Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

I feel like all I've been writing about lately is running. I guess that's not surprising, given that I'm in the midst of a very busy summer racing season, and now 4 weeks into marathon training. I am slightly preoccupied with all things running-related. (And biking and swimming, too, but mostly running.)

We're having an awesome summer aside from all that, too, though!

The boys had a blast at their first week of camp last week, at the Y. They swam, played games, did crafts, and made some new friends. What more could you want from summer camp? 

It was strange not having them around all week. I missed them, and I was happy to see them at pickup time every day, but it was nice to have all that one-on-one time with Carmine. And it was really easy to run errands and get things done around the house with just one child, rather than three. I did miss them, though, and it's going to be even stranger when they both go off to school at the end of August, and it's like that every single day!

This week, Scott's on vacation, and it has been a perfect week for spending tons of time at the beach, which is exactly what we've done. He took Gabe and Dante to the aquarium on Monday, and they had a fabulous time. Then Tuesday and Wednesday were all-day beach days - so much fun!!!!  We've also gone out to lunch, and to dinner, and out for ice cream, and to the movies. It's been a busy, fun-filled, treat-filled week - just like vacation should be : )

The first few times we brought Carmine to the beach this year, he didn't seem like he quite understood what it was all about, and also didn't seem terribly fond of the whole experience. But this week, it seemed like he suddenly 'got it,' and was happily digging in the sand, and laying in the sand, and getting muddy and wet and disgusting, just like his big brothers.

He's terrified of the water, though. I've tried to bring him in a few times, and even with me holding him tight, he just cries and screams - and covers his ears. I think the noise of the waves freaks him out. I'm not complaining, though - him being afraid of the water means I don't have to worry so much about him wandering into the water without me, which equals much less stress. And I know he'll learn to love the water eventually, and will be out there boogie-boarding with his brothers soon enough.

He is talking up a storm these days - repeating everything we say to him, or at least trying to. I can't even keep track of all the words he says now, but it's so cute to hear him yell "Daddeeeeee!" or "Mommmeeeee!" He gives good kisses and hugs, too, and claps when he sees crowds clapping at a baseball game on TV, and whenever we drive by the tennis courts or basketball courts at the park, he yells "Ball!"

Also pretty cute to see him copying Gabe and Dante when they play 'Harry Potter.'  He picks up a stick and waves it around and makes yelling noises, pretending he's casting spells, just like they do.

Gabe is completely obsessed with Harry Potter, and has seen several of the movies already, and is working his way through the first book. I love talking to him about it, and it's making me want to re-read all the books again. I've already read them all several times, but they're so fun to read, and it would be really fun to go through them all again now that I have another fellow HP fan in the house : )

Gabe's also really into Michael Jackson music, since one of his friends from school mentioned that he liked Michael Jackson, and I downloaded a few songs for him to put on his iPod. On our trip home from CT a few weeks ago, he was listening to "Bad" over and over and over and over again, and singing along. But the only part he knows the words to is the chorus, so there would be long moments of silence, then he'd suddenly break out singing "I'm bad, I'm bad..."  He's got the perfect falsetto for singing MJ, too - it's pretty funny.

Also pretty funny - we went out to dinner the other night, and when the waiter came to our table to ask how our dinners were, Gabe gave him a thumbs-up and answered "Rated 'A' for Awesome!"

Dante has been keeping up with all our nonstop summer activities, but he's been completely exhausted every night as a result. There have been a few times he's fallen asleep in the car on the way home from an afternoon outing. And by bedtime, he's usually in meltdown mode. I feel kind of bad seeing him get so tired, but we try to take a break and have a quiet day at least every few days, to let him (and Carmine) rest and regroup a little bit. And there's so many fun things we want to do, and he's enjoying them so much, it's hard to not be out and about most days.

The summer is definitely going by too fast, as I knew it would. We'll just continue trying to make the most of it, though. We're all a little tired, but we're having a blast, and making lots of great memories, so I think it's worth a little sleep-deprivation. We'll sleep in September.

Comments

[Wes]

Glad to hear the kiddos are doing so well. I'm looking forward to the Harry Potter books coming out in electronic format. I plan to read them at that time! In the mean time, gotta go see that last movie!