it finally feels like summer

With the kids out of school, it now truly feels like summer. Last Friday, I spent the day with Schuyler while the other 2 enjoyed their last day at the Montessori with their friends. Schuyler wasn't up for a run but instead chose to roller blade along side ahead of me. We went 3.4 miles or so. She is so good on the trails, slowing down to look back periodically and knows all the places to wait while I catch up or stop and look for cars. She was in full gear, elbow pads, wrist pads, knee pads and helmet with her MP3 player in tow. She is good little rollerblader but we were not without incident. As we were close to the end of our jaunt, I see her stumble on the skates and fall forward, MP3 player flying. I go sprinting to her and see her crying. She looks up and says, "My MP3 player, where is it? Is it broken". I assure her that it's fine and I'm much more concerned about her. She continues, "If it's broke, I want to save my money for another one". I reply, "Honey, if it's broke, Mom and Dad will by you a new one." Isn't funny how kids think sometimes. She did have a minor injury. Of all places on her hip, a big strawberry and a bruise that was initially small but has now morphed into a large, colorful bruise.

The girls have easily adjusted to the new routine of being at home but Eli is a bit slower. He doesn't understand the days of the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wed.... so he has always differentiated by "school day" and "stay at home day". Now everyday is a "stay at home day". His new terms are now a "Sam (our nanny) day" or "a mom and dad day". Seems to be working for now. We are all enjoying our nanny. She has started the kids reading program by a trip to the public library, gone to the zoo followed by a picnic at Sunken Gardens, gone swimming and a bike ride to the elementary school. I need to incorporate a little more arts and crafts but this is exactly what I wanted for the kids = )

Eli is in a "testing" phase. He uses the words stupid and poopy which we do not allow. Let me rephrase, poopy is reserved as a bathroom word and stupid is not allowed at all. He also thinks it's hysterical to spit. So, we are dealing with these not so pleasant behaviors. And the beat goes on..... and the beat goes on....

The past 2 nights Schuyler, who has ALWAYS been our excellent sleeper, has been extremely scared and had difficulties falling asleep. Well, last night we found out why and it has to do with a TV show she watched. Schuyler is very good at choosing "age appropriate" shows. She stays away from violence, profanity, etc... and in general knows the channels we consider acceptable. So, I guess you could say we have a joint monitoring system. Anyway, she found a show about incredible survival stories on National Geographic, Discover Channel, History or something of this nature. I sat down with her to watch the top 3 and kind of wondered in my head if this was something she could handle. They truly are amazing stories of human triumph and perseverance. For example, Beck Weathers who was left for dead on Mt. Everest, the 1972 Uruguayan Air Force plane that crashed in the Andes that was carrying a rugby team and family, Steven Callahan who was lost at sea for 2.5 months, or Aron Ralston who was trapped in a canyon and had to amputate his own arm. Point being, while I think this show was educational I think it has her scenario spinning in her head, something I'm sure she gets from her mother. In fact, she had DVR'ed the show but now asked that it be deleted, which I will happily do so she can sleep peacefully.

And for more off the wall information, I have an inflamed eye. I had been waking up with my eyes matted shut and very blood shot. A shower and allergy eye drops seemed to relieve most of the symptoms but the corner of my right eyes continued to be irritated and itchy. I then noticed a small, clear like pimple on my eye. Apparently, scar tissue under my eye, from a high school basketball injury, is inflamed. We're trying OTC drops but may need to resort to steroid drops if it does not go away. Oh the joys = )

There you have it, folks, our weekly ramblings.