Dog Days of August...

August may be my favorite month, but it is also my least favorite.   I love the August heat...but  I don't like the creeping thoughts that school is about to begin, and that the weather will be turning cold.    I really love being at home with my children--I am thankful that I can be home with them.   I know lots of mothers who say they can't wait for school to start--I am so happy they are home now.   It just really works for us.   Everyone is always doing something--usually with each other, or just doing nothing, but  at least they are doing nothing with each other.

I spent a lot of the last week or so reading other blogs to figure out what to do with this one (because I really don't read a lot of blogs), and spending time with my family.   Summers are crazy with 5 children--always a doctor's appointment, or the free movies at Regal to go to, going to the pool several afternoons a week,  and I try to get them out golfing at least 3 mornings a week... so we/I get even less done in the summer than we get done in the colder months!  Still,  I love it!

As I said, my oldest, Jack, is leaving for college in less than 72 hours, and we have actually just started thinking about packing up for him, because we have been so busy doing all that needs to be done to get him there--dentist appointments, doctors' appointments,  etc.    Still, we've been busy these last two weeks (more on that later) since my last post....Here is a partial list:

Anna's Birthday!!

Anna turned 17 on August 8th!!   She had the greatest day!   It all was semi-unplanned, but it all worked out so well.   After she took her morning run (she trains/runs year round because she rows Crew for her high school),  she came home, I woke up whoever would wake up  (which means Jack and Matthew missed the fun!!), and we headed over to Valley Green, right outside of Chestnut Hill.   This is where I grew up (literally---the house I grew up in is at the bottom of the horse bridle path), and we have taken my children there before, but Lily was in a stroller the last time we were there.   This time, we went hiking way up into the paths into Fairmount Park, walked along the bridle path (I grew up there, so big mounds of horse manure don't mean anything to me--they were completely grossed out!).

Watching them walk ahead of me...gorgeous light streaming down....

       This was a path-- but most of our hiking was far more difficult, but I couldn't take pictures and hike                                                             at the same time!!

Then, we ate lunch at this adorable restaurant/cafe that used to be the home of our friends the Kerpers--now it is owned by the Philadelphia Park Commission, and is now a restaurant called Cedars House.

It was amazing!   Anna and Timmy both had delicious smoothies,  and they all had these delicious meals, eaten in this rustic outdoor setting, on an old porch, in the shade of Fairmount Park!!  It was so great!!

     Waiting for our food--I am just using my iPhone for these, so it was hard to get a good picture with            all the streaming light/being in the shade under all the trees, but this one is good, I think!

Decided to change our seat!

Lily--tired of waiting for our food, decided to climb!

As we were leaving for home, Anna got a text from two friends, inviting her to go downtown for her birthday.  I just dropped her off at the one girl's house, and then took Lily to the pool for a few hours.   After showering, I went home, we all got ready, and then I picked up Anna and her friends when they got off the train from Philadelphia. The timing was perfect, and she had a great day!

But it wasn't over yet.   Jack had to work late, but the other 6 of us went over to eat at this favorite restaurant we celebrate lots of birthdays at--it is called Cake, and is in the old greenhouse of Robertson's Florists in Chestnut Hill.   It is just lovely--sparking white lights, a great menu, lots to look at,  and fabulous desserts.

Timmy, Matthew, Lily (wearing Lilly Pulitzer--our favorite!!), and Anna, the Birthday girl! 

                                                         Everyone--except Chris!

                   Mommy, Lily, and Anna (notice that we both are wearing Lilly Pulitzer--honestly, we didn't mean to and they are matching prints-Anna was embarrassed!)

We got desserts to go after dinner, but then we walked next door to this new-ish frozen yogurt place called Chill, and we all sat there, ate mountains of frozen yogurt, and hung out. We didn't get home until 10 p.m.

                 Timmy, Lily, Chris, Anna, and Matthew--chilling at Chill in Chestnut Hill!!


I  was so happy it worked out for us/Anna--I think there is a lot of pressure to have a great birthday, and I am so glad she had one which really involved no more work for me than making dinner reservations!!

One Direction Concert--August 14!!



Last February, we bought several One Direction tickets for a big stadium concert in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field.    Our thinking was that our two girls would go to see One Direction with maybe a friend or two--Lily has a very serious thing for Niall, Anna just loves the music, but REALLY loves the warm-up band, 5 Seconds of Summer.  As it turned out, Chris and I ended up both going, along with several of Anna's friends, and I must admit it was unbelievably fun!    I always have to be careful now not to embarrass my kids, but I was definitely up and dancing at times (Chris and I sat away from the girls, so they never knew!).

Anna and Lily heading into Lincoln Financial Field!

                                                                     
                                                              Friends (and two sisters! )

                           65 thousand screaming girls!!  Seriously, there were NO boys there!!


Going Away Picnic for Jack's friends--going to college!!


Last night, we all got together at the Robinsons for the last get together before Jack's friends start to leave for colleges.   He has had the same group of four friends since roughly Kindergarten--Nick, Chris, and Max.  He, and the three of them, have stayed friends all these years, even though Jack left public school after 8th grade to go to a private boys' high school in Wyndmoor, right outside of Philadelphia, called La Salle College High School.

I was a little nervous when Jack went to La Salle that he would lose his public school friends.   I don't think, with the exception of a few dances and school functions, that Jack has missed a beat with these three kids.   They are all so much alike--in fact, the three moms there last night were laughing that the four of them will probably move in with each other after college.

Last night, Marie Robinson, Chris' mom, asked us all over for a last cookout.   I haven't seen these families in a long time--now that Jack has been driving, I don't drop him off/pick him up, and their youngest children are no longer in the elementary school my youngest go to, so I just don't see these parents very much, and we had some catching up to do.

We had a great time.  All the other families are all-boy families, so there were 10 boys between the ages of 12 and 18, and Lily.   Anna decided she had to begin (!!) her summer reading assignments, so she stayed home.   After catching up, we began to reminisce about the old times, when they were younger, and what lay ahead for these four boys/young men.   I must admit it made me a little sad on the way home.   Next time I see them, they will all officially be college freshmen!   That is crazy--I met these boys when they were 5!    I  see it more it other kids than my own--how big they have gotten!

No photos--just a great night!!


Jack--is Leaving in less than Three Days! !!!


As I said, we are leaving on Wednesday for Jack's college.   I think we got the photo thing down, so I will try to document these events with more pictures.   Right now, I am good about him leaving.   My friend, Brian, said that when his oldest went to college 5 years ago, it wasn't that hard, because he just was so happy for her.   I thought that was remarkably well-adjusted, and I decided at that time that that was the attitude I was going to adopt when my children go off to college.

Still, Jack is my first baby--I can remember talking with him going to college cuddling in bed when he was 2--he used to cry and say he never wanted to leave me--and I assured him that when the time came, he would want to leave, but if not, I would come visit him every day for lunch.   To his two year old mind, that made him feel better.   That day has now arrived, and now I wish I could visit him every day for lunch!!!