Birthday

Madeleine celebrated her seventh birthday this week. Other than her cake being a disaster and then starting on fire when we lit the candles (long story), she had a fun birthday. (Note the lovely flames below.)

Rock Climbing 101

We FINALLY found an outlet for all of Madeleine's excess energy. After chasing her around and watching her bounce off the walls for years, we discovered rock climbing.

I signed her up for the class, just trying to find an activity she would agree to and might enjoy. (Madeleine vetoed basketball, baseball, and soccer because she's not "good" at them and wouldn't have fun. How does she know she wouldn't have fun since she hasn't really tried any of them? Don't ask me.)

As it turns out, Madeleine has a natural inclination for climbing. (Anyone who knew her as a toddler will not be shocked by this.) She has little fear, some pretty good arm and leg strength, and a big desire to climb two-stories to ring a cow bell. :)

Granted, this might not be the most comforting sport for a parent. I'm just excited that Madeleine found something she loves doing and excels at. As long as she learns how to climb safely, I'm all for it.

Staycation

This summer is apparently the year of our great American "staycation." (Meaning: we're staying put for the time being.) Here are a few photo highlights from our staycation thus far.




The girls enjoyed splashing around on our putting-green-sized lawn last week.




Russ took Madeleine and Elodie fishing last weekend. (Don't get too thrilled by our outdoor skills just yet. It's one of those places where the pond is stocked and the fish basically jump on your hook. However, I have to give Russ credit for gutting the fish.)

The girls caught fish right away, but they refused to eat it. Their loss, as it really wasn't too bad.

Fourth of July--Northwest Style

Oregonians joke that you never get a Fourth of July without rain. Others joke that summer doesn't really start until after a rainy Independence Day. We've had great weather the past couple of weeks, but the Fourth dawned gloomy. We attended the annual parade in our town, which was mostly a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the gray skies dumped on us near the end of the procession. Actually, I can't complain that much, because at least the rain held off until the end of the parade. And at least the temperature was still decent. And fortunately the evening was quite pleasant, and we watched fireworks at the park without more than a few drops. It's just funny that our Independence Day was so--Oregonian.

Summer Vacation?

I am still trying to figure out how the "vacation" part of "summer vacation" applies to stay-at-home moms. Granted, it is nice not to have to wake up a grumpy Madeleine each morning and try to get her to eat breakfast and get dressed. However, the absence of the early morning routine is about the only relaxing part of summer vacation so far. We still have a routine we try to follow, it just happens around 7:30 rather than 6:30. The kids get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, and brush their hair (sort of)--all with a parent pushing them to get it done. Then I supervise them while they make their beds and clean their room. After that, I clean the rest of the house--which is often covered with toys by the time I finish cleaning. And finally, we try to get "homework" done, which seems to be as enjoyable to my kids as a trip to the dentist.

Even going to the park isn't relaxing. The oldest keeps yelling, "Look at me!" while she performs various stunts. If I'm paying attention to her sisters instead of her, the yells become more and more angry. In the meantime, the middle child is on the swing yelling, "Push me!" She then gets mad because, "Mom, you're not pushing me right!" And the youngest one cries either because someone is trying to touch a vacant swing (which she thinks belongs to her) or because I'm pushing her "wrong," too.

The bottomline--summer vacation is exhausting.