July 12

The kids have been waiting all week for Chris to make them peanut butter banana chocolate chip pancakes, and today was the big day. Chris won my everlasting love when, as he prepared to make the pancakes, he asked me, "Do you want me to wear Lily on my back, so that she can see what I'm doing?"

Uh, YES?

I wrapped Lily onto Chris' back, and they were a pancake-making pair!

Cute, huh?

This afternoon, Chris needed to work on some wiring issues in the house, so I took all three children with me to Target and both grocery stores we visit regularly.

Target didn't have any of the giant shopping carts - none! - so I wore Lily in the ring sling, pushed Daisy in the cart, and let Caleb walk alongside me. We had the same setup at our second stop, too. Thankfully, at our last stop they had a double kids' cart, so Caleb and Daisy could both ride.

It was exhausting. 

EXHAUSTING. 

But really? The kids rocked it. Caleb never once complained about walking or slowed down or got distracted; no one fussed; no one whined about wanting things. He chose good gifts for his friends, and didn't fuss when we didn't get anything for him. Everywhere we went, people commented on what darling children I had. They held doors for me, returned my cart for me, and generally smiled at us. I was so thankful and proud that, though my children can often behave like crazy little gremlins, they usually save that behavior for private situations. In public, they normally know exactly how to behave, and for that I am so, so grateful.

After shopping, we had just under an hour to put the groceries away, get the kids fed, put Lily down for a nap, wrap a birthday gift, and head to a party. Luckily, Chris was able to help me, and we arrived at the party a mere thirty minutes late. Not too shabby, I say!

I was thankful that

1. It was a pool party on a hot summer day.

2. I didn't have Lily with me, too. (Chris stayed home and worked on wiring while she napped.)

3. Caleb is basically self-sufficient in pools at this point.

In fact, minutes after we arrived, I realized I couldn't find Caleb. Finally, I found him - still clothed! - in the shallow end of the pool. It didn't even cross his mind that he might need adult supervision! My cautious little boy! Aside from the fact that pool safety is kind of a big deal, I was really proud of his independence and gumption as he swam around the pool in his clothes.

In the picture above, you can see Caleb jumping in. Daisy, meanwhile, never got beyond the steps of the pool. (See her there? That's as wet as she got.)

Caleb, however, was a master jumper. Look at him go!

He's flying!

After swimming, both kids got to eat real birthday cake. Needless to say, it was their favorite day ever.

We arrived home to find that Lily was awake and Chris had prepared dinner. What a good man he is! He also had some cell phone pictures of Lily playing under the table.

I love how proud she is of herself!

Hey there, cutie pie!

After dinner, I finally switched Caleb's car seat back to forward-facing. When we drove to visit my grandparents, we turned him rear-facing so that all three kids could watch the DVD player together. He loved it so much that he asked to stay rear-facing! We kept him that way for a few weeks, but since he's five, and quickly approaching his car seat's rear-facing weight limit, and since it was really awkward to get him in and out of the seat, I finally decided to switch him back.

Lily helped!

She's a pro at car seats!