The Mega Post: Blane Summer Fun, 2010

We have had such a fun-filled summer. I can't believe that it is over. Today I went with Max to his preschool orientation. Next week he goes all by himself--I drop him off and leave him for 2.5 hours, twice a week. He is going to have so much fun. Sam and I are going to miss him and I am already mourning the reality that my baby became a preschooler in the blink of an eye. I feel like I want a redo: Everyone says it--I can't tell you how many times I have heard it--but it really "goes by so fast." Knowing this to be true, I try so hard to appreciate and enjoy every little moment and not get so caught up in the busyness of it all. But still, it goes by so fast...

Look at how big that backpack is on him.

At first he didn't want to go, opting to stay home with Sam and our sitter instead. But, I talked him into it by promising it would be fun--and guess what? He didn't want to leave. He had such a great time playing with all the toys and the other kids that he asked if we could stay longer. I practically had to drag him out of there.

I feel like life has been so crazy lately. I have had very little free time to blog. (I have actually been working on this entry for close to a month now.) Mostly this is due to the lack of downtime in the afternoons these days: Max doesn't really nap anymore, and Sam only naps in the car. So, my time to blog has become very limited. Therefore, I have a ton of pictures and events to catch up on in order to chronicle all the fun we had this summer. In the interest of having no spare time and needing sleep these days (Max has grown rather fond of coming into our bed at night, and, despite our attempts to march him back into his room multiple times each night, he always manages to find himself snuggled up with mommy in the big bed every morning when he awakens--this does not lead to a restful night for mommy and daddy), I will not go into a lot of written detail and instead provide a brief caption describing the events portrayed in the photos.

We have spent a great deal of time at my friend Sara's this summer. Her two kids, Brandon and Gracie, are very close in age to mine, and we all really enjoying hanging out. They have a really cool Gator that Max loves to ride in. It really puts Max's puny little 4-wheeler to shame. They are super expensive, though, so we have been hesitant to upgrade.

Cute pic of Max in the Thomas the Train tunnel. Max asked me to get this out one particularly muggy day where it was just too dreadfully hot and uncomfortable to go outside. Both boys loved playing with it, and it was so endearing for me to hear them giggling together while they were chasing each other around and thru the openings. I couldn't get any pictures with Sam, though, since every time I pointed the camera his way he would make a mad dash toward it and complain when I wouldn't let him play with it. That scenario has been happening a lot lately. Just as one child finally comes around to holding still and smiling for photos, the other becomes objective and willful about it.

Crazy new thing I recently did to my hair. Neither Paul, Max or Sam recognized me at first. I chopped a good six inches off--probably more in the very back, got bangs (something I am sort of regretting and still getting used to), and tried to go for a more natural color (closer to that of my roots). It is definitely a lot more high-maintenance since I actually have to style it now. And, I can't go three days without washing it anymore because the bangs get greasy rather quickly. So, I really have no idea what possessed me to make such an impulse decision (I was literally going in for a trim), but thankfully hair is something that grows back. But, I guess it is a change, and sometimes that can be fun--for a little while anyway...

Early July we headed to Linvilla Orchards to check it out. It was quite the fun time--Max got to go on a 2 minute horse ride for $6, he got his face painted like his favorite super hero of the week, and we got to ride in a tractor-pulled wagon to pick peaches and blueberries.

One of Max's favorite songs is the spiderman theme song. Before Max, I could never have told you that spiderman even had a theme song. Well, he does, and we can all sing it. Sometimes, I find myself singing it while doing dishes or laundry, and Max will chime right in. Max has never even seen a spiderman movie or cartoon so it sort of confuses me that he likes him and other superheroes so much. Must be a boy thing. He LOOOOVED having his face painted, though. They had a mirror in front of the area where they were doing the painting, and he kept walking over to catch a glimpse of himself. It was so dang cute.

Sam loved the peaches. He ate so many that day. This is a kid who really loves fruit--he'll eat anything from that food group, unlike Max who only likes apples and sometimes bananas.

We had quite the bounteous crop of tomatoes from our own garden this year--for a month anyway. We started picking quite a few tomatoes really early--like mid-July. Then the loathsome and dreadful late blight crept in after a week of perpetual rain and slowly eradicated our plants. Such a disappointment after all that work. There has been serious discussion of tabling the garden project for a couple of years, we are so frustrated. But at least we got a few good harvests...

and I was fortunately able to bottle a few batches of tomatoes. I also made some killer fresh salsa for a few different get-togethers. Sigh. There is nothing in the world like a fresh Utah homegrown tomato. Just thinking about that makes Paul and I really homesick...

Perhaps one of the most adventurous things we did this summer was take a mini family vacation to the Jersey Shore. The locals call it "going down the shore"--for some reason they like to omit little prepositions like to and with. "Are you finished your dinner" is another popular one. But anyway, we Blanes went to the beach in Ocean City, New Jersey.

When we first arrived it was too early to check into our hotel, so we headed straight for the beach. It was unbearably hot, so we walked along the boardwalk to find a place to take refuge. Max and Paul instantly discovered an arcade. (Cut from the same cloth, those two.) Max could have stayed in there all day playing (or pretending to play) video games, and since it was nice and air-conditioned in there we didn't try to hurry him.

We finally made it down to see the ocean when it got a little later (and a little cooler) in the day. This would be Sam's first time and Max's second (we went to San Diego when he was 4 months old).

And wouldn't you know it--Max was frightened of the ocean. He wanted nothing to do with it, and wouldn't so much as stick a toe into the water...

But he loved the boardwalk...

And he especially loved the amusement park on the boardwalk. We spent two nights and a lot of money on thrill rides for Max.

We didn't get back to the hotel and into bed until close to midnight every night. Poor Sammy was a trooper! He didn't get to go on any rides (except the carousel, which he LOVED), but he hung in there for the duration of the fun.

We found a beach away from the boardwalk that was a lot less crowded and therefore a lot more fun. It was right where the ocean meets the harbor so the water wasn't as rough, either.

The boys had a lot of fun digging and playing in the sand, and amazingly no one came home with a sunburn.

This trip was anything but refreshing and relaxing as I guess most vacations are when you have two little ones to please and entertain. But, it was really cute to realize how much Maxloves his house. Every night while we were getting ready to go to bed at the hotel, Max would cry that he missed his house and adamantly state that he wanted to go home to sleep at "Max's house."

I gave Sam a little trim on the deck...his spikes were getting a little long.

Sam discovered that he LOVES a good Holden T-bone. Medium Rare.

Koa also came to visit us a couple of times this summer. Max told me the other day that Koa was his best friend.

Paul and I (pre-haircut) had a rare night out--just the two of us. We went to an awesome restaurant in Wilmington, DE called Morrow. The food, and the conversation (since we could actually have an uninterrupted one) was spectacular!

Max helped me do a little weeding. Or maybe I should say a LOT of weeding. He found these funny Hawaiian hats (leftover from Paul's surprise 40th b-day party) in the garage. We are finishing our basement, so everything we had in storage down there is now in the garage. Hopefully that project--which has dragged on and on and on--is in its final stages. I will blog more on that later--with pics.

Anyway, this yard is almost too much for me to handle. I really have no time to weed. My kids don't nap, and I can't exactly bring them outside while I'm doing it--I have to watch Sam every second since he puts everything into his mouth (mulch is one of his favorites).

We had the pleasure of having Jack and Lara Flynn over for lunch a few weeks ago. Jack grew up next door to Paul in NY and they gave been best friends forever. Their two cute kids, Eoin and Olivia, were so sweet with Max and Sam.

Sam's first bubble bath. Max just loves bathing in the jetted tub, but we usually take Sammy out before we turn the jets on since the water has to be so deep for them to work. We put him back in for a photo shoot and he thought those fluffy bubbles were pretty neat.

Some random cute pics of the boys taken over the summer...

(Okay, so there are more of Max than Sam--but Sam won't hold still anymore!)

And finally,

I couldn't help but include this picture. I can't believe this was us a year ago. Sammy was so tiny and dark and Max looks so young. It is hard to fathom how much they change over 12 months.