The Disneyland castle: smaller and older than other Disney castles, but with loads of charm… sort of like my own house. Alright, brace yourself for loads of vacation pictures. I had to break this week into two parts. This first part features photos from our time in Southern California. *DAY 1* We hit Disneyland right…

Evening walk. (I know Claire needs a helmet. But if you could only see how she walks next to her scooter like it is a pet dog on a leash 75% of the time and then rides it at a pace *barely* faster than walking the other 25% of the time, you would understand why…

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…

Italian ice in the backyard. Probably the best decision I made this summer was to put Ella and Claire in semi-private swimming lessons together, even though they are at different skill levels. They have both improved so much already. They love their swim teacher Elizabeth (you know you are in good with Ella if she…

It doesn’t get much more “quintessential American summer” than 4th of July week, even if your barbeque is broken like ours is. We kicked the week off with fireworks at the local high school. Where we live, fireworks are not just for the 4th. Each town hosts fireworks on a different night before and after…

The week before the 4th of July was one of those wonderful, low-key summer weeks (as opposed to the week of the 4th, which was one of those wonderful, action-packed summer weeks). There was a lot of time spent hanging out in the backyard: Swinging. Reading. Ella’s summer uniform: bicycle t-shirt, patchwork madras shorts, Crocs.…

This week started off with Father’s Day. Ella and Claire were so excited to make Matt breakfast in bed (Lucy was just excited to say “Hap’ Fodder’s Day” to everybody all day long). Matt is not a huge breakfast eater, but it worked out perfectly because a bowl of berries turned out to be exactly…

When I bought Claire this Hello Kitty doodle book, I had no idea how seriously she would take it. She spends hours coloring in it every day, carefully completing each page in order. She has also enlisted (or more accurately, demanded) help from Matt and me. Neither of us can appear idle for even a…

Sunday night game night. Claire on her last day of preschool for the year. As much as she loved school, she is also a little homebody, and now she wakes up every morning happily exclaiming, “I don’t have to go anywhere today!” Lucy loves to show off her outfits to anybody who will give her…

Most of my photos this week were from Lucy’s birthday celebration, but here are a few additional photos from the rest of the week. First, a couple of pictures from the bedtime routine: Lucy fresh out of the tub. Blow drying Claire’s hair. (I blow dry the girls’ hair after every bath… even in the…