More May Days

I don't know where time goes.  Actually, I do.  It goes to house research, constant decisions, and keeping the kids occupied more than normal while Brady works long hours on our house and several projects at work.  It's going to get easier, and he's going to get more than 5 hours of sleep at night soon.  In the meantime, I am so glad that he's good at hiding stress, and puts in the quality time every single day with our kids.

Mary and Chad came to visit in May.  When I talked with her on the phone, Kate asked me, "Mary?!  The mother of Jesus?"  Hehe!  Kate fell in love all over again, and so did I.  I miss these guys so much, and felt the ache of sadness all over again when they went back to Canada.  Lucky me--I got to surf Pikalas with her, go to lunch at Living Foods, do a bonfire at Salt Pond, attend a "Favorite Things" book club, and have them all to ourselves on a Sunday night.   I had a dream they told us they were moving back and it was so real, I got misty eyed when I woke up and realized it was my own version of reality.

What is not to love about these two?  Zachary was so sad when Chad left.  He said that Chad was one of his best friends "in the whole wide world."

Zachary finished up his basketball season.  He improved so much!  We need to get a hoop so there is more shooting and less lurching at the basket, but his defense, hustle, and speed are all impressive!  He has quick hands and good ball control.  Basketball has been my favorite of the organized sports we've tried with him so far.

Coach Brady and Coach Dale:

Brady has to work every Saturday, but he took off the ENTIRE DAY on Memorial Day.  Whoo-hoo!  We let the kids pick our outing and they chose Lydgate.  We played for hours.  It poured rain on us while we through a football, and the kids thought that was the best part of the day.  We may have also had them drive cars through Home Depot for 2 hours while we made more house decisions, but it turns out when you put them in their own carts with iPhones, they are not very difficult.  I'm posting this happy picture at the park to get over the guilt.

I turned 32, and celebrated by losing our camera.  I knew exactly where it was left, though, and my friend Hilary saved it.  I also surfed early in the morning, attended Zachary's class party, took Kate to ballet, and came home to house full of streamers, colored pictures, and balloons, as well as a cake with sprinkles decorated like a surfer.

May 29th was Zac's last day of Kindergarden.  He reads so well!  He is responsible, neat, organized, and always, always enthusiastic.  He was on time every single morning, and cared big time if he got a green card (or a PINK card--even better!).  So far, I'm loving his school and hoping to score a good teacher next year.

Kate finished up ballet until the fall.  I finally brought the nice camera to her class (this is also where I lost it...).

To celebrate the end of the school year, we headed up to Kokee to camp with a few other families.  We went up early afternoon, and Brady joined us later that night.  We stayed in the Boy Scout cabin--a brand new experience for us.  Since Brady got in late, it was nice to avoid the tent set up and take down.  The kids were so excited to camp!

Zac was introduced to a few new sports:

We threw rocks into a stream on a mini-hike:

We talked and talked:

We sampled a rack of lamb seasoned with rosemary:

We ate hot dogs for the second time in a week (EWW!):

(...but not really EWW.  Campfire hot dogs are delicious.)

We hung out with Daddy!

We hardly saw Zachary the entire time.  He was off running around with friends.

We watched Kate wrap girls around her finger:

We threw footballs:

We shot guns. (My first time ever--it made me feel uncomfortably right wing but I can't deny the rush I felt hitting targets!)

We did archery:

Camping is my favorite way to spend time with my family.  I love that we can leave for just over 24 hours and come back exhausted, but so refreshed.  I love the outdoor air in my face all night and all day long.  I love the smell of campfire all over my clothes.  I love roasting marshmallows with my kids and eating way too many of them myself.  I love that there is nothing else you can do but sit around and talk at night around the fire.  I love the all night laughs and I even like the fuzzy feeling of daylight after too little sleep.  Refreshing!

Sunday night, we made our daily stop over at the house.  This is the last pic of the house before the cubby under the stairs was drywalled.  

We played on the green belt until it was past bedtime.  Too bad Zac won't always ride his skateboard on grass.  It's way less scary.  (Oops, yes, that is his helmet in the background.  It's grass, right?)

I loved May.  Mom and Dad's visit, Mary and Chad's visit, a holiday, and some much needed family time made me forget the frantic pace of the last few months.