Just a Regular Summer Weekend

This weekend was really nice and relatively normal which was awesome.  Mark kicked off the weekend early at the Cubs game Friday afternoon.  Of course we got our first real rain storm in a long time that afternoon, but as I understand he didn't care much - he was at a rooftop where there is cover and all the beer and food you want while there.  He headed out before the game started back up so that I could hit up happy hour with my friends that night after work.  I can tell you it was a much needed night out with some of my friends.  Had been awhile since I'd seen them, and I really enjoyed it.

The next morning we were a little slow getting started so this week we skipped the farmers market.  We were ready to go by swim lessons though.  Here's a quick snap before we left for the pool.  Sawyer was showing her dad her new outfit for vacation.  Isla doesn't get her suit until we're at the pool given her propensity to want to go in immediately, and the pool not being open to everyone till about 20 minutes after we arrive.  She's got a cute little white with red polka dot number, so these girls are going to be styling for vacation.  

We stayed about our normal time at the pool, but hurried back a bit for naps because we were having some friends over Saturday afternoon.  Our patio is officially finished and we hadn't gotten together in a while so Leo, Breanne, Jim, and Girlie all came over with the kids.  Was lots of fun and as always the kids seemed to have a great time.  Adults too, but you know it's been a good night when Sawyer wets the bed, switches to her other bed after changing, and sleeps in more until 9am.  We even had a few of our neighbors stop by.

Caused another slow morning Sunday.  We had done the cleaning and grocery shopping and had finished most of the laundry ahead of the party on Saturday so there wasn't much to do.  I had thought we might hit up the pool but it was clear the girls were still tired from getting off schedule.  So...we stayed home, made some pizza bread, and put them down for early naps to get back on track.  Mission accomplished, and I caught a nice nap myself.

That left us well rested and needing to burn some energy before baths and bedtime.  We had promised Sawyer we could go to the park so we made a little picnic and headed out.  We've had a bit of a break on the crazy hot temperatures, but are back on the rise - it was hot, humid, and there was very little breeze.  You can always tell by Sawyer's hair - it gets curly as can be when she's hot.

I rarely bring the camera to the playground but since we drove to a different one today, I did bring it. Some of my favorite pictures:

Isla prefers the big kid area, and is so light she flies down the slides:

Sawyer giving me a quick cheese:

 Both girls love the swings.  We moved back and forth from the baby swings to the big swings:

 Trying to swing on the monkey bars - she gets to the first bar and drops typically:

 Big girl swinging:

 Staring at her sister to see what to do:

While she scares us while on this because she doesn't like you to stand behind her, she insists on going on the big girl swing too:

And finally...dinner time!  This was my view on the blanket.

We've Been Relaxing...

It's been over a week of very hot weather here in Chicago, and with the 4th of July holiday, I can really say we've been taking it easy lately.  In part this is because it's too damn hot to go outside, and in part out of necessity as when work is busy we usually try to keep things calmer to keep the peace as it were.  Work has been continuing on the new patio and it is 95% finished.  Pictures to come later in the week - they should be coming tomorrow to finish it all up, and then it's up to us to just keep watering so that the grass seed takes where needed.  I really like the finished product, as everyone seems to.  Everyone seems to enjoy the space more now than before.  But back to my original train of thought - god it's been hot here.  We tried to go to the playground on the 4th before 9am.  All the equipment was too hot to touch, even for the adults, so we walked there and walked home and then didn't leave our air conditioned house again.  Not even for the pool.

Which is probably the other place we've been hanging.  Sawyer is still taking swim lessons once a week and getting a little bit better.  Not sure she'll be swimming on her own this summer, but her and Isla both love the water and have been having a lot of fun.  Isla is demonstrating how strong-willed she is - she yells at us in the pool, usually either No or Stop, to not come near her.  She then uses the wall to move along the edge of the pool, or plays on the ladder or steps, wanting us to step in only when she's dunked herself.  She keeps us on our toes because at any minute she's underwater, but then yelling at us to let her try again.  I actually think she may end up learning to swim at an early age because even now she kicks her feet and dog paddles a bit as you bring her around the pool...and she won't take swim lessons for two more summers...until then she's got me and Mark teaching her.

So....keeping in line with our relaxation theme, I tried to take vacation days Thursday and Friday and for the most part succeeded.  I kept Sawyer home with me Thursday and we had a special day.  She accompanied me to the garden store to pick out some flowers, I took her to her first movie at the theater, we went out to lunch, and did some crafts.  The movie went ok.  She was definitely a little freaked when the lights went down low, and overall the movie choice wasn't great - though the best option for what's out now.  I think she enjoyed the popcorn the most, and the games she pretended to play after.  I told her Mark would take her to another movie this fall, and she asked me to remind him to bring some dollars (which I didn't have) so they could get their picture taken together in the booth.  I'm kind of glad I kept her home though because girl was tired.  She took a 4 hour nap which left me plenty of time to get the work I needed to deal with finished.

Isla is still a little young to get her own special day, but I think next summer I'll have to give them each one.  On Friday they both went to daycare as I had errands and shopping that needed to get done.  Feels like I've been on a spending spree these days, but all good stuff.

I didn't do too well though, as some of my purchases for Mark had to be returned.  So Sawyer and I went back out today.  She managed to convince me to buy her this hat to go with the red bathing suit we're getting for her.  I know Isla has it on the picture, but Sawyer can seriously rock this hat.  As for Isla, I just like how in one picture it looks mildly stylish on her, and the next she looks all sorts of country.

Not a whole lot else to share - the girls have been getting along better these days.  Or I should say they either love each other or hate each other, it's like there's no middle ground.  They give each other lots of hugs, though usually Isla gets tired of them first and then Sawyer gets mad, and it starts a crying fit on both of their parts.  I did catch a really sweet picture of them last weekend resting with a movie after we got back from the pool.  This was Sawyer's "nap time" activity.  Isla laid down with her, and promptly fell asleep within minutes.  I wish Mark had gotten the picture of her sleeping on Sawyer, but he moved her into her crib too fast.  Sawyer loves to cuddle with people so I know she was loving having Isla in there with her.

Isla rocking her bubble outfit from Grandma.  She looks really cute in it though you can kind of see her mullet in this picture.  That's right, while she doesn't have a ton of hair, the back has definitely grown faster and she's now sporting a pretty strong mullet.  We'll be taking her to the hairdresser next weekend for her first haircut to take care of that before vacation.

Sawyer just being silly and dancing.  She's been in a very good mood lately, though increasingly defiant and wanting to get her own way.  She is a bossy girl who does not like to be told when to do things.  Today, Sawyer even shushed Isla's crying into submission.  Isla was crying because she wanted Sawyer's cup, and Sawyer walked over to her, put her fingers on her cheeks and stared at her, and shushed her for about 30 seconds and got her to stop crying.  It was almost people-whisperer-esque.  Mark and I were both impressed, though I wish it worked the other way around on her too.

And since it's been awhile since the last post, I have some random pics to share.  Isla loves to play with the vase that I keep my spare change in.  It sits on my desk, and she often goes and grabs it and plays with the coins in it.   She's saying...boy this thing is heavy...

And this isn't the best picture, but I'm hoping it shows up big enough for you to see how long our girl's eyelashes are.  Sawyer gets complimented often on her eyes and the length and color of her eyelashes.  While Isla's certainly aren't the jet black her sister's are, they are equally long, if not longer.

Last pic is of Sawyer playing with the ipad.  Girl loves you tube and navigates it like a pro.  For some reason, despite the 90+ degree heat, Sawyer went for long-sleeved pj's.  Silly girl though it should be worth noting, this was following her taking a shower.  Since we joined the pool, she's learned that showers are not scary and in fact she loves them.  Our biggest problem is trying to get her out of them as she likes to take long ones.

Mark and I also got a night out this weekend.  This was our first babysitter since Feb 27th we figured out...or our babysitter figured out for us.  So Lauren, if you're reading...the last time we went out was for your birthday party!  I know it's terrible, but we don't have a lot of options for sitters, and don't make it a huge priority since we're away from the kids all week with work, it just doesn't feel right to go out all the time on the weekend.  Clearly we need to find a bit of a happier medium, so I've told our sitter we'll figure out some more dates to line up.  That said, our dinner was fabulous.  Good wine, good food, and it was really nice to not be interrupted while eating.  As a result, we are already looking forward to our two nights away in NYC for some more of the same...