Carlson Staycation

My parents hosted a Carlson Staycation for some end of the summer fun, and it was!

We took our cars and car wash to share and it was a hit...especially with cousin Nicholas. Turns out he loves a Cozy Coupe. This ^ is as much as he could muster to share the first day. He rode on it while Lewis had his turn. It made me laugh really hard! At one point he was just laying on the roof while Lewis tried to drive. 

We worked diligently to find my sister an 8 drawer buffet at many, many consignment stores/sales. We were unsuccessful in the end, but we did swing into Gianna's for a coffee. My first attempt at liking coffee, in fact. Mostly because my baby isn't sleeping much these (teething) days and soda is too much sugar. I had an iced coffee with coconut milk and caramel. Decent. 

Elias had his first and last bath in G&G's bathroom. It was demo-ed today for renovation!

I love this picture. My mom and my baby are both so happy. :)

The weather was beautiful, so we were outside most of the day. 

They made a gas station store outside with the cars game. 

I didn't even know Lewis helped in the kitchen until mom sent this photo! It was a great time together! It would be a fun end of the summer tradition to have!

Brothers

Sometimes when Augustine is having a hard time listening or finding something to do, I tell him to pick one of his favorite board books and read it to Elias. He has them all memorized. 

Lewis still needs help being safe around Elias, but he does pretty well over all. 

Another Year

Year 8. I can't believe it. Remember how I didn't want to be a FOCUS wife? 

I guess that was my plan and not His. 

Remember how I said ok fine, but just a few years...2 or 3 tops?

I should stop planning. 

It's that time again. The new team is about to show up and hit the ground running. My husband will come out of his summer stupor and be so.much.happier. He's got plenty of work to do in the summer, but it's lonely compared to what he's used to 9 months out of the year. 

We met Max & Molly tonight who are on the team this year. Our boys already love them. The boys were crazy excited. Lewis could barely sit on his chair during dinner. Literally. 

They read bedtime stories to the boys and Augustine wanted to know if they could spend the night. :)

Sidewalk Fountain

This play fountain was recently put in downtown outside of the Children's Museum. It. Is. Awesome. This was one of my favorite activities as a nanny, and now my city finally has one! I like it because you meet people you not might otherwise meet. You get to hang out downtown...being a city girl, I like the hustle and bustle, and the people watching. It's not quite the same as Chicago or Zurich, but it's something! I could have stayed for hours...and my boys could have too...but the darn thing has ZERO shade and it was boiling lava hot. We will go again when summer heat starts calming down. 

They weren't super into it right away. I took two buckets, some empty containers, a paint brush, and some measuring cups. Everything that I was ok with loosing basically. 

The paintbrush was a hit. I'll take a bunch next time. The bricks were perfect for water painting. They change color when wet and dry fast in the sun. 

Lewis' favorite discovery was if you put a butter or honey container on top of a fountain, it pops up when the water comes on. 

Augustine's favorite discovery was that it's super duper fun to run through 30 sprinklers at the same time. He said he couldn't wait to bring Daddy on this adventure too, and then 5 minutes later Logan walked by on his way to a meeting!

We ate snacks (also part of the fun!) almost the whole time, and they paused to watch the riding lawn mower. 

Elias didn't think this adventure was awesome. He was hot and tired and poopy (turns out) so he couldn't fall asleep. We changed his pants, kept him in the shade, and finally walked to the Newman Center to cool off, nurse, and fall asleep. He was a trooper. 

We found a surprise at the Newman Center...Joseph & Mary! We had yet to meet Mary, so it was a treat to run into them. She is so sweet and loves kids. She said she didn't want to leave Elias so I tried to talk them into staying a while longer, but they were just passing through and had to hit the road. Next time. :)

Daddy Adventure

Logan and Lewis explored the Joslyn Art Museum and it was a great find! It was FREE. They have a play room that coordinates with their current exhibits. And it was FREE. 

He was stacking the "donuts". 

You can email yourself the final masterpiece (see next photo). 

Photos by Daddy. :)

Sleeping & Growing

School, Where Art Thou?

We have been on the struggle bus the last week. All our go-to summer fun is tapped out, new activities are snuffed at, and even our favorite videos have grown tiresome. We just need a change. I know school is what Augustine is craving. 

14 days and counting. 

We are trying our best to enjoy the last two weeks of summer. There's one more trip to the farm planned, a little more swimming, a few ice cream socials in the 'hood, and hopefully less humidity so there can be more bike riding. 

This dinner was a winner...and on Mondays kids eat free! (Village Inn)

We are all feeling the intensity of so.much.togetherness. They want breaks from me just as much as I need a break from them, but they won't go anywhere in the house on their own! And forget being on different levels of the house. Not. Gonna. Happen. The peacocks in the basement might get them. Lewis is CONVINCED of this. He has reoccurring nightmares about "the purple peacock". 

The summer food is still good though. 

Logan and Augustine went to their annual clean-up day at Grandpa Burda's. 

My happy baby has been unhappy. They say he had croup. I'm not convinced. Then I ate some dairy. Oops. #felloffthewagon The sling made him happy. 

That pizza box inspired an elaborate game of Gianna's Drive Thru. Thank. You. Jesus. 

Weekly park play date. This week the jump rope was a crowd pleaser. 

Babies at the park. 

Elias loves the mobile from my sister's and my nursery. 

My mom made a super summery, super delicious lunch...BLTs. I splurged and had a soda with it...which has happened a lot in the last 1.5 weeks due to sleepless nights with the sick baby. 

Augustine had an Aunt Beth adventure weekend with some cousins and it did not disappoint! They had a blast at the House O' Fun!

And then sometimes it's beautifully simple to please them.