camp soper.

It's been hot. Real hot. So we've turned our backyard into an oasis for Littles. Come on over and I'll blow some giant bubbles for you as you cool yourself with a pink lemonade and take a dip in our above-ground pool!

renegade!

Saturday we put on our invisible fedoras and did the best hipster impersonation that we could (i.e., we packed away the double stroller and took only one kid in the maclaren stroller with us) and hopped on over to brooklyn for the renegade craft fair. It was pretty fun to see all of the artists/crafters that I have favorited on Etsy or read about on Design*Sponge.  Then we stopped next door for our first Smorgasburg dining tour and chowed on grilled fish tacos with the tastiest pickled cabbage on top (I think they were from here). I wish we had more pictures to share, but between the heat and my full iPhone, I didn't get to snap too many. If I did, then by the end you would have seen a very rosy-cheeked Henry, indeed.

friday.

I skipped Friday around here because instead, we hit the beach! And not just the beach down the street -- the real beach! Jones Beach! It was the most perfect weather. No humidity and not too hot. And the perfect way to kick off the first day of summer!

school's out for summer!

Here's my big kid, my official kindergartener, my almost-five year old on his last day of Pre-K. Can you stand it? I can't.

squinting in the sun

His portfolio

king of the "mountain"

the end!

How did we get here so fast?

summer birthday party.

Andy's class celebrated the birthdays of all the kids in the class that will turn 5 over the summer. Here he is enjoying his special day.

the preschool graduate.

Despite a fever of 104, Andy graduated with his class on Friday night, and looked darned good doing it!

Congratulations, Andy! We are so proud of you! xoxo

under pressure.

The pressure in my ears and face are making it hard to think these past few days. I'll be back when I'm finally feeling back to normal. . . as normal as I can be.

the sculpture garden (a one-year comparison).

On Sunday, we visited the sculpture garden at the Nassau County Museum of Art. The boys had a picnic by the water fountain, and then we walked the grounds.  It turned out to be hotter than we expected, but still better than the rainstorm that deluged us the first time we went (which, oddly enough, we discovered when we got home, was one year ago to the day). Seeing the boys juxtaposed against the same giant sculptures, which remain unchanged, one year later, was an in-your-face way to gauge how much the boys have changed and grown -- and also how they are still very much the same.  It's hard to explain it.  But I was really amazed when going back through the pictures.

June 2, 2013:

 

and June 3, 2012:

 

Apparently some things never change. Such as, I like to dress my sons in red shirts when we go to sculpture gardens. And we are still using the same Esprit tote that I got 20 years ago as a picnic bag.

And some things are completely different. Like, how much bigger and stronger the boys have gotten, while still completely looking like. . . themselves.  And Henry is now wearing the shirt and shorts that Rowan has on in the pictures from the year before. And yet, last year I felt like Rowan was so much older than I think Henry is now.  And how last year Rowan had to climb up onto the Allen Bertoldi sculpture on his knees and belly. But this year he was stepping up and jumping off like a big kid. Last year, Andy's legs were barely long enough to reach up to where Rowan was this year. It's really fun to see them all grow up and do the same things, and the same things as each other, but in their own way.
The same. But different.