Relaxation.

 Luke's first baseball card!

 Pete and Nate try some moonshine. 

 Yet another day at the pool. 

 Julia and Sophia have become fast friends. 

 Celebrating the 4th of July at the Parranto's amazing house. We had a great meal and were going to drive to Downingtown to see the fireworks, but found ourselves so relaxed in their beautiful courtyard that we simply stayed put and put on some fireworks of our own. It was a beautiful night!

 A dinner with friends night at the pool. Its quite a cast of characters! 

 A great and late party at the Andersons! More fireworks and a long night of swimming and playing outside. 

 Brunch at the olive branch in the borough. 

 Best Buddies. 

 Three happy babies in happy baby. Yoga has replaced TV before bed, we have been almost TV free for most of the summer and its been wonderful!

 Luke gets a buzz cut. 

Watching the swim meet below from the upper pool. I think that both Luke and Julia will join the swim team next year. 

We are deep into the heart of summer, and its a blissful time for our family. The kids are so easy ~ they are playing together so nicely, and they are LOVING our hour or sometimes two of "workbooks" that they do every day. Luke is well into and occasionally past the first grade workbooks, and Jules almost through the kindergarten ones. They simply love to learn, and its so fun to sit at the table with them and watch their little minds figuring out math and money and reading and whatnot. I love it! Its been a really fun bonding thing for all of us. Luke is tearing through book after book, and we are keeping a list, for every 10th book he reads we take everyone out for ice cream. 

I was worried that I would regret our decision to go camp free this summer. Jules did think like a scientist at the very beginning of June, but that was it. I was going to enroll Luke in a literacy camp, but honestly feel like he is so far ahead of where he needs to be and is enjoying reading and doing his workbooks that it just didn't seem like money well spent. I can say that our days are rhythmic and relaxing. We spend most mornings at the gym, where they still go to their regular classes (cooking, art, etc) while I work out and spend some time with my girlfriends. We come home and do workbooks and eat lunch during the heat of the day, and then everyone goes off to their "Naked Nap".  I think that this started on the cruise ~ but there is something about stripping naked on a hot day and sliding between cool sheets in a dark cool room that just makes napping an exciting endeavor for them, so we have kept it up. They wake up around 3 and by 3:30 we are either at the pool or at a friends house or having friends here. We have done a LOT of entertaining these past few weeks ~ dinner parties, girls nights here, neighborhood get togethers etc......having the basement finished is just so freeing when it comes to hosting large crowds. Its been really great to get to know a lot of our neighbors better and the kids are making good friends amongst the kids that they will be in school with in the coming years. Nate has been out of town all week, so we have been doing late nights at the pool, eating dinner there with friends and coming home at 7:30 for some yoga and bed. 

Nate and I have been getting in a lot of golf, and I was thrilled to get fitted for new clubs this past Sunday. I can't wait to get them in my hand and get out on the course! I've picked up activity with the Food Cupboard, and have arranged some fundraisers with local restaurants, which has me really excited! We are in the process of trying to set up a spanish class for families ~ nothing like this exists in our area, and so we are making one! I'm also in the process of setting up a new yoga program for kids at a local yoga studio after meeting its owner. There used to be one place that did kids yoga, and they went out of business, so there is a real need for something like this! I've also decided to get certified to teach yoga, which I am really super excited about! Its a 200 hour teacher training and it will start in September. Who knows exactly where it will take me, but I see a real need in our community for prenatal yoga and kids yoga classes......so I figure that the first step towards perhaps starting a business is getting certified to teach it myself! 

I can't believe that we are already mid way through July. I don't want summer to end, after missing last summer I truly feel like I am able to appreciate these beautiful days with my kids in a whole new way. I'm so proud of the little people that they are becoming! 

I've signed Luke and Julia up for GCVSA soccer for the fall ~ I can't wait to see them out on the field together! We have been eating lots of wonderful, fresh food, and truly just soaking up all that summer means in our area. Its a busy weekend of entertaining and parties this Sat and Sunday, and then I plan to take the kids down to Cape May on Sunday night. I will be down there all week with just my Mom, and then Nate and my Dad will come down Thursday night. We are excited to take them to the Ocean City boardwalk and enjoy all of our favorite Cape May treats like Uncle Charlies ice cream and miniature golf. 

Overall I just feel extremely lucky to be home with these little people who I love so much. I see so clearly how it was NOT the right time for me to consider going back to work ~ this is exactly where I am meant to be, right now. I feel like I dodged a bullet in taking on something that could have been really bad for our family ~ and am increasingly grateful for the relative simplicity of our life right now. 

More Disney!

 I finally got around to downloading the millions of photos on my phone and found some more from our Disney adventure. This was the kids removing the last clothespin on the day we left. We had been counting down the last 30 days till our trip and FINALLY it was here!

 Heading out to the airport at 6 AM there were nothing but giant grins. 

 Julia was my seat mate and the boys sat behind us. She did her workbook for about an hour, we played a game of bingo, and then she fell into my lap for a nice nap before we landed. She was so much fun to travel with, such a little lady. Julia is so, so easy to be around and just a total joy. I love seeing her come into her own and be brimming with kindness and curiosity and self confidence. So proud of my girl!

 The limo ride from Orlando to Port Canavarel. A disney movie was playing for the kiddos, of course :)

 The big girls with their Pop Pop. Truly one of the best parts of the trip was enjoying the kids spending time with their cousins and grandparents. 8 straight days together is a lot of time to have fun!

 We were up early Saturday morning, so after breakfast we took a long walk to try to see the cruise ship. 

 Boarding the ship!!!

Our room. I miss it. Yesterday Luke told me that he loved our room because he loved it that our whole family slept together for a whole week :). Love that boy. 

Disney Recovery.

 Waiting to board the ship early Saturday morning. 

 Julia and Nate play in Nemo's reef. 

 We loved our cabin! We had a great balcony/veranda on the other side on that curtain. A curtain separated the kids room from our room where we had a queen bed. There were separate shower/sink and toilet/sink rooms, and I was shocked to find the shower amazing ~ full on waterfall shower and tub with a seating area so we could just rotate the kids through there like an assembly line. I had envisioned it feeling super cramped and uncomfortable, but instead it was cozy, but had plenty of room for all of us.The kids took turn with the top bunk so rotated beds each night. Lloyd took great care of us and our room and the kids were delighted to come in and see what animal shape he had folded towels into each night on our beds.  Remember that suitcase that I was so super proud of? Well, wouldn't you know that even with it being checked priority due to Nate's status.....out of all of the bags in our party of 14 THAT one got lost? We haven't had a bag get lost in years....and we got to Orlando....and no bag. I was near tears. Luckily it was only 10:30 am (And I will forever remember landing and turning on my cell to the happy news that sweet Madelyn Hunter Free had been born while we were in the air!!!) and they were able to track the missing bag to Jacksonville. They told us that they could get it to us that day. We had a car service take us all to our hotel in Port Canaveral, sans bag. A little snafu occurred where they sent our bag to Orlando, then BACK to Jacksonville (love US Air!)...but we did eventually get it in time for bed. It was such a great thing that we had allowed this extra time/day and did not try to get to FL and onto the ship on the same day as our bag would have been catching up to us in Grand Cayman and we would have been without all of our kids clothing ~ it would have been a nightmare. 

 One of the very first nights the kids went to the Bippity Boppity Boutique. The boys were made into Knights and the girls Princesses (I know,  I know). They, however, loved the crap out of it.

 Julia met snow white! We were super lucky in that our kids weren't super into meeting characters and we didn't in any way hype that angle up ~ so we didn't spend any time on the trip standing in lines or collecting signatures (I had NO IDEA people did this?!?!?!). Win. 

 This was our day on the beach in Grand Cayman. This was a fantastic day. The boys went on a wave runner, Jake took a 3 hour nap on the beach, and Luke learned to snorkel. I got a ton of reading in, and we all enjoyed the amazing water and took advantage of the snorkeling.

 At dinner one night. We all had dinner together each night at 5:45. One night Nate and I dined at Palo, the adults only restaurant, which blew us away. Even then, we went to the family dinner first as we had a late reservation and we enjoyed being with everyone so much. We had the same waiters every night, which was great as they really got to know you and anticipate your needs/wants. The food shocked me. Not only was it delicious, it was HEALTHY! Even in the buffets (which was where we generally ate breakfast and lunch) there were a TON of healthy options, and even when they had less than healthy options, they generally had them offered in small, reasonable portion sizes. I was totally impressed with every aspect of the food. 

 The DiLullo girls. Its funny how girl heavy the DiLullo side is considering how boy heavy the Mangan side is. 

 I found these dresses on Pinterest/etsy and couldn't resist them for the cousins. 

 Pirate night.

 Mom and Dad with their Grandchildren. This was in the main staircase. The ship itself was amazing. We were on the Disney Fantasy, which I believe is the newest of their cruise ships. Now, I have nothing to compare it to ~ but I was blown away by the scope of everything. Really impressive.

 We let the kids take long naps this day and after dinner changed into suits. The pool was wonderfully uncrowded at night and we enjoyed riding the water slide with no lines. Enchanted was playing on the big screen above the pool, so we had some ice cream, swam, and watched the movie. It was such a fun way to spend a late night!

 This was far and away the most amazing day of the trip. Castaway Cay is a private island in the Bahamas that Disney owns. We rented two private cabanas on the island. We got off of the boat really bright and early (you could walk right off), and took our transport directly to our cabanas. Fully loaded with cold towels, fruit and snacks, drinks, etc, they were a haven. They had full shade, partial shade, hammocks etc etc and all of the floats and snorkeling gear etc one could wish for. We spent the entire day lazing in the pool like water, playing beach volleyball, snorkeling, reading, and all in all just being awed at the beauty and complete serenity of our surroundings. The privacy and quiet that the cabanas offered were simply off the charts. I will never forget everyone starting to pack up to leave and walking up towards the cabana and Jules being in the water just shaking her head "no". Not obstinately, not meanly ~ she just know she was in true paradise and she didn't want to leave. I don't blame her. It sounds SO corny but I almost could get tears in my eyes just thinking of that one day. I've never shared a more beautiful and less encumbered day with either my immediate or my extended family.

All in all it far exceeded my expectations. 

I loved it. LOVED it. I don't LOVE cruising, as I suspected. I simply don't love crowds of people enough. I won't go on another one anytime even close to soon, if ever.......but man did we do the *right* one. This was a lifetime memory for me, and I hope, for my kids. If anyone is contemplating doing one I can't recommend it highly enough. 

We got docked Saturday morning and flew straight home. I immediately unpacked and by Sunday night everything was back to normal around the house. We were going to head to Cape May on Tuesday night to celebrate the Fourth.....and literally pulled the plug on that on Tuesday morning. I simply wasn't ready to pack/unpack, and there were a lot of fun things going on at home.....so we decided to enjoy some time at home. On Saturday as we were driving to yet another party I turned to Nate and said "I can't WAIT for Monday ~ I feel like it's been Saturday for TWO WEEKS"....and its true. It was a wonderful two weeks, but an exhausting, truly exhausting two weeks. 

Nate did an up and back to Boston today and I was so grateful just for the little tiny return to normalcy! I feel like I got so much done! At the end of the day, while vacation is great, I am a creature who thrives on routine and miss it terribly~ so this next two weeks is going to be cherished.