Triathlon. G's party, canoe, corn

Last full week before school starts. The kids went to Lansford but came back just in time for Kevie to come for Grady's birthday festivities! Matt and I love that Kevie plans a trip up each year to celebrate him and reconnect with us and we know we are difficult!

There was a lot happening this weekend too - We kicked off Saturday with the Triathlon. Grady was the youngest competitor - they let him compete because he was a week away from 6 and we did inform him that it was his 6yo birthday party that day. I was so proud of how they both did. It's not easy and although we've had swim lessons this past year, it's still a skill that takes a lot of learning and practice. The course has some nasty hills which is a beast for the bike but running was all good. They both did well. G came in under at 28:40 - comparable to Eleanor's first time and Eleanor shaved 4 minutes off her time last year to be 24:10ish. She also did more solo swimming this time. I'm hoping next year, they'll have the confidence to be alone and no lifevest... let's see. 

That afternoon, we did G's party. I felt bad that I didn't let him pick his theme, like I have when E hit that age but given what we got him - an inflatable canoe. I felt he would be okay with it. We opened presents, had tacos in a bag, and then I presented him with the first clue for a scavenger hunt... which led him to our present. We typically don't give our present at the party, we do it at our personal family party but given some circumstances - thought it was best. 

He loved the hunt - he had previously almost busted me hiding clues but I was so happy to see them rush around. He did want to keep it himself and not have his sisters in the fray but I'm not sure how to avoid that. There were 11 clues total and it took them all around the house with some levels of familiarity to things - where the feline eats (laundry room), unpack your lunch box (freezer), where your shoes are supposed-keyword to sleep at night, think purple (Ainsley's shoe bin). There were a few times that they got offtrack on a clue but when they got it they went off running... To the Bathroom! To the Grill! To the Travy!

The last clue took them to Matt's boat and G's Boat was still boxed in there. From there we had to blow it up and go on a ride right away. I'm hoping we can get a few in before the freeze happens. We ended the evening with cake. It was a long day but G seemed so happy with how it all went down. 

The following day, we kissed Kevie goodbye and took off to the farm. Dad donated sweet corn to preschool. It was good corn and we were excited to pick and sell this year again. I was surprised at how tall it got - some stalks taller than Matt. 

Was a good weekend...a busy weekend but all good. 

MJR and GRR getting into canoe.
ALR: Aren't you going to give him a paddle?

MJR: I'm tired of him smoking me in the head with it. 
ALR looks at GRR sitting in the canoe. GRR sees her looking, gives cheesiest grin possible: I'm ready to go!

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Lemmon, Great Grandma Elaine,

The first week of August is the official last normal week of summer for our house. It's the last week we have childcare before it becomes a serious shellgame of where do the children go. Eleanor finished Blast care on August 6 and until August 24 will be off schedule. E and G have another full week before the shift happens. One of our go-to's has been Art Camp. Like myself, E has loved to watch what she can create and has a patience and hand for it when the mood strikes her. The theme of the camp this year that she attended was Under the Sea. It was fun to have her come home and show me the pieces that she created and the confidence that she had in them.

Grady had a major milestone - he had his last day at Montessori. I will admit, I didn't tell him until we were walking out - he's pretty tenderhearted but I'm not sure you quite understand when you complete a rite of passage at age 5/6. He's accomplished a lot of things and gained a lot of ground through those doors. We knew he'd be the one to spend the most time given where his birthday sits in the calendar year and I even put him on the waitlist before he was born. 

We headed to Lemmon for a Moser Family "Reunion" - I feel like I'm being fast and loose with the word reunion because we used to get together 1 or 2 times a year but reunion may be accurate as I struggle to remember when the family was together almost in entirety (outside of a funeral). Life is getting busy and as everyone's little family grows it's hard to imagine Christmas's a million years ago in Morristown. Back then it was 28 (at the max) now it's on the conservative side of 64 (depending on how you want to slice it). My cousin (and childhood best friend) hosted at her house in her community. 

My favorite part of the weekend may have been the golf - was fun and light hearted. Was nice to catch up during an activity and give each other schit like we did when we were children. Matt and I were paired with Heather & Brad and then Twila with Nick and Dekker. We had the course practically to ourselves. The kids went with Heather's kids and eventually joined forces with others including Kate's kids and Cam's kids. 

Following day, before heading to Heather's, we went and saw local artist John Lopez. We showed up late but it was beautiful to see the thought and design put into his pieces. This isn't ramshackle-d together but designed with intent and definition. I think they are so interesting - Matt and I differ a bit on what we like. The kids thought the sheer size of these pieces was very cool. The whale is from airplane gas tanks but the wolf caught my eye for sure, as did the delicacy of the tree.

In the afternoon the kids swam. and swam. and swam. and swam. That's what they were angling to do and it was nice to just let them be and be happy. Heather and Brad had a fantastic set up for it with a slide and water balloons and after having them fight and needle at each other for the past day, I let them swim until they were the last ones in the pool. Eleanor's eyes took a full day to recover but I think she thinks it was worth it. 

It's hard to see my grandmother age. This was one woman who I spent a week each summer with - I would go down and stay with her and my grandfather but it was mostly her. She had a movement to her that I can remember from those summers. A quiet hurry. She wasn't big movements but intentional and deliberate. She wasn't a loud woman but opinionated and practical. As she faces the sunset of her life, it's humbling to watch. She still has a setness of mind and a quick opinion - one that scares me to get on the wrong side of but the shift of the world and her body create a fragility. I already miss the woman who I spent summers with but love that her humor is still there and I'm amazed her candor is untarnished. 

A visual representation of what it's like to have three kids:
Okay... on the count of three we are going to jump. 1, 2, 3. .....

Teeth, sports update, weekend action, dry lawn

Summer is flying. Meanwhile Eleanor and I've both settled sunburns and been covered in bug bites. She has her mother's skin and even now I'm typing with an ice pack on a pack of welts that I gleaned from the weekend. 

It was a busy weekend - we are working to pack as much in as we can while the days have been pleasant and the sun is shining. Grady is winding down on golf and finished his last session tonight. He's been a wonderful surprise to watch play sports this summer. He's excited to play baseball... it was a building year for sure. There are moments when I can feel him getting it - the throwing, the catching, the batting - even the base running. But then there are times when I can tell he's all arms and legs and it's still development. When he played outfield there's a spot he would park himself in between 1st and 2nd and wait for his moment to shine/aka wait for the ball to come to him. I liked watching baseball - he had some really good boys on his team and

always was excited to go play. Golf also made him happy. This past weekend, upon his request we also went to the tennis courts to play a bit - he was so interested and wanted to swing and play but the hand-eye coordination is still a work in progress but he was a fantastic ball boy.

Eleanor and I had a big conversation about finishing things that we start and giving it our all when it comes to tennis - this past week was an improvement on her participation but we will not be doing day sports next summer.

E also a big week dental wise. She had a loose tooth on Monday that she
pulled out herself on Tuesday. And why stop there... she also ripped out the other front one the same day. Much to her dismay, she did not get $20 for both teeth from the tooth fairy. He, err... I mean she, was generous enough with $5.50. 

Matt also had a rough weekend when he realized that the cord he cut during landscaping project was not the deck lines that Amanda was excited about and he didn't want... instead it was his sprinkler lines. We only caught it after a month of non-watering and disappointment in the lawn conditions. Unfortunately, he didn't remember where the end he cut "exactly" was so it required some exploratory work. The good news - he did find the ends and managed to salvage the lines and he's back up and running... the bad news - all the new grass that he did get to grow is back to mud. 

The bad news doesn't stop there.. Matt was a two time loser in the badmitton off that we had in the backyard. Occasionally, we had a kid play with us and whoever scored the point got to have the interested kid stay/move to their side of the court. They were interested and tried and maybe we'll have more of backyard brawls but I'm the current undefeated champ. We did have to get official and measure the court out. The part that killed me in all honesty was E decided to be the sports announcer! Announcing the scores and providing color commentary to the action.

We had guests over for a well cooked smoked brisket too with some seasoned rice - and cleaned house. By the way, school shopping is done and 1/2 the garden veggies are too - E and I picked all the radishes and harvested a portion of beans. We also closed out the weekend with dinner with mom and dad who popped due to a rain shower. 

MJR: So Grady, what do you like better - golf or baseball?
GRR: Golf - baseball has a lot of running.

Lola gets booted out early sunday morning from main bedroom.
Lola begins crying sporadically to demonstrate her displeasure on the other side of the door. 
After awhile, door knob turns and Ainsley's arm becomes visible
Ains: Lola wanted in.
Ains shuts door. 
Lola begins crying inside the room to announce her presence. 

Back into routine, 2nd 4th, lessons

 Won't lie... it took a bit to get back in the swing after a week of off routine. The kids had trouble at school, our emails were backed up, the house was a mess, laundry was mounting... but what made me chuckle was I asked Eleanor if it felt weird to be back.. and she said, it feels good to be back. I agreed - something about sleeping in your own bed and puttering around your own home that makes a trip feel like you came home just in time.

We did celebrate the 4th of July again on Friday night tho - we spent some time with my family and lit fireworks off at my parents house. It was nice, slow, and quiet. We had some hold overs from last year and Mom picked up some too - the kids love the parachuters. I think I'm a fountain fan... less boom, more pretty. The kids stayed a couple nights at the farm - they played in the corn, hit up the local one room school and played with the kitties between side by side rides. 

Matt and I got some stuff knocked off around home include working on the landscaping and even got a round of golf in .. it was horrible and we both played like schit until we quit talking to each other. Fun times!

This week has been busy. G started his golf lessons and he's excited about it. We are piling that on with baseball lessons - I'm not sure if we are into skill mastery yet but we are still liking. Eleanor also started tennis this week - something totally new for her. 

Overall, it's hard to believe that it's July and summer is swinging into the back half - we have a lot of things on our list that we haven't even thought about or started planning for!

G comes out.
G: Eleanor is (insert petty behavior that we don't want to hear about).
MJR: Grady, I'm sick of hearing about the things your sister does wrong. What does she do that's right?
G: Nothing
G walks off.

PA: Part 3 - the recreation

This was NOT Eleanor's first trip to Philly. She went with us in September 2016 when Aunt Judy married Uncle Chris. We took her around Philly and took pics of her with specific iconic elements of the city. Well this time, we created it. She had fun with it too - was heartbroken that we missed some but that's a trip for another day. Here is the difference of 7 years.

Generational Pic with Grandpa Dave

Pic with the victor! They all picked Geno's in the Philly Steak Off!

Not our best recreation but E says it counts. Ben Franklin grave and fence... check!

Constitution Center... she rocked this place and walked away with a replica this time!

Liberty Bell...Way more interested this time around!

She was excited to get this one with Betsy Ross House! 

Dilworth Park!

Chinatown Friendship Gate

Hers and my favorite of the set tho!

The pig at Reading Terminal Market.

For the record... I wanted to recreate where we had her sleep in the drawer in the hotel - but she wasn't having it!