A Day with Katie

June was a crazy busy month for Steve and traveling. This particular weekend, he was lucky to have Don in town and they ditched me and E for a long weekend in Bar Harbor (hard to imagine huh?). There was lots of drinking and hiking and some serious bbq for them and lots of negotiating for us. That's about all Ethan knows how to do these days and it's hard enough when you have 2 parents to handle it. I was a bit done with him by the time the boys got home Monday night. We did pretty well overall but Monday morning when I was trying to get him out the door to school I yelled at him (which I hardly ever do because all it does is get him going and then we end up yelling at each other which is not a place I like to be) and he yelled right back (as I'd known he would!), "I don't like it when you yell at me!" so I came back with "Well I don't like it when you don't listen to me!" and back and forth we went. It's amazing how quickly they can bring you down to their level when you're tired or not at your best for whatever reason. However, I did not start this post to drag you into the drama of a few days of single parenting!

Saturday Mark and Bridget had some very un-kid-friendly errands to run so I offered to watch Katie. Bridget and I have often spoken of taking turns watching the munchkins because they play so well together that we'd hardly have to pay attention! In fact, when I told Ethan that Katie was coming to play with us he asked me what I was going to do. For the most part, our theory was correct, but there was more mediating required than I'd anticipated. We really did all have a lot of fun but we were all pooped! Here's a glimpse of our "play absolutely everything we possibly can" day.

Hopscotch is big with the little man. He loves it and takes it very seriously. He was telling Katie how it's done and she partially listened.



They did a lot of bubble blowing and popping.




It's almost impossible to get a picture of 2 toddlers (are they really toddlers any more?) looking and smiling together, but we tried!

We headed back inside and they got into the playdough while I got lunch ready. As much as it killed me, they really wanted to make a rainbow so we got out all the colors and they made the multicolor pile you see here.

The first thing we'd done when Katie arrived was make juice pops. The kids were really excited to eat them after lunch. The bar stools we have out on the deck were a big hit too. They're so silly together!

I have to say, it was not long after lunch that I really started to get tired. Luckily so did they so we all took naps! It was amazing. I have a ton of trouble getting Ethan to nap solo, but I put Katie in E's bed, E in my bed and I hit the guest room and we all got a nap. They both slept for 2+ hours. I felt like superwoman.

Mark and Bridget accomplished both mega-missions (pick up a camper and buy Bridget a new car!) and treated all of us to a dinner out. What a fun day!