There's no place like home...

Ahhh, it's good to be home. After two long weekends away (and another one coming up this weekend), I'm wishing we would have come home yesterday to deal with the laundry and groceries, but it was a beautiful day at the lake.

We drove back up on Thursday evening after work. We didn't leave until about 6 and were hoping to arrive by 7:45, but after stopping to get gas, some milkshakes, and then to give Sophie her evening bottle (she just couldn't wait), it was more like 8:20. Luckily, the setup of the camper was pretty easy since we left the electric, water, and sewer hooked up. We just had to open up the tent ends.

On Friday, K graciously offered (or was forced) to watch Sophie from morning to mid-afternoon while I treated myself to a little retail therapy. Well, I didn't really treat myself too much - but the girls made out like bandits. Some new sunflower outfits from Gymboree, new yoga pants and leggings for EJ from Gap, and two matching outfits - one for Christmas, one for next spring - plus a back-to-school outfit from The Wooden Soldier. Gosh, I love that store. For Christmas, I got EJ a cute white and black plaid jumper and a matching skirt for Sophie. The spring dresses are blue and white checked with ladybugs. And the back-to-school outfit...well, you'll see a pic of that in another week or so.

That evening, the kids who are participating in music camp do a concert. We had written to EJ and told her we weren't sure if we would be there, since she didn't do music this year and it would be near Sophie's bedtime. It started at 6:45, and around 7 we decided to walk over and sit outside the hall and listen (they have outdoor seating positioned so you can look in the screened windows on the lakeside of the building). We found a bench near friends and hung out. Sophie enjoyed the music and jumped and clapped along.

You are not really allowed to spend time with your child at the concert, as they are on "camp time" and we're not. Last year, because she participated in the concert, we had about a whopping four minutes with her after the show. As luck would have it, EJ had to go to the bathroom during the concert and exited the side of the building near where we were sitting. As we saw her making her way around the crowd to go to the bathroom, we were able to catch her attention and she swung by for a quick hug. Sophie was ecstatic to see her big sis and screamed her name and hugged her so tight! Everyone outside LAUGHED! It was so cute that I was about in tears. We were able to get in another hug as she was being ushered back to her cabin that night. Security is very tight there, and as much as we wanted to spend more time with her, I'm glad they have good rules to keep the kids safe.

We picked EJ up on Saturday morning and then ran a few errands through lunchtime. After Sophie's nap, we went to the beach for a few hours.




We left around 1 this afternoon. Now, it's a mad rush to do laundry. We opted for takeout tonight and I'll stop to get a few groceries tomorrow on the way home. As I was sorting through the laundry, Sophie got into her new headband that I got to go with her sunflower dress:

And now, here is the mess in my living room...stuff to wash, stuff to put away, stuff to carry upstairs. Ugh.