Week in the Life | Tuesday Stories

Back home again and back at it.  

The kids are in camp this week, so it's mostly me and Lakshman at home. 

After our getting home close to midnight last night I was ready for a more laid back day and I got it.  I took far less pictures too (totally ok!).  All still iPhone and edited with vscoCam. 

 

I could have slept in a lot longer, but it was really nice that Lakshman slept until eight.  Usually he is up at five.

Lakshman just elated to wake up and see Avinash.  They wrestled and it was so cute to see his huge grin.

 I'm so lucky that Ryan started getting the kids ready for camp.  Swimsuits and lunches and snacks.  The usual chaos trying to find two water bottles.

Being a blur is kind of help before getting ready.  Let's face it, I was in my jammies most of the morning.

I think she's on to me and my incessant photo taking.

I love flowering trees.  This one has been going in stops and starts. When we got back, it was in full bloom.

He hates to be left behind every morning but he loves to at least get outside.  He has seen the kids blow milkweed seeds so often, he always wants to do it too.  He calls them bubbles and loves to catch them the same way as real ones.  Luckily I found one ripe seed pod. 

I opened the floor sample sale toy we found at The Land of Nod.  Colorful and fun.  He loves to play ball so this was right up his alley.   I'm a big fan just because it looks great.  I really tried to take my time and play as long as he was interested.

It's more of a struggle than I care to admit.

We sit and read for long periods of time.  But playing, just sitting and playing.  Not looking around at what needs to be picked up.  Not looking at a screen.  Not rushing off to put another load of laundry in real quick.  It's more rare than it should be.

This I think is one of the major differences between home and vacation that really struck me today. I don't know that I would have enjoyed being on a huge playground half so much if it were at home instead of Chicago.  I probably would be another distracted mother on her phone, instead of wearing long pants all day just so I could go down the slide with them!

 

Tooth brushing with this one gets more and more elaborate all the time.  He alternates between two brushes, dips his legs in the sink and then slurps up water with his hands. Taking photos of it felt a little excessive but it is a morning ritual and one that probably won't last.

No nap this morning but he did promptly fall alseep in the car on the way to get Nandini.  Yay.  He slept in the stroller for a bit longer but it didn't last. 

There are so many patches of honeysuckle around the Nature center and we almost always stop for a nip.  Even Lakshman knows what to do.  Eating with a fork and spoon is just trickier somehow. 

We went inside to find Avinash and drop off his second lunch, but he was already at the splash pad.  His counselor gave him some extra food and he ate the veggie burger when he got back. She really is the sweetest.  She even called us when we were in Chicago to check on him (I had already told her we would be away). 

 I loved the light in there.

She is always psyched when the tunnel is open.  She is four and full of wonder.  I could hardly tear her away. 

I am not good with the self-timer.  No one could take their eyes of it.

Couldn't resist that white space. And any chance to have help and company at lunch.  Plus, I avoided needing to get groceries this way.

They had a great time together.  One of them finished her food.  The other took bites of apple, chewed them and then spit them out.  Of course.  Because nothing can ever be that easy. 

They both napped in the afternoon though.  It was awesome. Lakshman woke up and thought that was it, but I gave him a bottle and he fell back asleep.  My brother watched them then while I picked up Avinash. 

He had a great day at camp as usual.  They found the skeleton of a lizard on the way back from the splash pad.  I mean, c'mon.  Does it get any better? (Blech!)

Today was blue apron delivery day.  I love seeing all the produce together.  I tried separating each meal into it's own bag but I just use one basket in the fridge now for everything.   

 I roasted chickpeas as a side for some extra protein.  Stretching the meals for all of us is one of my blue apron tricks.

He's up! He snacked a bit while I got dinner started and then we read together.  This was one of my favorite books as a kid and they all love it now too.  He has started "singing" along with the words in his gibberish baby talk.  Basically the cutest thing ever.  

 

 She got out oreos for them to share.  She is a great big sister and always looking out for him.

 We went outside to look for any new tomatoes.  Lakshman was filling up his pail and drinking the water.  Oh my.  He also spotted a queen butterfly (I planted Greg's Mist flowers early in the spring) and was pretty enthralled.

Nandini planted these after school ended.  It was not easy keeping the seedlings alive through our 50 day drought with frequent 100+ degree days.  I called her outside to show her the first bloom.  Avinash had planted one last year that grew very tall and bloomed.  It even came back this year and bloomed again.  Nandini was a bit jealous, so I'm glad she finally got her own to bloom.

 Ryan made dinner while we foraged unsuccessfully for tomatoes.  It's good to have help and work together.  

After dinner and baths we did a little cleaning up (I could only resist the urge to tidy up for so long) which turned into play time for them.  Funny how they are drawn to the play room so much more when we are in it, even when we aren't actually playing with them.  Avinash is reading a Dr. Seuss book, Nandini is doing blocks and Lakshman is a little whirlwind. Playing sorting shapes, cars, pony castle, and then pulling out books one by one to look at. So busy! Ryan brought his laptop up so his mom could facetime and watch them play for a bit as well.  She read them a story too.  Lakshman came over to me then and I helped him do somersaults over and over.  Each time he landed, he said "boom!", like, boom, nailed it! 

After bedtime I had a few Etsy orders to put together and ship.  I found Gone with the Wind on, so I put that on in the background.  Not a bad way to chill out.  I have sold quite a few of my rainbow entrelac knitting patterns lately too which makes me smile.  I don't do much to promote my shop right now, but I'm happy with recent uptick.

All in all a good day.  And probably a good time for me to start thinking about picking an album size and getting my photo printing started.  

You can see all my week in the life posts here.  How is your week going so far?