Catching up

I've been MIA for a bit and really have no reason other than life at home and work being busy. I'm still in a bit of shock that summer is already over, though it doesn't quite feel like it when we walk outside since the air is still hot and thick and muggy.

A few weeks ago we drove out to Chicago to visit with our friends and family and baptize my handsome godson, who, by the way, didn't cry once during the ceremony. And he was pretty proud of himself, too. The girls were both pretty great during the drive there and back. We left around dinner on a Thursday night and drove until about 1:00 am - we made it over halfway there and stayed the night at a hotel, which was so nice because we all got a decent night of sleep. The next day we finished up the drive and stayed with our friends, Anne and Sean and their kids. Our first few days were busy with activities, but we had a lot of down time with everyone to hang out, too. After that we spent a couple of nights with Tom's brother's family and then headed home early on another Thursday morning. This time we drove straight through and since we took a few longer pit stops we didn't get home until after 10:00 pm.

Since our trip we've just been laying low and hanging out around the house. We got Stasa a big girl bike (FINALLY!) and she's been doing great on it and asks to ride it all of the time. Our neighbors recently moved back from Germany and now they have five kids and the youngest three are perfect playmates for Stasa and Lexi. In fact, Stasa's already had mini-playdates with them and they run over to each others houses to play outside almost every afternoon.

Tomorrow Stasa starts up dance class again. This one isn't just ballet and will have tap and tumbling as part of the curriculum, too. And yes, there will be another recital! We had asked Stasa during the Olympics if she wanted to dance, do gymnastics (because she was enthralled with the gymnasts), or play soccer this year. She immediately answered "DANCE!" So dance it is. I hope some of the other girls from her class last year are in this one. I think I remember the instructors saying that this age group class doesn't allow parents to be in the room during class. Perfect for me! I swear the kids would have been better behaved if the parents weren't in the room last year. Unfortunately I won't be able to take her to the first class, so Tom will fill in. I'm headed to a local Moms of Multiples consignment sale tomorrow morning and am already behind in making my list of what we need. I'm pretty sure our 4T wardrobe is more than complete and I should probably focus on 5T and size 6 clothes and shoes. And I'm always on the look out for Disney movies since they can be both pricey and hard to get.

Hotel morning routine



Sisters, checking each other out


Whispering sweet nothings






First day of school for the cousins


Wagon rides with daddy