The day before my birthday, Q and I discovered this yummy little coffee shop with fun (and colorful!) drinks. They also have a great menu of non-caffeinated beverages (think Nutella hot chocolate) so we were eager to go back with the girls. Mission accomplished.

-M

The girls were fans of the musical Hamilton before seeing it in the spring, but now they’re really big fans. It’s no exaggeration to say that the soundtrack is all they listen to (Q got so sick of it that we once issued a temporary ban in the house and car) and they now have most of the lyrics to the 46 songs memorized. We all quote the musical on a daily basis, we’re huge fans of a 285-page book on the show, and we reference Daveed and Lin (actors in the original cast) as if we know them.

I read somewhere that Hamilton is like Frozen for adults – and I certainly have been reminded of the Frozen days these past few months. But people’s love for the show (certainly mine and the girls’) goes way deeper than anything I’ve seen before. I don’t know if it’s the music, the lyrics, the charismatic stars, the unique way the show captures history, or a combination of it all – but the show has crawled into our hearts and minds and won’t let go.

-M

As previously mentioned, the girls have been at plenty of new camps — where they knew no one — this summer. But making friends hasn’t been a problem, and one night Avery explained to me how she meets new people. “You say, ‘Hi, what’s your name? My name is Avery,'” she told me. “And then you play or you just start chatting.”

-M

The girls’ summer itinerary has been a mix of new (math camp, sports camp, and coding camp) and old (Galileo and zoo camp). Last week was their return to the latter, and it seemed to be a good one; below you’ll see them “meeting” a spider tortoise (Avery) and Firestone, a rubber boa (Zoe).

-M

Inspired by the San Francisco and California landmark projects she did in third and fourth grades, Zoe decided to do something similar for Wisconsin. Shortly before our trip the two of us came up with a list of, and did some preliminary research on, 25 landmarks and points of historic interest in the state. When we got to Madison she then assigned Grandma, Grandma, Sandy, Avery and me several landmarks, and for each one we found a photo and compiled a bunch of facts.

The project was a fun way to expose the kids to a place they don’t know much about (and even my parents, lifelong Wisconsinites, learned some things). But I had to laugh: This was such a Zoe thing to do on vacation!

-M

When I told a friend about our Madison trip I commented that the girls’ week reminded me of one I would have as a kid. Without camp to go to, they did a lot of relaxing, hanging out and playing games. And our get-aways were fun and mellow, too, and included going downtown, to the Splash Pad (a tradition dating back to 2010), and out for ice cream and pie. Oh, and we even visited the National Mustard Museum!

-M

After coming to the the U.S. from Scotland, my great-great grandfather built a farm in Dane, Wisconsin (located about 25 miles north of Madison) in 1856. My grandfather grew up there, as did my mom, and the farm is still in our family — but, amazingly, the girls had never been before last week!

My uncle hosted a family reunion during our visit, and I was so excited to show the girls the farm and introduce them to some aunts, uncles and cousins they had never before met. And watching them ride on tractors and run around the grass where my sister, cousins and I ran around as children was beyond special…

-M

We spent all of last week in (mostly) sunny Madison. The girls spent tons of time with Grandma, Grandpa and Sandy (lots of photos coming), and of course we made our annual trek to the Memorial Union downtown. To me, nothing says summer like sitting near Lake Mendota!

-M

On the last morning of school Zoe asked me, “Shouldn’t we get Mila a present?” Avery was going to her friend’s birthday party right after pick-up and I had forgotten to wrap one; I would have sent Avery off without a gift if Zoe hadn’t reminded me. A morning or two earlier, Zoe looked at the calendar on her tablet and announced, “Avery has a dentist appointment this afternoon.” (Me: “Uh, she does?”) And just last week, as we about to leave for an overnight in Sonoma, Zoe asked, “Did we pack Hippo and finger blanket?” (We hadn’t, and those are must-haves for each girl at bedtime.)

These are just a few examples of life with Zoe, who sometimes reminds me of a little adult. And while I want her to be a carefree kid, not a little Mommy, life is pretty busy and I’ll take any extra help I can get!

-M

As we’ve done in the past, we signed up to “turtle sit” Yertle, the second-grade pet, over the summer. We had him for one week, and the girls were particularly excited to walk him on our deck.

-M

Each spring, during a prayer service that the first-graders lead for the school, the first-grade parents get to formally present a prayer book cover and say a few words to their kids. One of the things I told Avery during hers was that I hope she never loses her ability to appreciate, and find beauty, in the little things in life.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago, when we were at Great America. Avery found a leaf on the ground, as she does, and promptly put it in my purse to save. “I always think of what you said at tefilah when I do that,” she told me with a smile. I was touched that what I said obviously stuck with her, and I told her I couldn’t believe she remembered! “It was only a year ago, Mommy,” she responded with a little shake of her head.

-M

Zoe’s week off was capped with an art class at the mall on Friday, but I don’t think anything could beat her Thursday, when she went to her dad’s work and had lunch at their favorite dim sum place. (Shhh, don’t tell Avery.)

-M

While her sister is at coding camp, Zoe chose to take a break this week. After hanging out at home on Monday and celebrating the 4th on Tuesday, she came to my work on Wednesday. There, she promptly made a to-do list and set up a little office near mine, and we grabbed lunch and posed on some Stanford-red chairs.

-M

As mentioned below, we escaped the (foggy, cool) city and headed to Sonoma for the 4th. After staying overnight and splashing around our hotel pool, we got dressed up and headed to the parade – marking our third year in a row there. I’m liking this tradition…

-M

We’re heading out, in pursuit of some sunny skies. Enjoy your holiday!

-M