August 31

Despite today's high of 102 degrees, we had lots of outdoor fun today. It just all happened in the morning!

(There are a lot of photos. Brace yourself.)

First, we went apple picking. 

Knowing it would be hot, we arrived fifteen minutes after the orchard opened for picking, and we were the second customers of the day. When my book club friends surprised us with a book shower for Lily, one of the books we got was The Apple Orchard Riddle, and Caleb and Daisy love it.

Because of the book, Caleb knew exactly how to pick the apples off the trees, and he was eager to do so.

Daisy was also really excited to pick apples!

A perk of being the second customers of the day? We had our own personal worker/attendant. She showed us the best apples, talked to us about the orchard and its pesticide practices, and even snapped this family photo for us.

Daisy was particularly enamored of another employee, though: the worker's 14-year-old son, Luke. Should I be concerned that she has such an affinity for older boys?

(Side note: those are new shoes she's wearing. She calls them her sneakers, and she loves them - mostly because Caleb got a new pair of sneakers a few weeks ago, and now she has some, too.)

Chris helped Daisy. She could have done everything herself, but we wanted to have edible apples and not just bruised, worm-eaten ones. So Chris helped.

Caleb, however, rocked the apple-picking. After we showed him a few good apples, he knew exactly what to look for!

The bags did get pretty heavy pretty quickly, though, even for Superman.

Despite the heat (my car said it was 91 degrees at 9 am), they had a lot of fun.

Then, we moved over to the peach trees. One of the perks of picking now is that it's the very beginning of apple season, and the tail end of peach season. We were able to do both in one visit!

Caleb wasn't really interested in peach picking - he preferred to kick up big clouds of dust in the farm road. Daisy, however, was very interested.

After we finished, we went to a park to play. 

Lily was delighted to be out of the wrap, enjoying the breeze in a shady spot.

Now, before you think we're crazy for taking our kids to the park on such a hot day, let me clarify: 

The park had water. Enough water to justify a change into swimsuits. Caleb and Daisy were so excited to splash and play!

Caleb transformed from Superman into a character of his own creation, called "Waterman". He explained to me that Waterman's special power is "splashing water nicely onto villains."

At least he's doing it nicely.

Normally Daisy is hesitant about water play.

Not today.

Gosh, she's cute.

I was sitting in the shade, nursing Lily, when I looked up and saw this. And then I died from the cuteness, and somehow managed to capture the shot perfectly. I love it!

We ate a picnic lunch in the shade, then headed home for naps. After dinner, we headed back outside for a bit more playtime. 

Superman, and Superman, Jr.

Aren't they cute?

Can you tell that they're flying?

(Can you tell that Chris was the one who taught Caleb to wear socks with inappropriate shoes? Thankfully, I'm breaking Caleb of that habit. Chris is too old to break.)

I love how happy they are together!

I love that our four-year-old loves to be hugged and cuddled and kissed. It makes this mama's heart happy.

While I took all of the pictures above, Daisy was dangling in her baby swing, waiting for another push. This is her saying, "Haaaayyy!"

Her curls kill me! I love, love, LOVE them! It's so funny to think that a year ago - really, even on her second birthday in May - her hair was stick-straight.

Superman. This is a perfect Caleb-face!

And this is his Superman face. 

I think it looks like he smelled something yucky, but he thinks it looks tough.

Daisy watched Caleb ham for the camera,

And then decided to pester her brother a little bit by putting her foot on him.

(Note: she also did this in the car on the way home this morning, but neither one was quite as cheerful then. This morning, the same action caused screaming and crying from both parties. Funny what a good nap will do. Funny also what a stinker my daughter is. I can't wait to get a minivan.)

And Lily and I did our usual - made silly faces and cooed at each other in the shade.

Love her!

August 30

Things are always better when Daddy is home.

Lily woke up from a nap right before Chris got home from work today, so she was all smiles and giggles for Daddy Reading Time before dinner.

Daisy's big bed is now the go-to family reading spot. It's pretty wonderful! Now, to get her to actually sleep in it... 

To be fair, we haven't actually tried to get her to sleep in it. Maybe it's one of those things that I'm building up in my mind, fearing it will be a big deal, but she'll really accept it readily? Or maybe not. But in the meantime, the bed is in her room and we talk a lot about how, when she's ready, she will sleep in the big girl bed and the crib will go to Lily's room and Lily will sleep there. I suppose it's expecting too much to hope that Daisy will actually say one day that she's ready - we probably need to just do it. But right now, we're all sleeping at night, and that's too precious to mess up.

August 29

Caleb has just begun to realize that while he's at preschool, Daisy and Lily and I do things. And sometimes those things are fun. And now he wants to stay home from preschool, just in case we do something fun. He went to school this morning, and apparently this idea struck him during naptime, because when he woke he declared that he didn't want to go to preschool  next time.

The "fun" thing we did today?

A visit to Trader Joe's.

To be fair, Daisy did get to push the kid-sized shopping cart, and filled it with all of our groceries, and got stickers from the cashier for being so helpful.

But as I explained to Caleb, he got to play with GLUE! And GLITTER! Nothing nearly that fun ever happens here. But you know how it is, reasoning with a four-year-old. (What? You don't? You're much too smart to try to speak logic to a four-year-old? Clearly I am an amateur.)

It's not that he doesn't like preschool - he does - he's just terrified that fun things are going on here without him. Something tells me that this is a big milestone, right? He's becoming aware of the fact that he has experiences and existence separate from Mommy and Daisy and home. So it's a good thing.

Another good thing?

My baby girl who has been sleeping peacefully for the past hour. Tonight is definitely not a repeat of last night.

And look at how cute she is!

We all went outside after dinner for some playtime and garden-watering. (It's been HOT lately!)

Lily and I hung out and tried (unsuccessfully, for my part) to avoid the mosquitoes.

I couldn't tear myself away from her adorableness!

But then I noticed Daisy attempting to push Caleb on the swing, and I was definitely distracted by that adorableness. (Also, can you tell that Daisy chose her outfit today?)

But then I saw this. She's kind of perfect.

August 28

Daisy chose Lily's outfit today.

She chose the tie-dye onesie, then the pink pants. She held them up and said, "Here! These pink pants. They have pretty bow on them!"

And they matched perfectly.

Lily is becoming so much more expressive! Yes, newborns are snuggly and sweet, but they're so... boring. And demanding. It's funny how a simple smile from a baby can be so rewarding. And now, Lily does a lot of this:

I tell you, I feel like the king of the world when she looks up at me, wrinkles up her nose, and breaks out a big, gummy smile. 

And then, if I smile and make silly noises at her for long enough, she'll reward me with a sweet little, "Ah-goo. Gah. Ahhhhgh."

And it is the cutest. thing. EVER.

No baby in the history of the world has ever been as cute and engaging as mine.

What is it about babies that does this to us? It's delightful, and absolutely necessary. Because as I type this, I have been trying to get Lily to sleep for three hours. That's right; THREE HOURS. To be fair, she's slept for maybe half of it. But she'll sleep for thirty minutes, then wake up but not want to be awake. So I have to spend another thirty minutes snuggling and nursing her to get her to sleep... for fifteen minutes. And then I invest another forty-five minutes of my life until she's finally asleep. This time, I know it's for real. And thirty minutes later, I hear her squawks coming down the hall. And so I go back in and nurse her some more.

Seriously, this child should be about to burst from all of the milk she's consumed tonight.

When my frustration levels reach their peak, that sweet baby smile is my reward. Because seriously, this girl thinks I'm the best mom ever.

But back to today. 

After everyone woke up from afternoon  naps, we had playtime on the bed. Somehow, Caleb and Daisy ended up wearing headbands. Isn't Daisy sweet? She was actually being a stinker when I took this shot - she was refusing to let me take her picture. Luckily, I have ninja photography skills. 

Caleb put a flower headband on his head, and wouldn't give it up for anything. He loved his flower headband.

Then he wanted a turn with the camera. 

Sorry about the view up my nostrils, but other than that it's kind of fun!

Now, to get this baby to sleep. For real this time.

August 27

This is becoming a trend:

On book club days, I forget to get out my camera all day, and then end up having to use crummy cell phone pictures for the blog. But at least I have cell phone pictures!

Caleb and I took this one and texted it to Daddy. Caleb was really pleased with it. At the time, I thought it was cute, but looking at it now I realize that I've never seen Caleb smile so big!

While we took the picture above, Daisy was trapped in her crib. She hit Caleb in the face with a book (an accident, I think), and refused to say, "I'm sorry." So I put her in the crib until she was willing to apologize. Apparently we're making the shift to big-girl bed just in time, because this girl was inches from climbing out of her crib.

(She did eventually apologize; it took about ten minutes in the crib for her to cave.)

Then Lily and I escaped to book club. 

Jessica, who hosts book club, has a darling 11-month-old. Stella has just learned to walk,and she was fascinated by Lily. She kept lumbering toward us, in that zombie-like way new walkers have, chanting, "beh-beh-beh-beh." In another context, it would have been terrifying, but with Stella it was darling!

As soon as Jessica attempted to hold Lily, though, Stella changed her tune. Apparently babies are only interesting if they belong to someone else. I hear you, sister!

August 26

This afternoon it was hot, hot, HOT, and I had some stir-crazy kids. I did what any sane mother would do: I got out the hose and filled up the kiddie pool.

Caleb finally discovered what his foam water cannon can do; all this time, he's thought it was just for blowing air. I sense trouble in the future!

Daisy spent her pool time watering the pool with her watering can.

 And Lily? She was delighted to watch her brother and sister play and splash. Then she got hot, and the fun was over.

Tonight, before bedtime, Chris and I did some furniture moving. 

Yep. That's a big girl bed in Daisy's room!

It's our old queen-sized bed, so it takes up most of the room. For now, the crib is still in there, and Daisy is still sleeping in the crib. But I thought that it would be good for her to get used to the idea of a big girl bed by seeing it in her room and playing on it. (Plus, we can't get the crib out of the room without disassembling it, and I don't want to go to all of that effort and then have her freak out. We're in no hurry to get Lily into the crib, so we'll take our time.) Clearly, Daisy is pleased with the abstract concept of a big girl bed. We'll see how long it takes before she's comfortable with the reality of it!

August 25

We're still celebrating Chris' return, so we decided to skip church today and pay a family visit to the zoo instead. We planned ahead and got up early so that we could make the most of the zoo's free hour, and beat the heat and crowds.

(Brace yourself for an onslaught of photos.)

Caleb and Daisy really like this elephant fountain, so I try to take a picture of them in front of it every time we visit. Since it was Lily's first visit to the zoo, she had to be in the picture too. I briefly contemplated taking her out of the wrap and letting Caleb hold her for the picture, but then I regained my sanity and sat down on the stone ledge with her in the wrap.

First stop: Carousel.

As usual, Daisy rode an animal and Caleb chose to sit on his trusty, immobile bench.

And Lily snoozed through the whole thing.

You'd think riding on a bench would be  boring, but Caleb was pretty excited.

Then on to the stingray exhibit. We got as far as the "wash your hands up to the elbows" part when Caleb froze. I'm not sure if it was the hand-washing, or the fact that the recorded announcement mentioned that there were sharks in the water, too, but he refused to participate. Chris and Daisy went in to pet the stingrays, while Caleb, Lily and I waited outside. Thus, no photos. Caleb said, "Maybe when I'm five..."

Last stop for the free hour: the Children's Zoo.

And our first stop in the Children's Zoo was the goat-petting area. 

Can you tell that Daisy was excited?

Caleb felt safest brushing the parts farthest away from the goats' faces.

This girl is fearless, and loves animals!

Caleb declared that this goat was his "best friend", and named it "Goaty the Goat who Loves All Goats". But then he gave the next goat the same name. Apparently goats are very loving creatures.

Then Caleb wanted to take a picture with my camera. He got this: 

Seriously, this picture is straight-out-of-camera. I didn't have to crop or re-center or anything. Caleb is getting pretty good!

I love that Lily is in the picture, and that the goat is smiling.

Daisy really liked the goat, too. This is her giving it a hug.

While Chris and the kids played at the indoor part of the Children's Zoo, I fed Lily and watched birds. She was in such a good mood that I decided to try putting her in the BOB for the first time. She was pretty happy for about 7 minutes!

But a snuggle with Daddy brought out her smiles!

(Doesn't this melt your heart? Her smiles are coming more frequently now, and she chuckles and coos sometimes, too! I love it!)

We left the Children's Zoo and headed for the elephants, but Caleb asked, "Does the Zoo have a butterfly house? Can we see the butterfly house and climb on the big beetle?" Chris had no idea what Caleb was talking about, but I knew. 

Man, that beetle is a popular photo op! We had to wait our turn for a picture, and had crowds behind us waiting for their turn.

Meanwhile, Lily was a trooper! Aside from the break to feed her, ride in the BOB, and snuggle with Daddy, she slept in her wrap almost the whole time!

Finally, the elephants. We  even got to see Priya, the new baby elephant! I was content to leave after that, but Chris suggested that we visit the new sea lion exhibit. I hadn't been through it, so we headed that direction.

The underwater viewing tunnel was well worth the detour! I kept wondering if the sea lions had ever accidentally smashed into the tunnel when they were first introduced to the habitat? Probably not...

The kids could have stayed there for an hour!

(Also, I love the way Daisy's hair glows when sunlight shines through it!)

We said hello to the monkeys as we made our way to the exit, but it turned out that we probably should have left the zoo right after the elephants. Lily started crying, then Daisy kicked Caleb in the face, and everyone began melting. Luckily, we made it to our picnic spot, where we feasted on fruit and leftovers from last night's "Daddy is Home!" celebration dinner.

Mmm... cold pizza! 

(Did you know that Pi has gluten free pizza? It's delicious!)

Lily finally stopped screaming once I removed her from the wrap. I guess she was just a little bit warm, as was I. We left the zoo around 11:00, so it was only in the mid-80s, but my shirt was pretty sweaty when I finally removed Lily.

What a special morning!

Then we headed home, put the kids down for naps, and climbed into bed for our own naps. It was beautiful. Sadly, it's back to real life tomorrow. But at least it's real life with Chris home, and not in Wisconsin!