Playing dolls.

I have a very distinct memory of playing dolls.

I was too old to be playing with them.  None of my friends did.  (Not that I knew of anyway!)

But I still had one doll left.  And for a couple of weeks, I pretended that I was a real mommy.  I got my baby up when I woke up in the morning, fed, changed, and played with her, and then put her to bed again at night.

Before long I was done and had moved on to other games.

And now I am watching it with Juliana.

I see my girl, physically looking like the tween she is, spending time with her friends, listening to music, playing computer games, dancing, singing, and doing all the things that tweens love to do.

And yet.

Secretly, away from her friends, she is still playing with her dolls.  Having one last hurrah with her "little girl" games.

Sometimes I wish that I could stop these fleeting moments, slow down the time, and keep her little for just a while longer.

Summer (so far): Part II.

Finally, rain.

Before we went on holidays we had the repair guy in to fix our stove.  We came back from our holidays to find out that our dishwasher no longer wanted to drain.  This time I looked for a repair guy closer to home.  Peter:  my hero!

The skies this month have been crazy beautiful.

Jillian came to stay for a week so we spent one day at the Science Centre.

More beautiful skies.

Considering that we don't have a pool, Juliana and Jillian spent an awful lot of time swimming at our neighbours.  It was a constant rotation of drying towels and bathing suits in our bathroom

Spending my morning with three of my favourite things:  book, coffee, and dog.

Mmmmm. Homemade ice cream sandwiches.

Boy, did we miss her when she left. :(

Basement jam.

Juliana's final day of Dance and Cheer camp.

Sheldon & Juliana's favourite summer job:  Poolsitting.

Olympics!

Celebrating Peter's birthday - Lonestar for dinner and Sheldon's chocolate cake for dessert.

Lemonade stands - lots of them.  Some with friends, some on her own.  This afternoon she sat out for four hours and made a mint!

Sleepovers with an in-house restaurant for breakfast.

Hanging out with a BFF!

Packing up Grandma's house - she's moving at the end of the month!

Hitting the road for some more camping.

Small world.

On Saturday, we headed into the City to see a baseball game.  This was the view from our seats:

In the car on our drive home, I was playing around on my phone.  My lovely friend Lara posted pictures of her family's afternoon on Facebook.  Apparently they spent the afternoon at the ball game as well.  This was her view:

Notice anything?

We've tried a number of times all summer to get together but our schedules haven't been cooperating.  And then on Saturday, while we were sitting in Section 536, Row 18, their family was sitting in Section 537, Row 18 AND WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT!!

It's a small, small, crazy world.

12 on 12.

August  :  Sunday

 01.  One of the first things that Juliana did when she got out of bed this morning was make lemonade for her friend that would be visiting later in the day.
02.  After the drought in July, we've had a week of rain and the lawn desperately needs to be cut.
03.  Morning coffee on the front porch.  With a musical interlude, of course.
04.  Juliana and Leah - together again.
05.  Sheldon bouncing around on his longboard.
06.  Lara and I.  The distance just melts away when we get together and it feels just like old times.
07.  We have a lot of One Direction in our home these days.
08.  My friendship bracelets.  There were about two weeks of serious bracelet making/sharing in early July.  I've lost one so far - I'll be sad when the others finally fall off.
09.  The Spice Girls at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics.  I'll admit that I'm already having a little separation anxiety.
10.  Soccer night and I'm ready to go.
11.  This is a picture of me with my Corona, post-soccer.  Photo bomb courtesy of Sheldon.
12.  There is a late night cleanup to be done and Peter steps in to do it while I sit at the table on my computer.

The boys.

This picture makes me happy.  

You get the feeling that that these smiles are not just smiles for the camera.  You know that there was probably something questionable going on before it was taken. They are smiling just a little too wide.....

Despite the fact that they live over 400 km apart, Sheldon, Josh, Juliana, and Jillian have grown up together.

Given that they are only months apart in age, it's no surprise that Juliana and Jillian have the bond they do.  But Sheldon and Josh also have a great closeness.  Considering that they have such different interests and activities, as well as a three year age difference, you might think that they'd have trouble relating to each other. But it's just the opposite.

For years it was hockey and basketball that united them.  These days it's the computer and video games.  And they love to laugh together - they always have.

Watching these boys growing up has been such a joy and I look at this picture and realize how much fun it's going to be watching them grow into the young men they are meant to be.

Imagine.

Imagine a day at the spa.

Imagine that the spa was outside, in the shade, on a beautifully sunny, hot day.

Imagine that you were being tended to by these two capable, kind souls.

Imagine the careful research that went into the afternoon.

Imagine starting with a foot bath in warm peppermint and eucalyptus water.

Imagine an avocado and oatmeal foot scrub.

Imagine the peppermint foot cream massage.

Imagine preparing for the facial.

Imagine a chocolate facial mask.

Imagine the cucumbers.

Lucky Peter and Chris.

They didn't have to imagine.  They got it for real.

And it wasn't even Father's Day.

August 8th.

 Guess what today is?

Today is the day that Peter catches up to me in age.  Halfway to 90, the kids keep telling us.  Whatever.  As long as we're halfway to 90 together. 

Happy Birthday!

xoxo

Celebrating shopping success.

And, really, what's a successful shopping trip without the photo shoot when you get home?

 

Happy shoppers.

I'm not really big on the mall.

I don't really like going by myself.  And, most of the time, I find taking the kids to be exhausting.  I mean, 20 minutes in one store waiting for Sheldon to find a new hat and then standing around another 45 while Juliana decides how she should spend her money?  On and on it goes until I'm sick of standing around, they're still deciding, and I have to drag them back to the car even when they are dying of starvation and need a muffin and a drink....

So why then did I offer to take Juliana and my niece, Jillian, last week?

The surprise?  I had fun with the two of them!

We narrowed it down to a few stores, we ate before we went, and I told them that I would be needing a coffee when we were done and I didn't want to hear any "that's not fair".

We spent some time, make that most of our time, in Juliana's favourite store.  Too many of the clothes are neon, multi-coloured, fringed, blinged out, over-priced and offensive to my eyes. You can see why the 10-year olds love it and I don't. But, if you are persistent (and boy can they be persistent) there are a few tasteful finds there.  Usually, while Juliana is combing the racks, I'm texting Peter to share my drama with him.  This time, I texted my sister.  With pictures.

I told them that they could each spend $20 and so they started finding stuff to try on.  I figured that by the time I couldn't hold anymore, it was time to head to the change room.

There was so much giggling in the change room and big decisions to make for each of them.  But they narrowed it down to what they absolutely loved and ended up coming home with a couple of great choices.

Plus, in the end, I got my coffee.

All in all, a successful trip for everyone.

And I think my sister will leave her with me again.  :)