So today is July 8th, my parents left this morning with Eleanor. She is staying with them at their house and at Lake George for a week. Susie is still too young to join them. I'm thinking she won't be able to go until the year after next...this time next year Susie will most likely be potty training and that is a gross unreliable time. This time last week Allyson was still over our house. We did a lot last weekend, we went to mass on Sunday morning and then we went to Sam's Club and then after that we went to a birthday party. It was the birthday party for family friends of ours - their daughter is deaf. They have an older son too who is not deaf. Both kids are so sweet and they get along great with Eleanor and now Susanna. They were sending their older son down to stay with the husband's family for a week too down in NYC this week too - it's a wonderful trend. I hope that when she gets older my parents are still willing to take the kids for a few weeks.

Anyway here's what happened this week:
Elle stayed home with Allyson this past monday (instead of going to camp). They played, Elle painted and giraffe and Elle & Ally took co-painted a picture of a pirate ship which was very cute. Also Allyson had to work during the day so I took Susie to daycare. Elle had soccer practice and I took Allyosn to the airport around 6:00 pm. Susie cried the entire way to the airport and the entire way home. That child is persistant.
Tuesday both kids went to their respective child-care locations. Eleanor to camp and Susie to daycare. I worked at EAU that day at 11:30 but I barely made it on time because I had to type up my resume and coverletter for a full time position that recently opened.
On Wednesday it was the 4th of July. We had a party, a few people came over including our same family friends from the party last weekend. We had a good time - brian hooked speakers up outside in the garage so we could listen to some better quality music instead of listening to that clock radio stapled by its cord to the beam in the garage.
We didn't actually go anywhere to see fireworks but Brian hoisted the kids (the three older kids) up onto the roof of the shed and there they sat watching our pyromaniac neighbors set off dozens of fireworks. You'd think this would be a sad budget-show, but in fact, our neighbors lived up their crazy expectations (they'd already been setting off fireworks for weeks now...I'd expect this was out of curiosity/preparation/compulsion to blow things up) and the show was great! And all around us which was even cooler.
Then I shut the windows in the kids' room and put Susie to bed. Then Elle went to bed a little while later after her perfunctory "deep questions" routine.
Thursday I didn't have to work until 4pm and my parents came up around 1:30. They were so happy to see the kids and the kids just adore their grandparents. Elle had to go to soccer early because it was picture night and a pizza party after the game! Apparently they lost though, and Brian is getting increasingly frustrated with the team. I think this is just par for the course, whenever something lasts more than like 5 weeks at the library, people start taking it for grated and then attendance and quality of the experience goes down. I suspect this is what's happening with soccer, especially since it's summer.
Friday I had to work the whole day and then go to a wedding, so I didnt' see the kids at all. Mom said they had a good day thought. They went for ice cream with Aunt Terry at Anderson's.
Brian and I went to our friend's wedding, it was very nice. After I was the DD and went into the city to hang out with some of Brian's friends. We went down to the club strip which was ridiculous because I was probably an average of 7 years older than everyone else there. also, lycra is back in a big way. it doesn't look good on most people. Saw a lot of unfortunate tube dresses. and faux-hawks and mohawks. We went to a club with a smoke machine and a light-up disco dance floor haha...I'll leave it at that. then we played pool in a quiet bar that smelled like a toilet. I liked the toilet bar better of course.
On saturday we went to the birthday party rita had for her grandkids at her house. the kids had so much fun! they played with their cousins and swam in the pool. Elle played in the pool for hours! Even after Brian got out she stayed in there playing. She did so good too because when it was time to clean up she managed to swim down to the bottom of the pool (pool's only about 4 ft deep but still! it's hard to swim to the bottom) and get a rubber rocket off the bottom. I didn't think she could do it and i told brian' she'd never swam headfirst to the bottom before and he said "well if today's the first time she does it that's fine, she's going to do it", so we watched for 5 minutes while she tried over and over again and she finally did it! Susie did not like the pool and literally moaned the entire time she was in there - just loudly and tearlessly cried. So I took her out and changed her back into her clothes.
We all at pizza and cake. We saw Uncle Fran very briefly. He's looked extremely uncomfortable the entire time I saw him. We talked about driving and going to florida and what it was like in the city of Miami. That was the extend of our conversation.
The kids opened up their presents. We got them "Where the Side Walk Ends" by Shel Silverstein because it's so great.
Then Elle cleaned up the pool like I mentioned before and we left.
We came home, Susie went to bed (mom put her to bed while brian and I pickedup his car from where he left it the night before) and then I got home and braided Eleanor's hair. mom had dressed her in her dayclothes to go to sleep so that she could just roll out of bed in the morning and leave with my parents. This morning Elle woke me and Brian up, we kissed and hugged her, I came downstairs to send them off. i watched them until they rounded the block and then I went back to bed for two glorious hours. then susie woke up and I fed her breakfast, and now we arrive in the present. Where I am typing in this online journal about my children.
I tried peanut butter with susie today. She seems fine, but she didn't like it.
Eleanor was sweet at camp and has earned an honesty bead and a respect bead ( I think). One of the little girls in her group "the Adventurers" lost her bead and started to cry so Eleanor gave the little girl her own bead. : )

That's it for now.