We spent the weekend in the Santa Cruz area; after playing farmer on Saturday, the girls spent the rest of their day in our hotel pool. Their swim lessons, which we started back up in February after a long break, are really paying off: Avery, who earned her second ribbon in class last week, will now put her head totally under water, and Zoe is now confident enough to swim in the deep end and just learned how to do a cannonball. (PopPop: her pencil jump is still a work in progress.)

-M

One of my all-time favorite events to take the girls to is Cows on the Concourse in Madison. We couldn’t go last year and we’ll miss this year’s as well, so when Q heard that a nearby agricultural museum was hosting a Day on the Farm – on Mother’s Day weekend no less! – he figured I’d want to go. How well he knows me! We took the girls on Saturday and had such a fun day, complete with cow petting, butter- and ice cream-making, candle dipping, and tractor riding. Zoe even got to play scientist by pulling apart and examining the contents of an owl pellet (she wore gloves), and both girls got to make lavender-scented sachets, with help of some sweet older 4H volunteers. It was a gorgeous day and though we were only 70 miles away from the city it felt like a real vacation, and a real break. A great way to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with my family.

-M

I came across a greeting card with this on the front and had to smile:

“How do you learn to be a mom?” asked Pooh
“You just follow your heart,” answered Kanga

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there!

-M

On the streets of San Francisco: the girls hanging with a friend and enjoying ice-cream at their favorite spot.

-M

When the girls loudly ask me for things at the same time and/or are particularly demanding, I sometimes remind them that I can only do so much and that I’m only one person. (This seems to resonate with them.) I couldn’t help but smile the other night when Q was making dinner for the girls and Avery asked him if hers was ready yet. “Not yet,” he told her, and she responded in a comforting voice, “That’s okay – you’re only one person, Daddy. I totally understand.”

-M

Back to Great America we went this past weekend – and this time we brought friends.

-M

As mentioned earlier, Zoe has started e-mailing. (Each morning now she’ll wake up and ask, “Can I check to see if anyone e-mailed me?” We limit her checking to once a day.) I enjoy getting little notes from her, and I guess I’m not the only one: The other day a family member (who shall remain anonymous) called getting an e-mail from Zoe “basically the sweetest thing that has ever happened in my life.” Awwww…

-M

Flying with the girls these days is easy-peasy – especially when the flight (like the one to San Diego)  is short and when the girls have things to do in the airport, like below.

-M

Something strange happened when Zoe and I were dancing together last weekend. There was a moment when she was smiling sweetly and looking up at me with her pink cheeks, and my mind suddenly sped years ahead; it was as if I was looking at a much older Zoe on her wedding day. I couldn’t help but fight back tears as I pulled Zoe closer to me and reminded myself that she’s only seven…

We’ve got years before Zoe is no longer a kid, and even longer until she gets married, but time just goes so fast – and I’ve never felt it more than on that dance floor that night.

-M

Despite having to leave early to go to bed, the girls got a lot of dancing in during last weekend’s wedding. Zoe danced a lot with me, her dad, and Pop Pop – while Avery was mostly content to boogie down by herself. Every time I asked her to dance with me, she would say, “I want to dance by myself!” She made an exception, though, for her cousins – and the bride, who she kept running up to or gazing with awe from afar. She never said it aloud, but I think she thought the bride was a princess!

-M

Another highlight of our recent trip: Meeting our second (or is it third? I always get confused) cousins from New York. Our girls took a liking to these girls, and the four spent a lot of time – and even got their nails done – together.

-M

We spent the last few days in San Diego, for a cousin’s wedding. Among the highlights for the girls: visiting the beach (despite the cool temps and wind), dancing at the wedding, hanging out in the pool (once it got warmer) and – of course – spending lots of time with family.

-M

Avery sometimes grumbles and drags her feet about helping out, but she was more than willing to help Daddy pump gas the other day.

-M

A little blurry but still something to be shared: Photos of the (very happy) girls putting on a puppet show at a museum recently.

-M

Zoe recently took an interest in texting and e-mailing, which we let her do with supervision. I looked through a recent text thread between her and her dad and had to smile. “What did you eat for lunch today?” she asked him and later wrote (out of the blue) “I love you Daddy.”

I’ve also gotten my share of sweet notes – my in-box contains an e-mail that says simply, “I love you Mommy so much.” I won’t be deleting that any time soon.

-M