Catching Up Again

I didn't mean to be gone quite so long! I have no real reason for being absent on my blog, other than just plain being busy with this and that. Last week was a little crazy because I had an all day meeting on Wednesday and it was the first time I left both girls with my inlaws for the entire day. Logistically, it is always a challenge because of communication/language barriers, but the thing about the second kid is that I am so much more laid back about EVERYTHING. If the schedule is screwy and she doesn't nap well or snacks too much and doesn't eat well at meals, really who cares, its one day and we will get back to schedule tomorrow. I did not have this attitude the first time around, incidentally. The girls (and my inlaws) did fine, I enjoyed my meeting and being off-duty for 8 whole hours, and all was right with the world. I will add that getting everything prepped for the day, hauling my pump and accessories with me and getting out the door by 7:45am was a little hairy and gave me a little peek at what it would be like if I was a working mom, so kudos to you all!!

The weather has been freezing. And rainy. Did I mention freezing? I know you all don't believe me because everywhere else in the country its HOT. July hot. But not here--we are talking 50s and low 60s. Brr. On July 2, I wore jeans, a long sleeve T and fleece! Unreal. Its been really annoying and has left me wondering if we would ever even wear short sleeves this summer, not to mention shorts. Well, today the tides have turned finally and we saw the sun! It was about 75 and sunny and beautiful! Lacey and I took a walk to the park. The rest of the week they are predicting 80s and even 90s?! Lana and I have plans to hit the beach. My inlaws have been watching Lana on Tuesdays and Lacey on Thursdays, so I get one day/week with each girl alone. Its working out great b/c Tuesdays are quiet baby time and Thursdays are adventurous, no napping, no diaper bag hauling days. I really feel like Lana needs this one-on-one time. She treasures it and so do I.

The best part about the long weekend was seeing Bill for three days straight. He has been working a lot and last weekend he was on call and had to operate, so it didn't even feel like a weekend at all. We did many fun things. On Saturday, we went to Whidbey Island and met up with some friends who live there. The boys went crabbing (and caught a bunch) and the kids played on the beach while the women chatted and looked after the babies. Bill is a fanatic for crab, especially when he catches them fresh out of the sound. Our friends are so lovely and welcoming, plus their kids play so well with Lana. It was a great day, capped off with beer and roasted crabs. Sunday we took my mom and the inlaws to the Zoo in Seattle. It was overcast, cool and it even rained a bit, but we just pulled on our fleece and went. It was so fun. I took Lana when she was younger, but she couldn't care less about the animals. This year, finally, she was into it! We had a great day and I got a ton of exercise walking all over the place with Lacey in the Ergo. Sunday night we decided to skip fireworks, mostly b/c I don't really like them, but also b/c the kids would be asleep by the time the sun sets at 10:30pm. Little did we know that our town changed the location of the fireworks launch which placed them literally right in front of our house. We sat on our bed and watched the fireworks! It was crazy cool. When they were over, we just shut off the lights and went to bed. No dealing with crowds, sitting in traffic, whiny kids.

So that's our 4th of July in a nutshell. Now we are ready for summer!