June 11

Today was supposed to be movie day, but instead Amber and her kids came over to play. That was definitely way better than a movie. Especially because Amber's oldest daughter is the type of precocious child who will hear napping Eli whimper on the baby monitor and go get him lickety-split. Three minutes later, when I was ready to go get him, I thought he had quieted down until everyone pointed out that Eli was right there, content in Catherine's arms.

I need my own Catherine.

Mary, meanwhile, manged to get Lily into her bucket swing outside and began pushing her, making Lily the happiest child ever. Lily also thinks Michael is awesome.

The kids ran, splashed, played, and had a general rumpus while Amber and I were able to sit and talk, interrupted occasionally by bickering and injuries. It was lovely.

Also lovely was uploading pictures tonight and finding that Amber had used my camera to take some great pictures of Daisy's curls and Lily pilfering grapes from Amber's kids' lunch. I swear I feed my children; they just prefer to eat other people's food. If I offer her grapes, she bites three or four grapes in half and then is done. If Amber's kids have grapes, it's a whole other story.

Seriously - those curls! They always catch me off guard, because she only has them for less than half the year.

Meanwhile... 

That is the look of a child who knows she's swiping someone else's grapes, and doesn't care.

I am dying from the cuteness of this. Also, can you believe how long her hair is?

I think she's contemplating biting it in half and leaving the other half to rot.

And then Michael swooped in like a madman, reclaiming the grapes that were rightfully his.

Daisy, clutching a Star Wars library book, thinks Michael is ridiculous and snatches some grapes of her own.

While the girls napped, the boys played. 

Caleb entertained Eli while I attempted to put an overtired Lily down for a nap.

Someday, these two are going to have a great time together!

I was amazingly productive while the girls napped, and had dinner on the table by 5:10. (Brined pork chops, kale chips, and sweet potato fries, Jill.) This is one meal I can count on, and the kids eagerly gobbled up their food. We all finished just in time to put on swim clothes (exercise clothes for me) and walk to the pool for kickboard practice. I dropped Chris and the big kids off, and Eli and I headed out for a walk in the BOB so I could get my 10,000 steps for the day.

We rocked that walk! Eli fell asleep right away, and slept the whole time. My body and mind desperately want to run, but my leg still says no. Walking it is! 

After we finished, I pulled my shoes off and dangled my feet in the pool while the kids played and Eli woke up and sat contentedly in the BOB. When it was time to go home, Chris pushed the little ones and Caleb and I walked behind them, telling each other silly nonsense jokes. It was perfect.