Happy Jack

Does he look thrilled, or what?!On our walk home, we came across this lovely gate, slightly ajar, opening into a perfectly manicured yard.

The kids are having the best time, and it's been wonderful to see Jack, usually a paragon of caution, so comfortable and carefree on the beach, despite the waves. He's been tossed around quite a bit and just goes back for more. Unfortunately, we've realized how much Oliver still needs to be in a crib. As soon as we tuck him in, for nap or night, he climbs out and wreaks havoc around the room and on Jack. His attitude by late afternoon is, as you might expect, unsavory. This morning, he woke Jack up around 5:40; finally Jack acquiesced to getting out of bed to play with Ol, and T and I returned to a haze of slumber. Who knows how long later we overheard Oliver ask  to do something, and Jack replied, "not with that attitude!" Wonder where he's heard that before. :)

Humid! Hot! Kids love waves! I love fresh food!

This afternoon, we took family pictures on the beach as a gift to my mother-in-law. The photographer reminded me of Jeffrey Dean Morgan if he'd moved to Hawaii and adopted a real kumbaya mindset. By about 8 minutes in, Oliver was wet from the navel down, and Jack -having not napped or eaten much in the prior 5 minutes- was totally on edge, literally twitching with the need to jump in, get wet, "jump the waves. The kids LOVE the ocean. It was also about 90 degrees with 100% humidity, so by the time we rangled everyone home, everyone was fried and sweaty. I do hope we got some good pics. We all sort of plodded our ways through the next hour and a half, and when I checked 5 minutes ago, my sister-in-law was still in bed with her oldest, and Oliver had turned on all the lights, found a plastic bag with which he was playing and taken apart an ironing board. Eff, kids. Go the F to Sleep! Who's read that book? Priceless!

Anyway, all's well, and I made dinner: grilled sausages from Cibola Farms (at the dupont farmers market); roasted eggplant with garlic, lemon and reduced balsamic; summer squash and wax bean -Oliver: "I looove those lellow beans."- salad with pine nuts, garlic oil, mint and basil; and savoy cabbage with bacon and sweet onions. Yum! If only I'd churned out some dessert as well. There's always tomorrow.

On the road

Traffic. Rain. Migraine. Husband intent on driving "with strategy" - little scary. Percy puking repeatedly at dog sitter's.Feeling grateful for this!