wrapping up summer. almost.

Those beach weekends took a big chunk out of August, I get that, but man did this month fly by! August is the Sunday of summer but still. Even though I’ve had six months to prepare for life to pick back up again now that it is knocking at my door I’m not sure I’m ready for it! Kids gone all day... regular sports returning... not to mention the other extra-curricular activities if we decide to do them! 

I am ahead of myself. Catching up on August though!!

David was a catcher for the first time and he loved it... Letty and I wore our Fred's t-shirts with a covid twist...good rainbows and David getting a game ball...flowers and friend swim dates...dinner out and then a kindergarten tour in....a cousin sleepover...family swims...farm flowers and a final friend night swim...a birthday swim for Livi, and then a birthday breakfast and pedis for Sydney and Sylvie...pool swims and friends...our final day at Nonna's and another cousin sleepover...

I feel like we must get these things in while we can... for who knows the future! But school! It is almost here and we are ready for it!

the air show!

We normally are here for this event in June but thanks to things being what they are that was cancelled. Conveniently though it was rescheduled for the very same weekend the Olsens would be back down! With an additional four people on the pontoon we decided to head to Assateague to watch it. Which is another favorite boat destination! We loaded up with alllll the things and set up shop to watch the show! Matt grilled and the kids floated and we investigated the ocean side of the island which is always so gorgeous and just so... empty!

a full day at the beach

Friday morning started with some rain but it looked like it would break up enough for my normal bagel run.  Holly joined me this time... it’s been ages since we ran together! But the rain decided it was going to come down on us either way.... leading to quite the soaked adventure. Bagels in hand (minus a dozen that we had to go back for) we headed back for breakfast...

and then... ocmd!

After two days at home we headed to the beach once more, this time for our Olsen beach weekend with Matt's aunt and uncle and his brother and their family in Ocean City, Maryland. We didn't even bother unpacking from Stone Harbor... I basically just washed the clothes and then put them right back into the suitcase. Sure made it easier!

The weather was supposed to be a total wash out this weekend but we lucked out! We drove through some rain, sure, but once we got there the clouds cleared out and we were able to head right to the beach! Where we saw more dolphins! Just not quite as close as the past weekend. After dinner we did something we have never done before down there and we kayaked on the bay! Aunt Sue took David and I had Letty... it was fun! I haven't kayaked in years and I miss being out there on the water like that!

our final two beach days

Our last full day we had a relaxing morning at the house... the kids just playing and the like. We took them back to the playground again because it was requested that we do so. Then after lunch we hit up the beach... had some more ice cream... But then! All of my dolphin loving dreams came true! Dolphins were everywhere. And not just like passing down the coast like I have seen before I mean like hanging out. Playing. Jumping out of the water... coming in super close to the shore. Everyone ran out into the ocean to get as close as they dared and I'd say I was about ten feet from them! It was amazing and everything I could have ever hoped for. Wild. Dolphins. The photos don't do it justice and I wasn't about to bring my phone out into the water but still. Amazing.

After all of that excitement we headed back to the house. Tonight all of Aaron's hard work on those crab pots paid off: crab night! We ordered food in for those of us less than enthused crab eaters.... and then Rhonda and I took Letty to walk around and look at the cute shops. Ending with of course.... more ice cream! And then more good sky!

a second day at stone harbor

The next day we just mainly relaxed around the house.... My kids loved sleeping in that place! I don't know if it was the beds, or the loud air conditioning unit... but they slept like rocks and even, dare I say... slept in?! Rhonda and I went for a very difficult and hot run while the kids and men checked on their crab pots. Again. They had donuts and then an early lunch before we left for the beach. 

What is it about the beach that just makes kids eat? All the foods. We stayed at the beach the majority of the day... Oh and we cannot forget the Fudgy Wudgy Man! Apparently they have been around since Matt was a kid... Rhonda made a delicious dinner with shrimp and steak and we ate it over looking the bay. Good dinner views! And then! We took the kids to their first playground since the world shut down.... six months with no (public) playground! Insanity! Oh and then Rhonda and I raced home so I could see the sunset views. You know me and my good sky.

stone harbor, a weekend!

We had two whirlwind long weekends at the beach (back-to-back) with lots of sun, sand, dirty feet and no shirts (for the boys anyways) and it was so much fun and all things summer! The first weekend we went to Stone Harbor with my high school best friend and her family, as they have a family home down there. We met up the first day for lunch where, thanks to CDC guidelines, they cannot sit a party of nine. No problem! The kids just got to eat at the table next to us all grown up like and it was amazing for us grown ups to not have to holler over the level of noise my kids create. Back at the house of course was the first of many crab pot checks before heading to the beach... And what a gorgeous beach it is! Stone Harbor is just amazing. So clean and pristine and beautiful, the homes so gorgeous (I'd take about any one of them) and well kept. I’m a big fan of it all!

Rhonda and I just got to sit back and watch our kids play... they all got along so well which is of course the best! They put up with our kind of crazy! 

all the (summer) things...

There are a few weeks towards the middle of July to the end of August where we are just really busy.  Imagine if it wasn't a pandemic how busy we would be!? 

There are an inordinate amount of birthdays... I mean really people. David, Letty, myself, Matt's uncle, two of my nieces. It's quite a lot! In between all of that celebrating we have been of course... swimming! Matt is almost finished with the kid's playset... we still need to order some type of sun sail so they don't burn their tootsies every time they go up there.. ice cream for the birthday boy...swims with friends while the kids had ice cream with their grandparents and cousins...training the new generation in the art of the George Washington pool 'do... delicious food...pool side cuddles and friend jumps... milkshakes and Book Mobile visits..... night swims and s'mores... friend play dates and hair cuts... Trovato cousins... road side stand flowers.... early birthday gifts from my sweet Floridian Friend.... fireworks and another party....cuddling the newest baby and wearing sun hats...Olsen cousins and more good food.... mom friends and girl friends and boy friends... more night swims with mom friends and more George Washington hairstyles... (I blame Hamilton. Here Comes the General! The moment you've been waiting for!!! The pride of Mount Vernon!!!) Fun parent jumps.... hibiscus flowers! Letty and a friend getting their second holes in their ears... boy dates and a baseball game (sad David may only be able to make one this season).... good sky and hammock hangs and birthday gifts from a sweet friend...cousin hangs at the Book Mobile and husking corn with Uncle Matt.... another birthday party for a friend of Letty's and of course Lena's birthday day.... 

I mean with not much going on because of COVID we sure have a lot going on! This summer can last forever please and thank you!  

Except not, because I need my kids in school.

letty’s party with her family

Letty's family party was missing quite a few members of the family this year... but we still made the most of it! I had all the decorations of course and all the foods.... we still had the pool and the sun was shining! We even got to see my brother from a socially distant space! My sister brought us some Rita's which is like Letty's love language! Matt made wings and a lasagna and then of course we had gifts and the cake! Which I am now making cakes I guess.... I tried to make it look all fancy but it was still a boxed cake. A boxed cake with a flower to hide the piece of cake with no icing so my father would eat some....

It wasn't what I imagined for her tenth party... I hate when we are missing family! But it happens as these things go.... I still made the house look as festive as possible and she felt all the love. And I love me some little men in their Hawaiian print shirts... I mean, who wouldn't?  And and and! Thank you to my dad for replacing our computer so I could actually make a birthday dvd! Thank heavens because that was a tradition I was not quite cut out for losing yet. I even went back and made one for David. It was so surreal watching "normal" life and then suddenly we never got out of sweatpants or went anywhere.. what a year to be alive!

letty’s party with her friends

I capped her at ten girls. She would have invited the entire third (fourth?) grade if she could have to be sure but no, I can't deal with much more than ten. And as it was her tenth birthday it seemed only fitting. She chose a luau theme as I may have mentioned earlier... So it was all sorts of full circle type things to pull out the decorations I used at her first birthday party for this year, her tenth. Did I mention she is ten??? To make it extra special we got her a pinata. A pig in a grass skirt. Because why  not? Daddy also made all the girls Shirley Temples. There was a whole lot of sugar and snacks and of course cupcakes and swimming. Some of the moms hung out with me so it was also like a birthday party for yours truly as well. My daughter sure knows how to pick them! Friends with great moms. I'm a fan!

who letteria is at ten

Ten is a whole new ballgame isn’t it? Double digits and all that. I’ve been a mom for a decade. And all of that. I was showing Letty photos of her first birthday party because ironically enough she chose the same luau theme for her parties this year.... and sure she looks different as one would expect (Duh) but man... the rest of us! We were babies back then. We had no idea what we were doing and were just so over the moon to have a baby of our own. Babies are fun. We had no idea of the broken bones and the split lip... the IU evaluations.... twice. The complete devastation I experienced when she went to school.... the fear and anxiety of her being away from us... the sleepovers and the psychologist and the tutoring and the schooling and the yelling (oh the yelling) and the tween attitude and the tears I would shed. I knew none of it. Completely blissful. I have said a few times recently that those years spent wanting to get pregnant I wanted a baby. I wanted that lovely feeling of a sleeping baby on my chest. The baby smell. The cuddles and the rolls. I didn’t know about any of this other stuff. And I sure as heck don’t know what’s coming for me tomorrow let alone in the next ten years (teen Letty please please please go easy on me!). We were clueless in those photos. We have aged. Children made us look old and haggard. But Letty! Oh my beautiful Letty! You are ten! You are such a little lady now and sometimes when I look at you it almost knocks the breath out of me! How did she get that tall?! When did she become all legs!? It happened over night. Except of course, it didn’t.