A Normal Summer Week

We have had an entirely normal week of summer.  We roll out of bed one after the other, usually Hugo first, then Zosia and finally Lily (me and Ben somewhere in there).  We slowly eat breakfast, get out of our pajamas, send Ben off to work in his cute biking clothes, and then play it by ear.  Should we go to the park?  The pool?  Stay home and play?  Play in the yard?  Visit a friend?  Go to the market for an errand?  Each day develops its own rhythm.  We are usually home for some lunch, Hugo goes to sleep, and us big girls have our own quiet time.  After our afternoon snack, we might tidy the house up and slip out to the pool until just before dinner, when we all come home and I throw something easy together.

It has been wonderful.  Totally, utterly wonderful.

And of course a bit crazy at times.  Hugo gets into all sorts of mischief (see him up there?  That's him playing on the table, and then doing his little happy dance once I have discovered him), the house is never really clean at the same time, and I can never quite give each person the attention that they might want.

Zosia is quite obviously ready for school.  She is famished for knowledge, holding on to every little fact that she can dig up or overhear.  She loves school, this little scholar of ours.  She thrives there, and has such a wonderful kindergarten class with a sweet teacher and good friends.  And Lily will love preschool.  She has started flagging down strangers when we're out on a walk just to talk to them.  This little sunshine beam of a girl is ready for a wider sphere of friends, ready to see and be seen in the world of toddlers.

So all of the changes that are coming up these next couple of weeks are good things, things that make us proud of the children and so incredibly thankful.  I will have three mornings a week to delight in Hugo, to play games with him and chase him around and give him time to explore the world a little.  I will have lots of time with Lily, and a nice long afternoon with all three kids.  I think it will be just great.

But pardon me as I go back to one of my last days of summer.  I am going to go read aloud to the girls and cut up some apples for a snack and do my best to not think about the next few weeks just yet (because whenever I do, I tear up).  We are going to soak up as much sunshine as we can.