And that's a wrap

Ok, so summer isn't technically over, but in the Rush household, it's come to a bittersweet end.  Brian heads back to work on Monday, and though the girls still have two weeks until their preschool begins, the school buses that will be present on our street Monday morning scream, "SUMMER IS OVER!"

Half of me wants to cling on to whatever we can of summer.  But the cool nights, the browning leaves, and the Halloween merchandise quickly taking over the back to school section of the stores is settling in pretty okay with me.

The arrival of fall is starting to get me into a panic mode as I think that I only have 7 more weeks until we welcome our new little baby into this family.  7 weeks.  Yikes!  I knew once summer ended things were going to change into baby mode, but now that it's here I don't know where I even want to begin!  Molly has officially moved into the shared room with Jane, but all her belongings still reside in the nursery.  I had intended to just wait until the end of summer and just move the summer clothing to the basement, put her fall clothes into the new shared room, and then get the babies clothes set up in the nursery.  But the nursery is quickly finding itself with mountainous piles of boy clothing, blankets and other goodies that have so graciously been donated to us.  And I have no idea how long I'm going to continue needing summer clothing for Molly.  As of now, fall clothing still feels like weeks away.   I also know I have a long, mental, list of things to do which not only includes your typical deep clean nesting routine, but things like making sure I have the girls Halloween costumes and all accessories together as well as trying to make sure that Jane has enough clothing to fit her this fall.  It all seems so overwhelming, but mentally I'm ready to jump in and get started.  (Hopefully my energy will try and keep up!)

Today was an absolute BEAUTIFUL day.  Perfect weather, barely reaching 80 degrees, crystal clear skies.  We took Grandma and cousins with us to spend the day at Belzville.  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  The girls all had a great time swimming in the lake and playing in the sand.  We soaked in the sun and then bid summer farewell. 

Saturday

The girls and I have a Saturday morning ritual. 

 

Our little tradition makes Saturdays probably my favorite day.

First we head to the farmer's market.

The farmer's market in our town is tiny,

three local farm stands, a booth selling dog treats, another selling handmade soaps, a tent with bread, and a few other random inconsistent venders.

Oh, and the children's tent which we save as our last stop.

After we've collected all the fruits, veggies, and fresh cut flowers we can carry, we make our way over to the children's tent which has a different craft set up each week.

I love this.

The market itself might not be the most exciting thing for little kids.

But the children's tent is genius. 

And it leaves the farmer's market as a positive and fun experience.

 

It's about a five minute drive home from the market.

But the second part of our ritual is yard sale-ing.

We agree that if we pass any yard sales or signs leading us to one close by, we will stop.

The girls LOVE yard sales.

I do love a bargain, but hate bringing junk home we don't need.

Most mornings I don't let the girls come home with anything.

But they like the thrill of looking anyway.

 

This morning was no different.

Apples are finally here, so we STOCKED up!

Nectarines, plums, beans, and zucchini also came home with us.

Molly colored a bookmark with markers in the children's tent,

Jane played shy in the curb. 

The Mennonite church had a flea market.

We made our round from table to table.

We left with Chutes and Ladders and too many homemade cookies.

 

After our outing, Saturday becomes whatever we want it to be.

Brian usually works on the laundry room/powder room renovation

so that leaves us girls to come up with something on our own.

 

Today we played inside until it was Molly's naptime.

Friday I had read in the paper that one of the house's in town would be open to show off their butterfly habitat.

Once Molly was asleep and Jane had finished lunch we headed back into town to check it out.

I surprise myself and learned a lot about monarch butterflies!

Like, did you know they fly all the way to Mexico for the winter??

Isn't that crazy that something so small and delicate can fly that far?

 

 

On the way home we drove past the pool.

"Mommy, can we go to the pool?"

My first instinct was to say no right away.

We have a pool.

And it's so darn expensive for a day pass!

But our pool is cold again.

And it was pretty hot outside.

Molly would be waking up soon and it would be a pretty fun way to spend the afternoon.

Sooo, we picked up Molly and headed to the pool.

It was the best 2.5 hours.

It was amazing what a couple hours and some other pool-confident children did for Jane!

She finally got her face wet without complaining.

She was having so much fun with her two new friends and copying the things they were doing that I hated to leave.

 

 

 

Saturdays, I do love you.

Thanks for always being so fun!

Da Beach

You can't call it a summer until you vacation at the Jersey Shore. 

The girls absolutely love everything about.

 

 

Beach wagon filled to the brim with beach toys, chairs, beach toys, umbrella, more beach toys, cooler, requested boogie boards that won't get used, and towels, check.

 

Sand in every crevice of the body, check.

 

Daddy digging a 5 foot deep hole daily for girls enjoyment, check.

 

Seagulls, check.

 

 Sandy PB&J sandwiches, check.

 

Outdoor showers with two kids who hate showers, check.

 

Expensive board walk rides, check.

 

Who's ready for next year???

 

 

Honestly, the beach is a lot of work with kids.  But it's also a lot of fun.  Watching their joy as they run across the sand and jump waves was worth it all.  Their delight as we strolled along the board walk, totally worth the cost of a couple rides and some over priced food.  

 

So until next year Jersey!