This entire month was truly a battle of wills.  And a test of our constitutions.  And endurance. There were, however, SO many highlights that made it all easier for Justin and I to cope. Like our trip back east to see our whole family, see Anna get married (!), and show our kids what a summer is really like.  Or at least what Justin and I know as a true summer. In Fairfield we chased fireflies with Nonna and made sand castles on the beach.  In Lakeville we rolled around on the grass with Annika, ate raspberries from the vine, and danced the night away with Judu and Pops at Anna’s beautiful wedding.  In Ithaca we swam in the lake with Annabelle and Clementine, read bedtime stories with Gramma Laurie and Grampa Charlie, picked buckets of blueberries with Great-Gram, and skipped rocks on the beach with Grampa Skip and Gramma Jean.  Summer.  Hot and sticky, rumbling thunderstorms, peepers singing you to sleep….all of it.

We made a very quick but fun-filled trip to Florida to see Gigi and celebrate her birthday with the whole family too – Nonna, Patti and Robert, Jessie and Ryan, Dane, and Carl.  Des ate an ice-cream cone the size of his head, Julian swam in the warm gulf waters with Aunt Jessie, and Justin and I had a blast at Dorothy’s surprise party while the kids stayed with a sitter.   In SF, there were play-dates with Graham and Mabel, Lilly and Will, and lots of outings as a family.

About the tests I mentioned earlier…One thing we’ve figured out about Des is that he LOVES the act of travelling (the journey) but once we’ve reached our destination things crumble.  He’s used up his patience, willpower, and excitement.  Usually the first few days are great but then you can see the dark circles under his eyes from sleep deprivation, he sucks his thumb a lot to soothe his anxiety, and he rebels against most plans in an effort to exert some control of the situation.  He just plain doesn’t enjoy being out of his comfort zone.  So our trip back home was tough to say the least.  There were lots of meltdowns, lots of negative behavior, and lots of ‘calm corner’ moments.  It was hard.  I hated seeing him so unhappy.  And of course Julian was in good spirits but going through a bout of stranger danger that kept us from being able to put him down or hand him off to people until he’d been with them for a few days.  Nuts.  It was kind of nuts.  I don’t think either one of us has felt more exhausted after a vacation than this one.

BUT, we wouldn’t have done it any differently because we got to spend some time with the people we love most in the world and that made it all worthwhile.  See pics below for proof!

A few bits about our August kiddos:

Desmond:

-He’s getting sooo much better and having fun with Jules.  And being gentle with him too.  He really loves Julian, but is still figuring out how to show it.