Summer's here with a vengeance

Matteo likes his toes to match mine

Summer is here and unlike in years past when we saw glimpses, but didn't really see high temps till July, this year is packing a heat wallop. It's seriously throwing me - since when do I need to go to LA to cool off?!

June in the Lowe house means two things:
E3
End of the school year



Last day with Ms Neimeyer.

This year E3 felt a little anti-climactic.  As usual I went down to prep the broadcast, but as Lily's last day coincided with the briefing, I came back up and watched from home. As proud as I am of seeing our titles, I have to say it isn't even close to the same experience. Whereas I am usually in a box, watching the show and the audience reaction, followed by a celebratory lunch with my team, this year I watched from the basement while trying to distract Matteo with Legos. At one point he asked me to leave, to which I replied "just a few more minutes, this is mama's work" which made him look up at the TV, point to Lara Croft and ask "is that YOU?! Be careful!!"

Disney odyssey begins

The end of the school year was a tough one. I both can't believe Lily is 1/2 way done with elementary school and I am in denial that we will no longer have the wonderful Ms Neimeyer. She has single-handedly restored my faith in the public school system and made such a huge impact on Lily's academic growth. Admittedly, I got a bit teary when we said our goodbyes. Lily? Not so much as the next day we headed out to the Lynch's.

Pierced ears! She was a champ

How lucky am I to not only have a friend of nearly 20 years, but one who also has a daughter Lily's age that invited us down for a summer respite? We had a great time - we hit Disneyland for a very full day complete with fireworks, followed by more fun days with the beach, dinner with Tim and even getting Lily's ears pierced at the same place Shari got her ears done when she was a kid. Wrap that up with an upgraded trip home followed by two weeks of circus camp and you have a really great start to the summer.

Side note: for kicks this month I started to keep a log of what we make vs what the kids actually eat.
Night 1
What Chris made: pork chops, crispy sautéed kale, farro
What they ate: hard boiled eggs (Lily) and PB&J (Matteo)
Night2
Log ended. Parenting shame too great to continue.

And the quotes...

Matteo: I don't have enough legos, right mommy?
Me: You have plenty
Matteo: NOOOOO - daddy says there are NEVER enough
*sigh*

Matteo: Can I have some of your water?
(Pours too fast, goes up his nose)
Matteo: I've had enough of drinking your water

Matteo: Look! Lily made this for me!
Me: Did you say thank you? You should say thank you, sweetie
Matteo to Lily: Thank you, sweetie!

Chris: What are you chewing?
Lily: Hubba Bubba
Chris: Whose-a-whata?
Lily: Hubba Bubba
Chris: Hooba hooba?
Lily: Hubba Bubba!
Chris: Boota woota?
Lily: Wow, daddy, just wow.

Summer = lots of baths. And bathtub rings.

May!

This picture cost me 2 donuts

MAY! I give it an exclamation point because this has been hands-down the busiest E3 I've ever worked. Absolute madness...but thankfully still captured a few memories.

 

How do you know when you've been working too much? Judge from the reaction at pick-up. So sad I didn't have a camera crew behind me to capture Matteo when I yelled "hey pal!" and he looked up, flung his shovel in the air while simultaneously yelling "MOMMY!" and running towards me at top speed. If everyone greeted me with this much love and enthusiasm I would either explode from joy or have to hide. Maybe both.

 

Despite the workload, Chris did make sure I had a lovely Mother's Day. Only downer was missing the last table at Blue C by mere minutes. The wait wasn't too bad, but waiting isn't Lily's strong suit. About 10 minutes in she looked at me and asked "is this karma?" That actually made the wait well worth it.

And as if my workload weren't enough, Chris doubled down on parental duty AND has made major headway on the yard reclamation project, both installing an envirotile patio as well as clearing out the back half for planter boxes and what will one day be a fire pit. 

View of the yard from our room. When prepping for the
boxes, Chris had to shovel A LOT of dirt over the fence.
With each toss, Matteo would say "Phew!" in encouragement.

Lily has also been hard at work in gymnastics and recently started competing. It hasn't gone well as while she has steadily improved, her team has not and consistently gets 3rd place every meet (we receive her individual scores via email, but awards are based on a team average). After the 3rd time getting 3rd place I found her ribbons in the trash. Equal parts funny and sad....and my inner competitor completely empathizes.

And of course the month wouldn't be complete without Matteo's birthday! Yep, our little dude is now 4, which I find both amazing and difficult to believe. Toilet belligerence aside, he's grown into quite the little man. He's sweet, funny, a builder and creator, lover of all vehicles and capable of endless mischief. A true Gemini, he's mercurial but also such a lovey mama's boy he turns me to mush every day. His birthday was a mellow affair with a few friends over for pizza, cake and transformers - exactly what he wanted a sweet way to start his new year.

Birthday boy

Last but not least, a few quotes and a video to sum up the month:

Me: Matteo, who would you like to read stories tonight?

Matteo: MOMMY!
Me: Which book? (Matteo points, I pull out his favorite train book)
Matteo: Wait! Daddy has to read that one because he's smart!
Okay, not sure how to take that....

Chris, observing Lily: Were those jazz hands?
Lily: Yes!  They make everything better!

(They really do!)

 



Matteo chattering at Lily, Lily trying hard
to ignore. Yes, this sums up the dynamic well.