Smattering of Summer Things

 I thought-- when I first looked at the dance schedule-- that it would be completely perfect for long nights at the pool, and I was RIGHT. I need some help from the big boys to watch Minnie at the pool and get her started on her picnic dinner while I grab Dorothy and sometimes a friend or two, but then it is a pool night all the way until bedtime.

We are working on leaving BEFORE Minnie is so grumpy and tired that she loses her mind, but for some reason, I am a slow learner, and we have missed our window a couple of times. BABY STEPS.

Dorothy is a very good sport about eating, say, room temp buttered noodles by the time she finally gets to the pool, and she doesn't even mind hanging from dance clothes to swim clothes in the locker room and joining the last half of diving practice if she's able.

Minnie, working on her posing skills.

Minnie is also working on her independent imaginary play skills. She really likes to play Calico Critters WITH Dorothy, but Dorothy doesn't really want to play-- and Minnie is slowly but surely learning to play on her own. She told me that sometimes she likes playing by herself better because she can make up her own rules. I love listening to her on the monitor while I fold laundry, an she is just babbling a stream of a story, speaking for all of the characters, singing songs, etc. It's darling.

Minnie always always always wants to help these days. While this is also darling, it can be, um, less efficient. Here she is scrambling her own eggs, for example.

Jack went Full Buc-ee for the staff pool party

Is it even date night if you don't add a grocery store stop on the way home? (We were bringing dessert to share with the kids).

Ben texted me this pic of Minnie at baseball-- LOL for days. Love her set up (that's a cupcake in a Tupperware that she's snacking on).

Dorothy was being TERRIBLE the other morning, and I could not figure out why. But then! It dawned on me that she did not want to be home alone while Coop was diving and Harry and Jack were working and Minnie was at camp and I was teaching, and the worry was making her mean. So she came with me, and I felt like basically THE BEST PARENT EVER. Thanks, Inside Out 2, for the insight. (Also she acted way annoyed that I suggested she come but then she got dressed and grabbed her computer and a book in 3 minutes flat, so I could tell she was glad and that she loved that she could just blame the whole thing on me being overprotective).

Cooper’s Little League All-Star team played their district tourney and went to the championship game! They lost, but it was fun to make it that far, and people from all over town came to cheer them on. Our Little League has 2 charters, which means we have 2 tourney teams, so our power is not consolidated into one team. Our teams usually lose to the east side org (just one charter), and this year was no different. BIUT SO FUN TO WATCH. They even got to play 2 games at the Madison Mallards stadium!!

I broke my no kids’ sports team gear on myself policy to wear Coop’s jersey from last year to the championship game, and I dressed the girls similarly. Of course you want a photo dump from the whole week, right?

And don’t think we’re sad about the end of baseball because BASEBALL NEVER ENDS. His club tournament team plays this weekend in fact **melting emoji**