moments in the mommyhood - school's out & so are the teeth

school's out.  i'm scared..lol.  what the heck am i going to do with a 4 year old and a 1 year old to keep them busy for a whole summer?!!  eek!  something that's not too stressful (ie. going to the beach alone with 2 sandy/dirty children) or too exhausting (chasing wet babies and toddlers around a water park) and something that doesn't involve playgrounds everyday?? 

i have a secret to admit.  i hate playgrounds.  detest them.  when i was preggers with mackenzie i couldn't wait to hang at the playground.  moms, coffee, kids, sunshine & fun is what i thought it was.  now i find it boring, tedious, monotonous, stressful and just not my cup of tea...coffee or not.  some playgrounds i can handle and will go to regularly but mostly i avoid them and leave the playground times for the hubby.  i know it's weird, make fun of me all you want, but it's just how i am.

i like to chat with people.  when the kids are at the park you cannot chat, or you can't chat unless your child is old enough to do whatever they want at the park without injuring themselves. in this case mine is not.  she is accident prone (case point her recent black eye from a playground).  also, harper is now at the stage that she wants to try everything and is a walking danger zone as well.  my stress level is higher now at the playground than just with one as now i have to keep my worry wart eyes on both instead of just one.  does that leave a lot of room for convo when there are 10 other kids running amongst these ones?  nope. only time i enjoy the playground fully is when the hubs is with me & i can fully let go of the worry of at least one child and have some fun or on those rare occasions that our children actually behave, the babies nap and we can relax, sip our drinks and chat.  those are precious to me.

i'm trying to keep it real here folks.  life isn't always perfect.  my house is a mess (or a disaster as i like to call it), laundry has taken over, our list of to do's for when the hubs is done school is a mile long, i cry in the bathroom just like all of you, we're sleep deprived and i've got 2 kids to entertain...so what's this momma to do?  well i've been planning outings and adventures.  little things that still involve things the kids love but that also keep momma happy.  library, toy store, museums, & coffee shop stops mixed with walks & short playground visits instead of half a day ones.  big open parks (not playgrounds) where bubbles, chalk drawing, knitting, snacking, coloring can ensue mixed with soccer and tag with no large metal contraptions to climb and get hurt on..lol.

(this is what happens when i try to get a pic of the girls together)

basically we go around exploring and setting up our "living room" so to speak :)  crazy?  a little.  fun?  you bet!  especially when you have a soon to be 14mth old cutting like 4 teeth who won't nap and is incredibly crabby.  i will do anything to be out of the house, in the sunshine with both kids smiling.  we like to do the drive around parts of the island we live on and stare at the ocean pretending we are "flying" like my 4yr old says while momma sips starbucks and we listen to our fave tunes until both kidlets pass out for naps and this mommy can park, enjoy the view (see pic below), pick up her knitting and embroidery and have a great "quiet" hour or so.  blissful.

the hubby's got his big exam tomorrow so we are all on high stress here and just counting down the hours until we can finally have him home in the evenings and on the weekends again.  i'm super excited it almost feels like christmas!  now if we could all catch up on our sleep it will be a wonderful summer!  we've got lots of beach and day trips planned for this little family of ours :)

so what do you do when school's out, the teeth are too and you'll do anything to avoid a playground or any other stressful kid environment???  how's your week been?  our facebook page has been filled with lots of sleepless mommas so here's hoping all our little stubborn sleepers sleep long & peaceful tonight.  let's chat girls!