The pool, the dog, the fair, the yard

We've been taking full advantage of the pools in our neighborhood recently, swimming nearly daily. Bub has been taking swimming lessons and he's almost actually swimming. Or, "swumming" as he says, and kills me dead with it every time. It's not the swimming that challenges him, it's the breathing. I mean, he forgets to breathe while swimming, which is kind of a key part of the process. We're working on it. This is a vast improvement from last summer when he would sink like a stone every time he moved from the pool step.

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Charlie, our dog... oh, poor Charlie. He was our baby as happens when people without children get pets. He is still so loved, but he's a dog and I didn't give birth to him, so he's dropped in rank over the last four years. He follows us around and insists on being underfoot and he barks at everything, which is really unfortunate because we've had a steady stream of people working in and around the house for the past six weeks. Tonight, he must have followed me into the room while I was putting Bubette to bed and I didn't notice that he didn't follow me out. A few minutes ago I heard the tiniest bark come from her room. He knew. He knew he was in the room with a sleeping baby and barking his fool head off would be Very Bad so he stood at the door and gave the shortest, quickest bark that could possibly get our attention. I rescued him, and brought him downstairs, and looked for a treat for our sweet dog, but I found nothing but dry dog food. So, he got that. Dinner. And some extra ear rubs.

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Tomorrow night we're going to the fair and I'm going to have to either put aside my discomfort around animals in captivity, or steer Bub toward the rides of questionable construction. It's a tough call.

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By Friday our landscaping should be completely finished and I can stop talking about the most boring subject ever (the plants and trees and hardscape in our backyard) and get down to the business of enjoying our backyard for the first time all summer. I've got a water table to fill and a pool to inflate.

No lazy. A little hazy.

We've been going non-stop this summer. Here's a little photo catch-up for your Friday.

Bub went to his first baseball game. My parents bought my husband great seats to an Angel game for a freeway series game (8th row, behind the Dodger dugout.) Of course, now the kid is ruined for baseball games forever when he realizes that isn't where we typically sit.


We've been barbecuing. A lot. And hopefully by the end of next week our backyard will be done and we will grill again. I made these super easy ice cream sandwiches for a pre-4th of July party and they were a super hit.


We spent the 4th of July at the beach. I have no pictures of Bub because a) he didn't stop moving once, and b) it was blazing hot and humid and I couldn't be coaxed out from under my shady umbrella. Bubette did enjoy showering herself with, and eating, all of the sand her tiny hands could reach.


We took out my parents boat. Bub spent the most of the time in this little storage nook in the front. The rest of the time my husband tried to convince him to sit on the tiny bow of the boat while I had a heart attack.


We've been going to Disneyland, a lot. We've always had passes, but usually my husband takes Bub in the morning while the girls stay home. She naps and wasn't really interested in Disneyland until now. Plus, Bub is all about the roller coasters now, so it was easier for them to go without having to spend all of their time in Fantasyland. Now we're going as a family and totally cramping Bub's style.

Check It

I'm over on Style Lush today showing off my current favorite room in the house. Which isn't actually a room at all. I know, so cryptic! Read on.

Every single conversation with Bub. Ever.

Me: Hold my hand while we walk through the parking lot.

Bub: No! Daddy's hand!

Doesn't matter if it's holding my hand, or walking to the pool, or reading books before bed, it's all Daddy, all the time. I mean, if it weren't for the fact that ten months out of the year my, my husband is at work for 60 hours a week I wouldn't spend any time with Bub at all if it were up to him.

Well-meaning people will say this:

"It's just a phase. He'll outgrow it."

Or this:

"You're around all the time. He's craving the daddy attention."

And I might accept that one of both of those things were true, except that they aren't. It's not a phase because that child is four years old and has never consistently wanted me. And the idea that Daddy is a novelty just doesn't fly. He's home for ten weeks in the summer, home all the time and at no point does Bub every stop insisting on Daddy.

We were at the pool and my husband took Bubette from the stroller and into the pool and Bub started whining and carrying on that, NO, Mama should take the baby. My husband just walked away and I told Bub that if he wanted to get into the pool it would have to be with me, and he just pouted. Then, my husband told him that if he didn't get into the pool with me that he would have his Friday Night Movie taken away.

He got into the pool. Unhappily. It makes me feel like we're really doing this parenting thing right when we're threatening the children into spending time with us.

Honestly, a year into this two kids thing, we're still playing a man to man defense. And that's fine. Really. It's just, I would like it to be a different man every now and then. Okay, that analogy isn't really working. I would like to spend time with both of my kids. A lot of the time it feels like I'm Bubette's parent and Bub belongs to my husband and that's not right at all.

Oh, there's a third thing people say!

"Enjoy it. It's wearing being the favorite."

And I KNOW this is true. I mean, I'm sure my husband just wants a break from bedtime duty already, but at some point this kid has got to like me, right? Like, before he's parenting his own children?

Love/Want

I'm loving:

These Old Navy shorts. I have them in the mortar dust color and in white, not shown on the website. I also have the same drawstring style in a capri. Super comfortable, lightweight and as flattering as a pair of shorts is capable of being. I only wish they came in more colors and I would wear them every day of the week.

One Kings Lane and The Foundary* With an entire house to decorate, I'm getting some excellent inspiration, and also exposure to designers and styles I might not ordinarily find on my own. I'm also totally overwhelmed and have no idea what my style is. If anyone is looking for a blank slate to decorate, come on over. (No, really.)


I want:



This messenger bag from Splendid. I need a messenger bag for places like Disneyland where I'm parking the stroller, but not wanting/needing to lug around a giant diaper bag. I've been hoarding a Splendid gift card since Christmas and this might be the item that makes me pull the trigger.

More stripes! Obviously this, plus the messenger bag would be a bit much, but this dress also comes in a few solid colors. I'm just wondering about where the waist would hit. I mean, this dress has the potential to be seriously unflattering. I haven't seen it in a store yet. Anyone?

*Affiliate links! If you join through these links, then I get credit. Feel free to bypass the links and go directly to the sites yourself.

Stupid People Tricks

Oh, how silly I was thinking that the mom who left her non-pool safe kid in the pool mostly unsupervised would be the only example of ridiculous parenting I would encounter this summer.

I mean I was all set to tell you about the little girl, who was maybe three, in Trader Joes naked and shoeless save for a Pull-Up, pushing a child size cart around without a care in the world. Am I being too judgy here? Are we okay with naked children? I just kept trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for what was happening, but it wasn't like the mom was having a Trader Joe's emergency. Unless running out of $2 wine counts as an emergency.

Anyway, that was nothing compared to what happened last weekend. We were loading the kids into the car after a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond when I noticed my husband peering into the car next to us.

"There are kids... in that car."

I immediately dial 911. Husband thought maybe I was jumping the gun a little bit, but no. I didn't know how long they had been in there. It was HOT outside and one of the kids was young enough to be in a car seat. While I called, husband went back inside and they paged her. The police came, but not before the mom returned to her car and sped away. This was unfortunate, because I was really hoping to witness a police smackdown. She actually had the nerve to say to us, "They didn't want to come shopping with me."

OMG.

Is there a young child in the world who loves shopping? They are kids! They don't get a choice! I was shocked that there was a person in the world who still thinks it is okay to leave your kids in the car. Yes, she left the sunroof wide open, but I'm sure they were still roasting in that car. Also, with the sunroof open, couldn't they easily be kidnapped, too? (Wait, did you not realize just how neurotic I am until now?)

No one will ever accuse me of being a laid back parent and I know that my helicopter parenting style isn't always popular, but I think some people have gone too far. TOO FAR.

This Summer

This summer* we will:

• See Cars 2
• See Harry Potter (date night!)
• Find our new library and read
• Go to Disneyland
• Swim, a lot
• Barbeque in the backyard
• Uh, finish our backyard (landscaping starts today!)
• Finish decorating the house (to a reasonable point)
• Go to the beach
• Make S'mores
• Go to Angels games
• Make homemade ice cream
  
• Have an end of summer party (in our decorated and landscaped house, of course)
• Make and deliver Back-to-School cinnamon rolls
• Join a new MOMS club
• Take naps

(Whatever, it's July. The majority of the summer remains, and so, this list.)

Four FOUR

All day long on his birthday he kept reminding me, "Mama, I'm four. FOUR." He was the first to turn four in his preschool class, so it was a Big Deal.

I didn't want to throw a party this year. I wanted to do something, maybe take him and a friend to Legoland for the day, but I didn't think I had another party in me right on the heels of Bubette's party and our move.

My husband disagreed. I mean, I may as well have said, "Hey, this year, I think we spank him four times and call it a day," so strong was his reaction to my suggestion.

So, we compromised. I picked a place with a bazillion primary colored inflatables, invited his preschool class and called it a day. Really, other than picking what kind of pizza I wanted, and bringing cupcakes, I didn't have to do much. It kind of felt like cheating, except that it was obvious that Bub didn't mind. In fact, he the opposite of minded. He LOVED.

The party had a Super Mario theme that was only loosely enforced.

The beauty of this party place was that I showed up, handed them my things and they called me in after a while to see if I approved of the set up. I did relatively little, short of clicking "buy" on Etsy for a few cupcake toppers, ordering store bought cupcakes and these adorable iced cookies for party favors.

Happy Birthday, Little Dude.