of themselves.
The girls started up their own “cupcake” stand…
… and they even had a couple of customers.
Lucy has a well-documented sand phobia so I was really proud of her for actually walking on the sand, even if she did keep her shoes on the whole time. She was sitting in her pink beach chair looking longingly at her big sisters and their friends playing over at the water table. You could tell she really wanted to join them, but every time she would slowly start to put her feet down, she would stop just before they actually touched the ground, look at me with huge, frightened eyes and say, “I can’t do it!” It took a few tries, but eventually she found the courage to get up and join the fun. It was a big moment for her.
We ended our beach afternoon with a stop at the swing set.
On Friday night we had our own little Olympics party to celebrate the opening ceremony of the London games. When I mentioned the word “party” to the girls, I was mostly thinking about just having a few snacks and letting them stay up late. But when Ella asked where the party plates were, I knew she had bigger plans in mind.
Thankfully I save all the leftover tableware from birthday parties so I had some festive plates, napkins, and cups on hand (in red, white, and blue no less) to put on the table. We made brownies and I printed out an international flag bingo game to keep them interested during the Parade of Nations (there was a full pack of Starburst at stake). When I also made them a simple Olympics-themed coloring book with coloring pages printed out from the internet, they started screaming that it was going to be “the best Olympics party ever!” I absolutely love their enthusiasm. They are pumped up to watch the games and have been perfecting their “U-S-A” cheers.
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