This summer went by so fast I'm still thinking it's the end of July. After Aiden finished kindergarten I was a little (a lot) worried about how the summer would go with one of me and three of them. To my surprise it was beyond wonderful. We spent most of the summer tackling a laundry list of house projects including a new driveway and retaining wall outside, new floors and paint inside and chopping down about fifteen or so trees (which Sean did by himself, I was quite impressed). The projects just went on and on and on and one would lead to another. Everything looks great now but much of the summer felt like living in a construction zone.
We were able to tackle so many projects because the kids were just fantastic. Around June, Audrey turned that corner from really erratic newborn sleep into predictable and blessedly long stretches of sleep. Just having some semblance of a schedule and eight hours of sleep at night makes me feel like a superhero. Also,Rory and Aiden still bicker occasionally but this summer they started playing with each other. Aiden figured out that if he gives Rory a part in his expansive make-believe scenarios, that Rory will happily play instead of just tearing everything apart. Aiden was also so helpful all summer, entertaining Rory when we had to go to the store, holding his hand in parking lots and introducing him to children at the library. It was so wonderful to see them finally becoming friends. Rory for his part has learned more words and made huge leaps in his gross motor development. It's nice to know that he can go up and down stairs and run across a bumpy lawn and not constantly worry that he's going to have a major wipe-out. He still trips and falls like any two year old but for the most part he's finally found his legs.
I was sad to see Aiden head back to school because I felt like we'd finally found such a great, peaceful place this summer after a couple of years filled with huge changes. He was excited to go back however, and it was a smooth transition into first grade. I have enjoyed having more time to spend with Rory and Audrey individually and I still get the afternoon with Aiden once he comes home and the other two are napping.
I'm going to try to be on here more often now that things have settled down. In the meantime here are some pictures from our apple picking adventure and few random shots from the summer:
