Thankfully, during our final unpacking phase in July, the girls had a few summer camps to keep them occupied as well as going to preschool two mornings a week when we didn’t have special activities going on. I credit our pool, swimming lessons and summer camps for helping me not turn into this (Samantha’s lovely portrait of me) 100% of the time:

“Mad Mommy.” Not sure what the other object is supposed to be. A jail? Thanks, Samantha.

Eight weeks of swim lessons with Miss Erica and Miss Conni went relatively smoothly for the first year ever! No meltdowns, the girls cooperated, and they really improved their swimming ability this year.

Their reward on the last day of swim lessons is always to choose some of the fun animal floaties on which to goof around:

This was me last year, coaxing the girls into the pool. Eventually, Jake had to throw them in, screaming (they loved the pool when we took them to play, but went through a phase of throwing tantrums for a few weeks during swim lessons last year). As a side note, I really miss that grey cardigan! It was my favorite and I think I left it at a park or something last year.

Safety day last year (kids kept all their clothes and shoes on to simulate how it would feel in the event they accidentally fell into the pool):

The twins raced each other during their lessons this year.

This was taken during this year’s safety day, after about two weeks of lessons. By the end of eight weeks, their back float and front stroke improved drastically.

Practicing our “swim skills” at home. It’s always challenging getting them to actually swim whenever Jake is in the pool because all they want to do is play.

On the mornings the girls were in preschool, I began trying to push Meredith’s nap back so that she only napped once a day. At 18 months, we’re still not quite there yet, and her schedule has been a real struggle! Most days, she really still needs that morning nap, but was getting to the point where she was having a hard time going down in the afternoon, a nap she absolutely needs if we don’t want to deal with a total monster until bedtime! In an effort to keep her occupied during her old morning nap time, I would distract her by going to the splash pad or park.

Friday pizza night! We don’t always make it from scratch, but when we do, the girls go crazy with the toppings.

The girls attended a one-week Moana-themed morning summer camp at a preschool one of their friends goes to. They made leis, headbands, bracelets, heart of Tafiti necklaces, and some cute ocean-themed snacks and crafts. I thought that given their love of Moana, crafts and the new activities at the school, that they were going to love it, and while they did have fun, I was surprised when they told me they missed their regular preschool. I don’t even know if they understand the meaning of this word, but they actually said they were bored! I didn’t realize how attached they were to their regular teachers and class. At least this experience confirmed to me that they really love their Montessori school, even with all the fun activities and toys this one had.

Showing off their Hearts of Tafiti.

At the invitation of a friend, the girls also attended Vacation Bible School for the first time at the same church preschool. They absolutely loved it and begged to go “see the superheroes” (it was a superheroes/find your strength in God theme). They made capes, shields, played games, sang songs, read Bible stories, and thought the Pie Face game, in which one of the superheroes was slammed in the face with a pie during a skit, was hilarious. It was well organized and we loved the theme (although the music CD they gave us to listen to in the car ad nauseam got a little old!) Meredith was too young to attend, which was truly tragic for her, and I had to drag her out of the drop-off area in the chapel every morning that week, screaming her little head off.

Another highlight of July was going to Addison and Camdyn’s annual bake sale. Mom of the year award for Amy for helping her girls bake and put it all together! I don’t have that much patience, but their whole set up was so darling, that it’s tempting! The twins have been begging to put together a lemonade stand ever since.

Meredith approved of the marshmallow pop.

At the girls’ request, after the bake sale, we stopped by our old house and played at our old little playground.

Just like yesterday… (and it pretty much was, since we had only been in our new house a month).

Lastly, with the extra time off this summer, the girls have been delving into taking on more “family contributions” (i.e. chores). Meredith “helps” by picking up things and throwing them away (not always stuff we want thrown away, e.g. silverware, but it’s a step in the right direction).

The twins have their own unpaid family contributions (unloading the dishwasher, making their beds, cleaning their rooms, feeding Bandit), and I have a list of others they can choose from and earn money. Amelia’s favorite is cleaning windows and mirrors, while Samantha usually chooses to fold laundry or clean baseboards. On this particular day, Meredith had been a pain and I joked that Santa wasn’t going to bring her any toys this Christmas. After completing their work-for-hire jobs and receiving compensation in the amount of four quarters each, the twins announced that they were going to pool their earnings together and buy Meredith some toys. They aren’t always that generous and sweet, but when they are cute, they’re cute!

Lots of love,