It was a zoo!

70 and sunny is great, just not on the last day of June. The last day in June is supposed to be muggy and perfect for the pool. We aren’t supposed to wear sweatshirts to tennis lessons. When we got dressed this morning, Meredith said “Winter is back?” Honestly. It was 59 degrees when we left this morning.

We played in our yard until the swings became boring and the chalk wore down to nubs. Spontaneously, I decided we would spend the afternoon at the zoo. I realized we were sacrificing Meredith’s nap, but I was about to loose my marbles reminding small children why we couldn’t go to the pool…even though the pools are heated.

We got to the zoo around 1:00 p.m. to find out every other mother in the state of Indiana had the same idea. There were crying children everywhere and the new koala exhibit was packed. Even though I don’t like crowds or background noise, I’m able to cope well at the zoo, because we can leave after making our 30 minute loop.

Before we left, we rode the zoo train. I’ve never been all that interested in riding the train to see the maintenance area nor have I wanted to buy the tickets to do so, but Meredith was insistent we do just that. Now we can say we’ve done it. Sort of like when I made my grandparents drive me over the Kansas border when we were in western Missouri, just so I could add another state to my exotic travels log.

Alex was dead set on seeing the butterflies at the botanical gardens. He stood as still as a statue waiting for one to land on him. Meredith flitted around the exhibit like a moth, and guess which child the butterflies were interested in…

Those are the still pudgy-sweet hands of a three year old.

If you’ve ever wondered whether or not my children get tired of my camera:

But then they do something sweet like this and I forgive their total lack of appreciation for their mother’s effort to document their lives.

So far, I’ve known every family for whom I’ve done a portrait session.. I love this, because it gives me a chance to capture the families as I know them to be. I don’t have to pose them really, I just follow them around and wait for stuff to happen. This weekend, I had my first experience shooting a family I’d never met before.

Sunday morning I shot Erin S.'s family. Erin does Jill’s hair and Jill was kind enough to refer Erin to me. Jill called from Erin’s chair and set the whole thing up, which is exactly what I need. I have a really hard time self-promoting, which is almost an assurance of failure when growing a business. If I want to grow, I’m going to have to get over it. Blech.

The family chose a park near their home. It’s a beautiful park in Noblesville, complete with a covered bridge. The park consists mainly of walking trails through a forest and along the White river. Light wasn’t plentiful, it was muddy, and their son is a typical 16 month old boy. He wasn’t about to hold still for a second, so I had to be fast! He was a piece of cake to get to smile though. On command, and without the forced look my kids always seem to share.

I was so glad I grabbed a couple of shots of Erin and Sullivan together. I think it’s so important for every child to have a picture of himself with his mom. That’s a bond to be celebrated.

Blueberry Hill

One of the fun things about Alex’s tennis camp is we get to drive down our favorite road on the way there. We live in a very suburban area, but right beyond the boundaries of our neighborhood, the area is very rural. So rural in fact, we can hear cows bellowing nearly every morning. The road we take to tennis winds through the “country” and at certain point is draped in a canopy of trees. It’s just a very peaceful drive.

Along our route we pass the berry farm where the kids and I normally pick strawberries. I’ve had some excuse the majority of the summer. It’s been too hot, then too cold, and lately, too rainy. After tennis today, it was none of those things and Brandon was working from home, which means it’s just easier if the kids and I can find something to do. We came home from tennis, put on picking clothes, and the kids grabbed their rubber boots. We got to the berry patch to learn we were a week late to pick strawberries, but we could pick blueberries. We were all really excited. The kids just wanted to pick something and blueberries are certainly easier to pick.

They sent us out to the patch. We got there shortly after they opened, so we were the lone pickers. We picked a bush or two and I kept commenting on the bird sounds we were hearing. I’m no ornithologist, but this one was weird. I kept an eye on the sky to see if I could spot what was making the noise. I was half afraid it was something large enough to swoop down and make off with one of my children. Alex was on the lookout too.

We made our way down the line of blueberry bushes, with Meredith eating every third berry to “make sure it was ripe.” We stopped at a bush and then the bird got really loud and his yells were more frequent. I set down my basket and squinted to see if I could find the bird. The guy running a tractor across the patch from us noticed me looking for the bird and smiled and waved. About that time, I noticed a speaker next to my foot. I quickly figured out it was a fake bird call, it was motion activated, and I’m more of a city slicker than I thought.

We picked two pounds. Within 20 minutes of being home, we were down to one.

Oh, and we lost Meredith’s four inch tall plastic Prince Charming. She was really sad, but was warned about the pitfalls of bring Charlie along for the ride. The berry patch lady put a sign on their bulletin board that said, “Meredith Webber, lost Prince Charming,” along with our phone number. I’m thankful we have caller id.

After berry picking we went to the pool. Again, the forcast called for rain, but I thought we could get an hour or so in. We were at the pool with our neighbors yesterday for a good three hours. Meredith was the only girl and Alex wasn’t about to wear water wings in front of the boys. He swam all day without them and did the same today. We’re a little water logged, but they sleep well and that’s always my motive.

Brandon finished work a little early and we went to see a movie. We’ve waited on WALL-E for awhile, so the kids were really excited. I was excited to take along my refillable popcorn bucket. I’m really 68.

The movie is really cute and provides several teachable moments. I’m sure both the kids will talk like robots for the rest of the summer. Too bad their batteries never run down.

This is supposed to be our slow-going week. The only true commitment we have is Alex’s tennis camp. It’s an early morning, half hour commitment, so not huge on the scale. I was looking forward to some much needed down time. I should know better.

We were out of the house by 7:30 a.m. for tennis and home making dinner for a friend by 8:30 a.m. I LOVE getting my day on track early, so while this may sound a little nutty to some, it’s heaven to me.

I was making dinner to take to my friend Amy, who recently became a mom for the third time to Benjamin. This little sweetheart will be three weeks old on Thursday and is such a doll. He LOVES to be held and I have a more than willing set of arms. The kids really enjoyed seeing him too. Amy is doing beautifully and is such a good mom. I’m not sure I could handle three, so I’m always amazed at women who do it with aplomb. Amy even sent a loaf of her homemade strawberry bread with us! (We ate it in the car on the way home…with our hands…like street dwellers.) Come on, isn’t she supposed to be disorganized and exhausted?!

Amy lives on the other side of Indy from us, and it’s a bit of a haul. The kids were tired, but I insisted on dragging them to a furniture store to look at a kitchen table I’m considering. It is amazing how well behaved they are if I dangle a carrot, like a trip to the pool. Aside from lounging on couches they shouldn’t, and Alex’s constant announcements of prices and what he could and could not personally afford to purchase, they were angels.

I took the kids to the pool as promised and we splashed around for an hour. It’s amazing to me to watch Alex in the pool this year. This time last year, he clung to the pool side and was even afraid to paddle around in water wings. That was until I forced him into swimming lessons with our lifeguard. This year, he’s a different kid! It’s fun to see how much his confidence has grown.


Meredith, just likes to make a point of looking good at the pool. She gets this from her Aunt Jenn.

Ballet and Bruises

Would you believe those legs belong to the sweet girl in the middle? Well rounded isn't she.

Meredith had her dance recital Saturday and I was sorry our family missed the dress rehearsal. It went better. Meredith was nearly impossible to put to bed after my parents arrived Friday night. Meredith was barely awake for the recital and it was obvious even from the balcony. Next year, I’m going to put her to bed before our guests arrive.

After the recital we went to lunch, and then Meredith slept in a dance coma for three hours. When she woke from her nap, GramPam and Trophy taught her to play wiffle ball. Now, we are not an athletic family by any stretch, unless being fairly decent at golf counts. For whatever reason, Meredith seems to have a natural baseball stance and smacked one ball after another. Alex had little interest in playing and was committed to roasting marshmallows for s’mores.

Meredith was happy to eat them.

We might be asked to leave our neighborhood. My stepfather, “Trophy” built Brandon and Alex a potato cannon. They promised to shoot one potato and I think there are three left in the bag. If it was smaller I might be able to hide it, but I have a feeling I’m in for a summer of idiotic booms.

My parents left Sunday morning and the kids went with my in-laws to see a play. They saw Peter Pan and Alex wasn’t thrilled about going. This wasn’t his first time seeing it, and he let us know. “OH COME ON!!! I’ve seen Peter Pan in every theatre in Indiana!!!” Too bad. Brandon and I wanted to shop for a couch in peace.

After Brandon dropped off the kids, he stopped at the nursery again and came home with more plants. He asked if I wanted to help plant and I pretended not to hear him.

The rest of the day we shopped for furniture, once again unsuccessfully. I’ve come to the conclusion that we’ll never find a table that coordinates in anyway with our kitchen and no one makes a madras plaid sectional that is both comfortable and indestructible.

Home on the range

The Pioneer is down. The fever I mentioned yesterday, the one I thought was fleeting and due to exhaustion, stayed with us all night. I wish I could tell you how high it was, because I’m sure you’re on the edge of your seat with wonder, but I can’t.

One of the things Brandon’s travel schedule forces me to do is to be well stocked and prepared for any minor ailments or emergencies that might crop up. I don’t have the luxury of running to the drugstore at 10:00 p.m. when we run out of Motrin. I dropped the ball and we had two doses of Children’s Tylenol and a thermometer with a dead battery.

I took heart in my pediatrician’s long standing advice that parents over treat fevers. He believes a fever has a job to do and knocking it out with repeated doses of fever reliever is the equivalent of union regulations. So, I gave Alex a luke-warm bath and set an alarm so I would wake up every two hours and change the cold cloth I put on his forehead.

I don’t function well without at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. I opened the door this morning to let out Rolly and completely forgot to turn off our alarm. It went off and I made the dash to the keypad. We have 30 seconds before Noblesville’s finest come calling. I turned it off and yelled an apology to the kids. I came back into the kitchen and their were Rice Krispies everywhere. From what I could deduct through the giggles, Meredith had a spoonful when I triggered the alarm and needless to say, it startled her.

Happily, Alex is much better today. After a morning trip to the drugstore, where I bought Motrin and one of the very specialized batteries our thermometer requires, I still can’t tell you what his temperature is. I bought one battery. Our thermometer requires two.

Alex is very unhappy about being sick because today was tie-dye day at camp. He was so excited to turn a pillow case into a linen worthy of Gerry Garcia.

I was supposed to get a tooth filled so Meredith was going to spend the day with her grandparents. I was completely willing to post pone having my filling replace, but Meredith was not willing to surrender time at Grandma’s house. It will give me a chance to get stuff done and Alex will have a chance to rest without Meredith’s constant inquiries about his well being and why his “hair looks crazy.”

Ballet Day

If I’d known how tired I would be by the end of today, I might have chosen to stay in bed this morning. We were out of the house by 8:15 to take Alex to Man Camp. We’ve streamlined our bug spray and sunscreen routine, but we were still running a little late. Mainly because I had to slick Meredith’s hair into a bun and her curls take awhile to tame. We met up with Dawn and Annie as they dropped of Joe and we made a stop for bagels on our way to dress rehearsal for the girls.

The dress rehearsal was fun, but long and tiring. I’ve been a little annoyed because we aren’t allowed to take pictures or video during the actual recital. That’s a little like cutting off my arm. I have to say after watching through my lens today, I think I will appreciate the chance to just take it all in instead of worrying about camera settings.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so much pink in one room. It sounds nauseating, but it was really very cute. I wanted to run on stage and squish their cheeks. To the amazement of the moms, the girls actually did their routines…or at least made an earnest effort.

Because I keep the schedule of a preschooler, I was starving by 11:30 and the rehearsal wasn’t over until 12:00. I know; 30 minutes, but when I’m hungry, watch out. Angie and I took Kate and Meredith to lunch and I inhaled my meal. The girls were dying to go into the play area, but some kid stepped on a tack in there and we were able to scare the eagerness right out of them.

When we picked up Alex at camp, he was dog tired. He was beat read and said his head was splitting. After seeing and hearing all the other hooligans, I’m not surprised. He had a huge water, ate a bowl of blueberries, and announced, “That did the trick.” He’s lounging on the couch and is too tired to eat “hot meatloaf.” He wants a turkey sandwich. Twist my arm.