Summer.

The Rose family's attendants have been horrible documentarians of this beautiful summer. Yes, we've been exceptionally busy preparing for baby, but we have done a LOT of fun stuff--and then Mimi crammed in a lot of fun stuff into her week with The Boy, too, but took photos, which we will now steal. (Grin.)

Our summer:

1. Parks, parks, parks. The park down the street, the park down the street the other direction, the park at the elementary school, the park near the grocery store, the park in the next town over with the AWESOME slides, the park by the pool, the parks at Mimi's.



(Photo credits: Mimi, Auntie Omi)

2. Pools. Somehow, our little family of three never made it to the pool all at the same time this entire summer (?!), but we have spent many a morning there separately and with some friends. And The Boy visited Mimi's pool, too. His swimming hallmarks this summer include an increased amount of bravery with water slides and putting his face in the water. If only we could convince him to keep his giant fish mouth closed...



(Photo credit: Mimi)

3. Playdates! We've hosted and been hosted. A lot. Thanks, friends!

4. 4th of July Parade and Picnic. We participated, once again, in the parade our town sponsors and marched with our theatre group. The little boys had a great time "driving" the truck and strolling with their pregnant mommies. Post parade, we returned to our abode for yummy cookout food, squirt gunning, and wading pools.


(Photo credits: Auntie G and Mimi (I think))

4. Outdoor concerts. Er, concert. On Wednesday nights, you can picnic on the Esplanade at the Chicago Botanic Garden, while enjoying a fun concert for kids. Wednesday nights have been yoga nights for mommy, but The Boy and I took advantage of this when Daddy was out of town. Sadly, our one and only photo was taken by me on my inferior iPhone 3GS, which does not "flip" the image for you so you can adequately photograph yourself. Oh well.


5. "Pinocchio" at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre . A beautiful venue with an impressive set and costume design. The music left something to be desired, IMO, but it was a great experience.





(Boarding the train heading to downtown, first train ride, sitting on the stage before the show, at our seats, proudly collecting autographs, and posing against our beautiful skyline.)

6. Lake House. Our friends hosted us for the day at their beautiful lake house, a few hours west of us. Mister Bravery rode a speedboat for the first time, swam in a deep lake with a life jacket, went on the water raft alone (only a mild heart attack for the mom), cavorted with seaweed, and had a great playing with the kids. We had two delicious meals, cooked S'Mores, chased fireflies, and on and on. It was a busy and fun filled day!



(Photo credit: Amy G.)

7. Movies! "Winnie the Pooh" with Grandma, "Kung Fu Panda 2" with us. And a Drive In movie (okay, it was really a "Chair In" movie): "Tangled," which we own and which is completely beside the point.

8. First Undernighter with Huey and his grandparents, while the moms and dads attended a dinner party.

9. Week at Mimi's. This is the second installment of this vacation (for The Boy and for his parents), which we're all hoping continues as part of an annual tradition.

10. The conclusion of Mom's Morning Away. Somehow I haven't blogged about this all year. Since January, The Boy has attended a wonderful program through the park district, wherein he attends "school" for three hours, one time a week. During that time, he painted, crafted, played with toys/kids, read stories, played in the park and the indoor "jungle," made a good friend, etc. During that time, I ran errands like a chicken with its head cut off. Okay, I also enjoyed a pedicure or two, a Starbucks/McDonald's iced coffee or two, and a teeny bit of time doing things around the house. Here is a photo of my boy on his first day of pre-pre-school:
(January 2011)


As our summer draws to a close, he looks forward to heading off to real pre-school when he "turns three." I look forward to finding the right time to potty train. And, of course, we're all eagerly awaiting the birth of The Boy's baby sister. Any minute now. (Tick tock...)