First Day.

And so here we are. The first day of preschool. The day that Charlotte has been looking forward to pretty much since she started talking and the day that I've been looking forward to and kind of dreading ever since last winter when we decided to send her to preschool this year.

And, much to my relief, it was a smashing success. She loved it and she can't wait to go back. The first day was a shorter day (90 minutes), and parents were asked to come too. So we went, and several times she said "okay Mommy and Daddy, you can go home now!" It actually made me feel really good to hear her say that since I want her to like it and I would feel awful if I dropped her off and she was sobbing and begging me to stay.

The school is wonderful, the teachers are wonderful and I think she's going to have a great year. Several people asked me if it was hard or if I cried at all, and the answer to both has surprisingly been no. I think seeing how much fun she had that first day, coupled with the fact that it's only two days a week for a few hours each makes it easier. I was feeling a lot of feelings the night before, telling Chad that I was about two steps away from forgetting about the whole thing and just starting her next year. Or running away to some remote part of Vermont and homeschooling and living off the land and avoiding all contact with the rest of the world as a way to convince myself that I had stopped time. 

I've never been good with change, but thankfully my daughter is much more of a chameleon :)

She drew her new teacher two pictures at home and insisted on bringing them the first day to give to her. She also gave herself and Winnie several pep talks about how he couldn't come in to school but that he would have to "stay safe in the car" while she was in school and she would see him soon.

Her second day of school, tomorrow, is "Bring Your Favorite Stuffed Animal Day" so she's pretty excited that Winnie can actually come with her then.

~Stacy

The Week Before School

In this last week of August before school starts (which is also just the last week of August...) we've gotten to celebrate a birthday, go to the beach, go swimming, and grasp at these last several weeks of summer before they give way to fall.

Between my mom and I, Charlotte has a slightly excessive amount of sundresses. Sewing dresses for little girls is just too fun. She still had one left in her closet that she hadn't worn yet, so my dad's birthday party was the perfect occasion.

And an evening bike ride to the beach:

Slow it down August, slow it down...

~Stacy

August Thus Far

August (or shall I say, late October? The chilly weather feels an awful lot like fall...), has been nice and quiet so far. We've been outside the better part of the month, keeping activities simple and low key and enjoying this last portion of summer.

Today Charlotte is playing in the sprinkler while I assume my all-to-regular role of neighborhood baby-sitter for her friends. Who showed up at 8:45AM at my door this morning, after we both slept terribly from a wicked summer cold. Who showed up again at 9AM, though that time they were just sitting on the porch peering in at us eating breakfast. Innocent? Yes. Creepy? Incredibly. So I'm stuffed full of cold medicine, trying not to fall over from tiredness while they all run amuck. As long as nobody is actually playing in the street, it's pretty much fair game.

So back to August.

Charlotte starts preschool one week from tomorrow. I can't believe it! She's SO excited to go and asks every day if it's time to go to school yet. She's a little mystified as to why she can't ride the school bus yet, especially when the bigger kids on the street get to ride it. Her preschool is very close, a bike ride away, so I'm happy about that--she'll only be going two days a week for three hours, so having it so close to our house means I might actually get something done while she's there.

There was one "first" this month: first time playing putt-putt. Putt-putt with a three year old went pretty much how you would expect it to go. We made it through precisely one hole...:

...before the game ended in tears of frustration. Thankfully there was an indoor playground and games, otherwise the trip would've been a total bust.

Charlotte spent the night at my parents' and got to go to the fair. She had a blast, and she even found her favorite friend Mira there, so it was a double win.

She's been playing lots of grocery store on the porch:

And practicing singing just like the Little Mermaid:

Last week she got to march with the high school band. Every summer they invite the kids to join them during a practice and the kids get to march up and down the field and bring their own instruments. It was hit:

Here she is excitedly dancing before the marching began:

~Stacy

Lakeside

This seems to be the summer of discovering new places that are less than an hour away that leave me scratching my head and wondering why I've never visited them before.

Enter: Lakeside.

We drove to Lakeside this past Saturday. If you've never been there (or never heard of it) it's right by Marblehead except it's much more of a hidden and enclosed area. Literally. You have to pay to enter--and it's not cheap, so plan ahead and I strongly suggest parking at the South Gate and taking the shuttle. Two reasons for that: it's much cheaper and you don't have to find a parking spot. Finding a parking spot on Lakeside during a summer Saturday is mostly impossible.

That being said, don't mistake the lack of parking options for an overly crowded place--it was far from that. There were plenty of people there but it never felt crowded at all (and this is coming from someone who is more sensitive to crowds than most. As in, I hate them.)

We drove in since we didn't know any better, but now we know for future visits. And I'm sure there will be plenty of future visits.

This place is gorgeous, sparkling clean, and quiet. It's full of cute little shops and restaurants (all located by the beach; everything is walkable) and the streets are lined with beach cottages galore. They don't allow tobacco or alcohol in Lakeside, which makes it a nice place to take a kid. We'd love to take Charlotte to Put-In-Bay on weekend, but given the drunken debauchery that PIB is known for it makes it a turnoff.

There was a children's pool and splash pad overlooking the beach, and the pool had a maximum depth of 1.5 feet--so we could let Charlotte play without us hovering over her every move.

After dinner and dessert of warm, freshly baked donuts and a little shopping we headed back home and I can't wait to go back. If you haven't gone, go! You'll love it.

~Stacy

Future Reference

This post is for the winter months, so I can refer back to remind myself of why I haven't moved away yet.

Rocky River Park ~ 8/7/2014.

~Stacy

July Summary

Time keeps slipping away from me. Maybe it's because work has been extra busy, or maybe it's because a certain small girl has been extra busy, or maybe it's both of those things...and here we are, just about to close out July. Crazy.

But summer is NOT over. Please, I beg of you, do not start saying things like "fall will be here before you know it" or "just a few more weeks until the kids are back in school" or "I can't believe the summer's about over." If you say those things around me, expect a smack. Or at least a glare.

August has yet to begin and while it is very true that school starts in about four weeks that does not mean summer is over. Summer break may be over, but not summer the season. Big difference.

And while I'm loving this weather, it is not helping to ward off "summer is over" comments while the air is crisp and it feels like we should be sipping hot cider and pumpkin spice lattes instead of iced coffee and lemonade. Definitely not helping.

So before July completely slips through my hands, here are some snippets of life this month. Not all, and mostly not edited at all since I don't have time. And I'd like it to still be July when I hit "publish."

This past weekend I went to The Summer Market in Avon Lake. It's always a great show with cool vendors and you can't beat the location:

My heart skipped a few beats when I saw this, and skipped a few more when I saw it was for sale:

Later that day we went to the farmer's market at Crocker Park. It was really sunny out and I realized when we got there that I'd left the sunscreen at home. Charlotte overheard me say that I forgot about it and said "it's okay Mommy, I won't get a sunburn. I'm with my Daddy."

Then there's these two:

And this guy, who was finally caught after being at large for over a week. There are others. It's only a matter of time, mark my words. After a four year battle with a groundhog I'm not messing around anymore. 

As for this guy, he's fine. He was safely moved to a shady spot and slept sweetly in his cage until Chad got home and relocated him to his new home in the woods. 

We went to the Children's Museum for the first (and second) time, and Charlotte discovered the wonders of the wind machine:

And the wonders of the Mother of all Playgrounds, at Blesser Park in Avon Lake:

Charlotte has also discovered the wonder that is the ice cream truck. Our city hasn't allowed them as long as we've lived here, but they must have changed their tune this year because there were rumors of an ice cream truck spotting for weeks. Then a few weekends ago we heard that telltale music and sure enough, the truck came down the street. It was stopped for a looong time. Our street was collectively overexcited about it, I admit.

This girl began swimming lessons this month--she goes every Saturday morning with Chad. Her favorite part about swimming lessons are the pancakes she eats afterward when they ride the bike up to Bay Diner :)

Her favorite part about this playground we found was the climbing net. Girl can climb. So can her daddy.

We've had some rainy days lately...

...which means I've gotten to watch some Little Mermaid with this girl:

She's decided that running the bases on an empty baseball field is mostly the best:

I read this, cover to cover. We're in the very early planning stages...So. Much. Planning. So much information. September 2015. Can't wait :)

And last but not least, fairy lights. I bought these awhile ago with plans to make a reading nook in her room once we moved the changing table out. I made it my project this past Sunday, using six yards of sheer white fabric draped around sparkly white ribbon with fairy lights sandwiched in the fabric. Add in some floor pillows and voila: reading nook. She's a happy girl and I'm a happy mama, since the whole project cost less than $25. Take that, Pinterest. My only complaint: that obnoxious black cord and bulky plug that are attached to the lights. Oh well.

Happy July.

~Stacy