Is that when someone wets the bed, you’re not jolted out of a sound sleep! (Currently 4:15am)

And, it’s like found time (although not the most productive found time when you are bleary-eyed).  I’m going to take advantage of the sleeplessness and finally do that summer catch-up post that I’ve been meaning to do for a while.

I think my blogging lapsed around CHA.  It’s so fun to see all the new product, meet people in real life, and catch up with friends.

Christine and I talk almost weekly on the phone and it was amazing to finally meet her!

And one of my favorite parts of CHA Summer in Chicago is staying with my closest cousin, Tara, for a night once the show ends.

 Here we are when Tara dropped us off at the airport on Monday evening.

But, CHA does get to be a long few days with running around that huge space trying to see everything and then place all the necessary orders.  Usually the last day I’m so pressed for time that I never even get a chance to eat until the show ends at 4.  But, that would explain why Aliand I look so exhausted on our way home!

And here is Tara at the airport AGAIN three days later when she was dropping us off again!  That was when we got stranded in Chicago for 27 hours on our way to the east coast.  Thank goodness for Tara!

Our first stop on the east coast was Scott’s parents house in New Hampshire.  They live on a lake so the kids were in absolute heaven splashing around all day and hanging out with their cousins!

While there I got to sneak away for the weekend to meet up with my college roommates.  It was the first time all three of us had been together since Brigid’s wedding in 1999.  It was amazing to have a weekend to ourselves without the three husbands and the 11 kids where we could just relax, enjoy catching up with one another and enjoy friendships of 21 years!

Here’s Brigid, me and Helene at Stephanie’s on Newbury. 

From New Hampshire we headed to my parents’ beach house in North Carolina.  It’s hard to believe that my parents bought the beach house 29 years ago.  Having moved 14 times before graduating from high school, this was more home than anywhere else.   Whenever we can get back there (it’s been 2 years) it’s such a welcoming feeling to be somewhere so familiar.  We hung out with family — my entire family was there including my brother and his family who had just moved from London and were heading to Burlington, VT; met their new baby Miles; walked on the beach; indulged in Big Oak Drive-Thru North Carolina barbeque and shrimp burgers (probably a little too much); body surfed; dug in the sand and enjoyed a week in the hot sultry sun!

Baby Miles

Alice on the beach

Scott and Jack on the beach

From the beach it was back home and back to real life.  A couple weeks after we returning we went to Scott’s corporate picnic at HP.  The company really goes all out for this event — hours of live music, carnival rides, bouncy houses, tons and tons of food, beer and wine, and amazing fireworks.  The kids favorite part was this jumpy thing (I’m sure there’s a more official name than that…)

It was 102 degrees when we arrived at the picnic.  The next day when we got to the picnic that my gym does every summer it was 68 degree!  Wierd weekend…

Ali and I had planned to go to Wildlife Safari a couple months earlier with the three kids.  Our favorite part was watching the brown bears wrestling in their pool. 

Simon and Alice like watching the monkeys

Once we got on the one way circuit through the park, the kids sort of lost it and what worked the best to keep them from trying to kill each other was to hand over the camera.

Here are some of their photos:

Mostly the kids were cranky, not really into it, preferred going to McDonald and busy bickering.  Ali and I were left wondering why we had driven two hours each way for that!  Our code word became “pedicure…”  As in what we should do next time!

Our next big family event was our former babysitter Jenna’s wedding to Trevin.  Jack was the ring bearer and Alice was the flowergirl.  They were so cute and so serious about doing their jobs properly.

Once the wedding was over I did what I had been threatening to do for months.  I cut Alice’s hair off.  10 inches.  It was long enough to send to Locks of Love.

Here’s the before:

The during:

And the after:

As Alice still prefers her food in her hair instead of her mouth, the short hair has definitely meant a quicker brushing session in the morning and many fewer tears. Although, it was very sad to say goodbye to those ringlets!  It is now completely straight.  How two parents with very curly dark hair ended up with two stick straight blondes is beyond me….

Other than that, our summer consisted of Jack riding his bike or scooter

Alice watering plants and just being Alice

And then, before we knew it, it was time to head back to school.

Here was Jack’s imperfect first day of school again

And Alice’s first day at her new preschool

And now summer is over and I think I am officially caught up!  Except for one more little bit of news…

This little cutie is going to be heading our way in about a month’s time! 

Meet Miss Daisy!!!