Summer Bucket List, part 1

Summer 2015 is a great one so far. We've been having tons of fun and checking stuff off the summer bucket list left and right. Jason covered Greekfest, but here are some more bucket list boxes marked off.

Picking out flowers with Gammy (and doing an AMAZING job taking care of them!) 

Playing in a warm summer rain

Rainbow after the storm!

Lots of artwork (here, Emmett decided to color HIMSELF- fortunately it was dry erase, not permanent!)

Miri got her 'big girl' bed!

Celebrating Jason on Father's Day!

Strawberry Festival

Decorating cookies at the Downtown Dough booth

An annual tradition- strawberry slushes!

Strawberry weiss for the adults

Miri started soccer! Women's World Cup 2035, here she comes!

A fantastic, star-spangled 4th of July!

Ready to celebrate the U-S-A!

Candy collecting at the parade!

Emmett hitching a ride home from the parade!

Watering Gammy's feet!

Water table fun

Bashaws ready for fireworks

She glows!

Emmett's first fireworks... he LOVED them!

Rockets' red glare...

AND... we still have so much summer fun yet to come!

Opa!

Festival and parade season is underway! Here's a quick video from Greek Fest a couple weeks ago. We had some great food (spanakopita, saganaki. loukoumades), danced to some Greek tunes (try to imagine that over the music Google picked for this video), and rode on some nauseating kiddie rides (I'm getting too old for these things). Greek for the day...OPA!

Thoughts on my firstborn

Last weekend, I wrote some thoughts on Emmett. Today, it is Miriam's turn.

Miri, you are such a wonderful little person to know and spend time with. It makes me feel especially lucky when I get to share some of my favorite leisure activities with you.

Baking!

Biking!

Yoga!

You are great company and a ton of fun.

You are inquisitive and intelligent. The questions you ask are so incredibly thoughtful and contemplative for a child of only 4. The way you already comprehend concepts of science, math, and language just astound me. Your sense of humor is so advanced- you understand plays on words and you understand and effectively use sarcasm. Sometimes, I am honestly a little scared by how bright you are. 

You seem so mature these days. I know that I am too hard on you at times and expect more from you than is reasonable. It's just that I honestly forget sometimes that, despite your intellect and maturity, you're still just 4. I'm sorry for that. I really try hard to apologize and admit to you when I've made a mistake (and we all know I make plenty of them). Luckily, your maturity (and your merciful nature) allows you to forgive me, every time. But I'm working on it.

Which brings me to what I love about you the most. Miri, you are such a beautiful little person. You are so kind, so caring, so compassionate. Your heart is so full of love for the people in your life. When someone you care about is sad, your empathy is palpable. You want to heal the hurts, whether they are physical or emotional. Likewise, you love to share in others' joys. Your smile truly does light up a room.

Roald Dahl wrote: "If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams, and you will always look lovely." I think he was speaking of you.

You ARE a superhero.

Thoughts on my baby

Miri and Daddy are off spending this cold, rainy last Saturday of May 2015 at a Brewers game at Miller Park with Miri's BFF Adelyn and her daddy, and I'm home with my little E-man. My sweet little boy was his usual playful, happy self all morning... and as soon as Daddy and Miri left, he became cranky, wanted nothing to do with the lunch I prepared for him, and, when I went to take him out of his highchair after 50 minutes of just barely picking at his food, he was BURNING up. I knew the second I touched him that he was febrile and that it was a high one. So I gave him ibuprofen, read him stories til he calmed down (he had started crying when I took away the plate of food he had no interest in), and he fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair as I sang him lullabies. Even though it was like holding a lump of hot lava against me, it was a very special moment to have Emmett fall asleep in my arms.

I'm so incredibly grateful for the moments when Emmett still feels like a baby to me. Maybe it's not even that he seems like a baby; it's more a feeling in those moments that being his mommy and being with him is just the most important thing in the world. That I'm needed just because I'm his mommy. I felt it today when he fell asleep in my arms, hot and feverish. I feel it when I'm changing his diaper or his clothing on the changing table, and he grabs me around my neck and pulls my face down next to his in a hug, and he holds on so tight for a full minute or two or three, and if I try to pull back (because I'm bent over in a funny position, after all), he pulls me back and won't let go. I felt it when he dove into my arms when I picked him up from daycare on Wednesday. I feel it when he says 'thank you mama' for the little, tiny, inconsequential things I do. It makes me feel so full of love for him that I could burst.

Oh Emmett. There's a line in a book I love, a book I've not yet read to you, but that I'm sure we will read together, many many times. I think of this line all the time when I think about you. From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak:

"I'll eat you up, I love you so."

You are growing up so fast, but even when you're bigger than me, you'll always be my baby boy.

Trip to Ohio

A few weeks ago, we Bashaws journeyed to Ohio to see the other Bashaws (better known as G'pa and Gramma) and the Thompsons (better known as Aunt Robin, Uncle Bobby, Des, Maggie, and Oliver). We were a little nervous because our last drive to/from NE Ohio was basically akin to the ninth circle of hell. Imagine being trapped in a tin can with a very angry and inconsolable 21 month old bawling and just flat-out screaming at the top of his lungs and an only-slightly-less-angry 3 year old trying to scream over him because that she CAN'T HEAR HER MOVIE OVER HIS SCREAMING! and then imagine that this lasts for 8 hours. While you attempt to stay sane and drive safely. That was pretty much how it went over Labor Day weekend 2014. I am very pleased to report that this drive to Ohio was infinitely more tolerable. Sure, it was long, but the kids were very, very good little travelers. Jason and I were quite proud... and relieved.

Once we made it there, we were in for a very fun weekend of family time! I think one of the biggest highlights was probably the pool at the condo where Gramma and G'pa had rented a unit for a month. We spent the long weekend largely waterlogged. There is no doubt that these kiddos have inherited their parents' love of water and swimming. Miri, who recently finally passed out of Pike and into Eel in Y swim lessons, was so excited to have hours of practice of swimming. I'm so proud of how well she can swim without a bubble belt or floatie and of how confident she is! She is really turning into quite the little fish. Emmett also loved the water. Much of the time, he wore Miri's Puddle Jumper floatie, and he loved the freedom it gave him to move about in the water. And nothing makes pool time more fun than parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to splash around with!

Almost the whole crew- just missing Robin and Bobby in this one!

Swimming all by herself!

Water bug!

Of course, there was lots of fun cousin playtime. The bunk bed in one of the rooms in the condo was a particular favorite of the bigger cousins.

Typical chaotic play moment

Top bunk buddies

There was a (short) trip to a park, despite the VERY chilly weather.

Swinging with Uncle Bobby

Emmett climbs!

More swinging!

Fearless climber these days!

There was a day trip to the beautiful Holden Arboretum for their Arbor Day celebration. It is a very lovely place to visit; we'd definitely go again for more hiking and exploring. The kids checked out explorer packs to learn about nature along the trails, and there were various arts and crafts, a lumberjack show, and vendors.

Ready to explore!

Pondering by the pond

Tree teepee!

Miri learned how to play checkers

Just a boy in a woodshed.

And of course, many snuggles were had.

Uncle Jason and Ollie time

G'pa gets a post-swim snuggle

The 3-and-under crowd

Lucky Gramma gets a "tissy", as Emmett would say

Pajama cuddles

Special time with Aunt Robin for Emmett...

And for Miriam too!

2 reds in a bed!

We even saw some beautiful sunsets. G'night Lake Erie!

It was a great trip! Thanks Gramma and G'pa for hosting us!