First Post of Summer Vacation

When I thought about writing the first post of my summer vacation with my kids, I expected it to be something fun and exciting to show all that we were going to accomplish this summer and all the fun we were going to have. Instead, I have been enlightened so far this summer. My trio has taught me a ton and patience is something that should be added to all I've already learned in the first week of summer vacation.

What I've learned so far this summer:
1.) I recently bought cheese slices and realized after the fact that they were not individually wrapped. Not a big deal until I was grilling hamburgers the other night. I had the cheese slices (which looks like a brick of cheese) out and was putting a piece on each hamburger. I turned around to "mmm...bite?" My three darlings were passing the cheese around to each other and taking a turn biting off the chunk. There were three mouth marks in the edges of the block and I wrapped it back up to use in their food only! I've learned to buy cheese that is wrapped individually and to not leave cheese laying around while little hands are near.

2.) I have also learned that 3 two-year olds can get into "dirty water" very quick! This picture was not taken after Luke was finished playing in the sprinkler!



Making lunch, I heard them sneakily disappear upstairs. Shortly thereafter and I'm talking 30 seconds, I heard water being dumped. I bounded upstairs to find Brooke and Zach taking a cup and dipping it into the toilet and then taking turns dumping the water over Luke's head. Which resulted in a time out.

3.) I've learned that a mommy cannot be three places at once. Brooke has begun the potty training process. Here she is sporting her "big girl pants".



The problem now is that while I am in the bathroom with her, the other two run amok and do as they wish! I came around the corner of the kitchen from the bathroom to see what the boys were up to since I couldn't hear them (and not being able hear them is ALWAYS a bad sign). I found this:


and this:


I guess they are old enough to help themselves to the unwashed strawberries in a container on the counter. The best part was actually getting to see them fish the green leaves out of their mouths after biting into the juicy strawberry!

4.) Finally, I've learned that it is going to be a necessity to keep a spare van key in my pocket. Ran into a grocery store today. I had my 12 year old cousin with me, the boys were in a stroller and Brooke was in a cart. We were ready to head into the store when I realized my purse, with my key inside, was INSIDE THE LOCKED VAN. My knees started shaking. We calmly, but quickly walked to a car dealership nearby and asked for help. Luckily they were able to unlock the van for us and we headed into the store. When the doors closed behind us, it started to down-pour - which leads to another lesson learned: always carry an umbrella!

Wonder what they'll teach me in the next week or two?