Go Kart with Gunnar

Go Kart with Signe

Go Kart with Karsten

Go Kart with B Zay.

Karsten rides a tortoise... and doesn't like it.

Zane rides a tortoise...

The littlest cowboy.

Breaking up roommates is hard to do

Monday night Karsten spent his first night ever in his own big-boy twin bed in the boys room. We placed a foam swim noodle under the mattress to give him a barrier, but he still woke us up twice with loud thumps and cries after hitting the floor. But in the morning Karsten still appeared at breakfast with a wide ear-to-ear proud-of-himself grin. Last night he managed to not fall out of bed even once.

Signe, unfortunately, has not fared as well. Karsten has been sleeping in a pack'n play in her small room since we moved here in November. Her room was ideal because it gave him a separate place to nap while Signe was at school, so his big brothers could still play in their room. She has grown quite fond of her little roommate. Signe read Karsten stories at night before he fell asleep, and in the morning he peeked over the top of the pack'n play to cheerfully chat with her and wait for his big sister to pull him out of bed. The affection was mutual. Karsten often fussed and called for Signe during his earlier bedtime, and we asked her to go read in bed to make her brother happy, even though she just came back out after he fell asleep.

So on Monday night, Signe was sobbing big crocodile years after the boy's bedtime because she didn't want to lose Karsten. She proposed sleeping in the bottom bunk with him in the boy's room, or having him sleep with her in her bed. Anything to avoid losing his companionship all together. This is the first week she has had her very own room without sharing with a brother or two, and being an extremely social creature she doesn't like it much. Although we tell her that the transition is inevitable.

Yesterday morning just after breakfast I found the two of them still in their pjs and on their backs curled up in his very cramped pack'n play. He was cuddled up next to her listening to her read a story she held up high over their heads. I think she'll be alright.



Sent from my iPhone

Story time with Dada

Zane versus Signe

Signe made it all the way to the end without falling into the water, despite her brother's best efforts!

First pool day of the summer!

As I expected, the kids were dressed in swimsuits and ready for the pool opening hours before lunch. Signe spent most of the afternoon on the big tube slides since she is finally tall enough, then tackled the obstacle course for the first time. Zane took advantage of the opportunity to try and knock his sister off.

Summer serenity

The first full week of summer break has been a crazy zoo. The kitchen pipe backed up, and we had to call a plumber in spite of Nick's best efforts. But in the process of trying to unplug it the washer hose wasn't hooked back up and our downstairs flooded, leading to a soppy cleanup, renting a blower, and tearing out dripping old carpet in the family room. And I had a large backlog of crusty dishes I couldn't wash for a couple days, which only contributed to the growing mess in the house.

Gunnar had his first T-ball practices Monday and Tuesday with Daddy as coach, and Zane so fussily determined to join the fun that he was told he couldn't return to practice last night. He was very unhappy about it.

I still have a lot of chores to do, but it is a gorgeous upper 70's day with a soft breeze and chirpy birds in our shady backyard, and all I want to do is join these two in summer relaxation. Signe is reading "Holes" that we got at the library and Gunnar is drawing. I'm sitting on the porch using this blog as an excuse to avoid laundry and dishes for a moment. Summer is glorious and I'm so glad it's here, and even better, the pool opens tomorrow! Which is a fact my kids remind me of every single day. I'm guessing they will be dressed in swimsuits and ready to go by 8 am. The pool opens at noon.

Look what Zane did to our desk chair.

How did a three year old think of this?

Garage sale finds of the day.