Getting Up To Speed

I realize it has been a bit since I have updated. I have included pictures from our trip to Lake Tahoe but we have been doing SO MANY fun things. Our 5 days in Tahoe were heavenly (pardon the pun since we stayed in Heavenly Village). The 4 of us had a great time swimming and beaching and playing together. It was fabulous.

Ryan would have been happy to never get out of this boat. He rowed us all over the place! Haley took her turn and wanted to return to her "friends" at the beach. The girl made friends wherever we were!
For Mother's Day I got 4 tickets for a cruise on the Tahoe Queen. We were a bit nervous that we would be out on a boat for 3 hours with the kids. I hoped they wouldn't grow tired of it all since there was no turning back. Our experience was quite the opposite. We saw parts of the lake we haven't seen before and learned some really cool history. It helped that there were lots of kids on board to run around and play with. Plus they got to meet the captain and steer the boat.
We were at the pool at least once a day. This trip Josh and I really began to notice how Haley and I are alike and he and Ryan are alike. The girls went straight for the pool while the boys preferred the hot tub most of the time. We had fun naming all of the similarities among us.
I can't believe it, but I go back to work in 2 and 1/2 weeks. We are changing our school calendar so this is the summer that gets cut short. Ugh...

We have been keeping a busy calendar filled with fun summer activities. Trips to Great America (awesome kids and water sections), Happy Hollow, picnics at the park, mostly with friends. Haley has continued her swim lessons and Ry has been taking a My Gym class. He has died and gone to ball pit and trampoline heaven. He has started taking a turn telling stories in the car. His versions of Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk are priceless.

Josh and I are looking forward to Saturday night when we will celebrate our 8th anniversary. We rolled our change and sold some things on Craiglist and are going to live it up with massages, dinner, drinks and a movie. It will be AWESOME.

It's funny because people have asked me what is harder? Staying at home or working? The answer for me is, being a mom is exhausting. Once you're a mom, you're working all day whether you get a paycheck or not. You're spent at the end of each day and wake up in the morning ready to do it all over again. I don't think you can say "parent" and "easy" in the same sentence. I cherish this time so much. Each summer gets better and better. Cheers!

How Quickly We Forget

This past Wednesday I experienced my worst parenting day to date. We are learning that the 2s can be pretty terrible at times. On Wednesday it was full fledged and it was ALL DAY and Josh got home late from work due to a work event. By the time he got home I could barely speak. I had a lump in my throat. I also felt bad for Haley since she had to endure the same day. It all felt like a new low in my mere 5 years of being a mom. There were moments when I thought, "I'd really like to not be a mom right now"- and that's putting it nicely. Hard days come with the territory, but this one was relentless and it felt horrible.
But, kids are funny and so is our love for them. In between the defiance and the freak outs and the testing and retesting, there was my happy little guy. The low parts were low but the good parts were bright. It's like in a blink of an eye I was able to completely forget about the torturous moments previous. It was a day of waves like that.
The day ended (with me meeting a friend for wine which was already planned- THANK HEAVENS) and we all woke up the next day with amnesia. No feelings were remnant from the day before. Isn't that how it works with kids? Once the situation is over, it's over. No grudges. No hard feelings.
The Terrible 2s possessed my child that day. At this moment he is walking around and chatting and laughing. aaahhhh, yes. I know we just entered this phase and will have other moments to come. We've had moments since Wednesday. I just pray that those moments are a bit more spread out throughout a day or days. Wednesday was pretty jam packed and it didn't feel good for anyone.