Let me explain. No there is too much. Let me sum up.

These first few garden pictures are from earlier in June. Our last big outing as a family of four.

Adri and Juliet have joined me in thinking the funnest game in the whole world is when your dad throws you up in the air as high as he can, catches you and then, in the words of Juliet, does it "again and again and again and again." If my dad were up to it I would still be all about playing this game.

After Daddy's arms were about to fall off the girls took a rest with him on the grass.

Not much happening here, I just loved Adri's stance.


Juliet in the fountains where, apparently, you AREN'T supposed to let your kids swim. Who knew?


Juliet has the best fake smiles of anyone I know.

Anyhoo, this was my first July with three kids. The first ten days were a breeze since my mom was still here to do laundry, buy food, sew Halloween costumes, do dishes, and let me sleep in. Best mom ever.

We were all sad when Gramma Joyce had to leave but no one more so than Adri. When we told her it was time for Gramma to go back home Adri wanted to go with her. Gramma tried to explain that you need a ticket to get on the plane. Adri immediately brightened up and ran to the kitchen to grab her newly acquired library card. "Can I use this?!" It must be good for something, right? Dad said she still couldn't go and, in true teenager fashion, Adri burst into tears, ran into her room and slammed the door. I'm sure these fits will get worse as she gets older but for now it's still pretty funny. She finally calmed down enough to bid Gramma a tearful farewell with the rest of us. I can't imagine having kids at a time of the year when my mom can't come and nurse me back to health for a month. It's awesome.

Adri and her library card/plane ticket to Gramma's house.

For some reason I decided that the best time to potty train Juliet would be the Monday after my mom left. Despite the expected accidents (and her one-time complaint of , "I don't want to poop ever, ever again!") the training went well and the pack of diapers that I claimed would be her last, really was. Adri was a good sport during the whole ordeal since most of the day had to be spent inside watching movies and reading books. The good news for her was that she got a potty treat every time Juliet did so she had some incentive to help out. The other good news is that now both of my girls can quote most of The Land Before Time.

I don't know any kid who loves her baby siblings as much as Adri does. Her favorite thing is to have a baby in her bed to snuggle with. In my experience babies don't usually like this for very long but Adri still gets a kick out of it.