June 5

Friday is adventure day, so today our big adventure was... The Butterfly House!

(OK, so it's not really that big of  an adventure for us. My broken leg is still healing, so I'm working up to the really big adventures.)

My friend Jill and her daughter Naomi were able to join us, which upped the excitement factor for the kids. 

Regular activity = meh

Activity with friends = super exciting!

This is important kid math that only took me six years and four children to learn. Even Caleb was super-excited that my friend and her 22-month-old daughter would be joining us. Weird, but I'll take it.

They had so much fun at the Butterfly House. Doesn't Naomi look like she could be one of mine?

After we finished in the Butterfly House, we played on the playground. I asked Jill to take this picture of me because today was Day 5 of my 30 day wrap challenge, and we rocked the Kangaroo Carry in my linen wrap. It won't be my go-to carry, but it was fine. (I also hate how I look in this picture, but it's a pretty fair representation of what I look like these days. That broken leg really slowed my progress when it comes to losing the baby weight, and I feel really uncomfortable in my skin right now.)

Then naptime, glorious naptime.

All four children napped today, which was lovely. I even had time to steal away and read a book for a little bit! I also paused to take this video of sleeping Eli because he is the sweetest thing ever.

Watch it. It's approximately 3 seconds long because my iPhone has decided it has no storage space for pictures or videos. But I love how his little mouth makes nursing motions, even though he's clearly not nursing. It's one of those things I want to remember forever.

And then everyone except Daisy woke up. Lily wanted to snuggle Eli, and whatever makes Lily happy, we do.

Such a big girl - she's doing great at holding him without help!

Although based on the "deer in the headlights" look on Eli's face, maybe she isn't doing too well.

Sweet, sweet, sweet.

I love the tangle of arms in this picture:

Lily's arms holding Eli (too?) tightly

Caleb's arms supporting Eli's head and Lily's elbow.

After dinner (Jill said she's always curious about what we have for dinner, so here's what we had tonight: 

beef kebabs made from grassfed sirloin marinated in red wine and olive oil, bell peppers, red onions, and pineapple

homemade sweet potato chips fried in bacon fat

grilled corn on the cob

and a big glass of red wine for this mama because you know I earned it.)

Anyway, after dinner, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a dairy free special treat (dark chocolate covered frozen bananas, Jill) and headed to a playground and overlook. It was bittersweet, because the first time we visited this place as a family was three years and two children ago, the day that Chris' Grandad died. (That was back when we still ate bread... goodness, I miss those days.) Grandad's wife, Nancy, just passed away Tuesday night after her own battle with cancer. We didn't realize the parallel until we were there.

This place at sunset is pretty spectacular. But really, it's spectacular all the time.

Don't you love Caleb's ensemble? Plaid shorts, tie-dyed t-shirt, Darth Vader muscle shirt, and hand-me-down sandals that are a size or two too small for him.

Beautiful. I love how you can see the ripples on the lake.

This girl. 

Those red shoes.

This place. 

I can't wait to come back next year and have pictures of Eli standing on the stone wall, too. Hopefully by then, we'll be back to eating dairy!

Before we left, we had to stop by the playground. Caleb made two new friends right away, and they played happily together the whole time. It's amazing the difference a year can make when it comes to things like that!

He used to be so timid and cautious. Now he's my brave, bold, almost first-grader!