End-of-Summer Report

So here we are at the end of another long, long Arizona summer. And by end, I mean school starts this week. The temperature will still be above 100 degrees every day for a month or more.

This summer we learned many important things in the Clyde Curtis family
1. Listen to the doctor. Don't exercise 3 days after getting a vascetomy.
2. Garmin lies.
3. Emily's tolerance for summer vacation is exactly 1 week shorter than summer vacation.
4. Nate's tolerance for summer vacation is approximately 2 months and 21 days shorter than summer vacation.
5. Babies can survive for long periods of time on less than 2 hours of sleep a night.
6. Strawberries do grow in Phoenix.
7. Blueberries do not grow in Phoenix.
8. Emily can make a wicked strawberry jam.
9. The best way to ensure that Nates' work stays busy is to schedule vacations that Nate commits to attending.
10. Swimming makes Luke poop.
11. Water parks and Luke are a very very bad combination.
12. Asher can make himself lunch while dribbling a basketball.
13. Three kids is just like having two kids except there is an extra kid, and no extra parents which makes it alot harder to do anything.
14. We have an incredibly cool extended family.

Thanks to everyone who played with us this summer. Glad its over, and can't wait until next year.

Strawberry Fields Forever

We've had the most amazing luck with our strawberries this summer! I can't believe I've been harvesting a pint or two a week for all of June and most of July.

Too bad they're only good in jam (those strawberries aren't a bit sweet).

Staycation Disasters

Maybe we won't try a staycation again...

Loosing Luke at the water park--twice.

Waiting an hour to eating dinner at a very expensive and not well air-conditioned resturant


Nate almost getting arrested while watching fireworks


Walking 25 minutes with 3 kids to the breakfast buffet only to find out it was closed and moved to the main lobby of the resort...a 30 minute walk

Luke pooping on the pool deck after we had checked out of our hotel room and handing Emma to some strangers at the pool while Luke and I ran around to try and find a bathroom.


Asher needing to poop 5 minutes after returning Luke.

Summertime Messes

When it's super hot outside, I guess we all make messes...

I let Asher and Luke decorate the mirror with these Thomas the Train stickers. We've played with some before and they don't stick on anything. These are different ones.

I've spent 20 minutes, a bottle of goo remover, and I got off 8 stickers.

I think Emma wins for making the cutest mess, which is good because she makes this mess three times a day.

Praise for Uncle Dave

Luke's unsolicited assement of his uncle:

Uncle Dave is the bestest party ever!
He kills monsters
And bad guys
And monsters
And bad guys

You Know It's Going to Be a Long Day When...

Luke has a tantrum because you offer him pancakes for breakfast. HE DOES NOT WANT PANCAKES!!!

Then, he comes out of his room 20 minutes later, tantrum free, to have some pancakes.

Except that his brother ate all the pancakes while Luke was pouting.

I'll let you guess what happened next.

(This is a picture of Luke with his "trophy," a weird spoon he found in one of Nate's auction purchases.)

Field Trip with Asher

So, I went to chaperone Asher's speech therapy class' field trip to the airport today.

Asher was horrible--not listening to me, hitting me and his friends. Pretty much acting like the girls I used to work with as a residential counselor in Boston, except I didn't have 3 other adults to help me manage a restraint.

He had a time out in the bus. He had a time out where I just held him and he screamed and everyone looked at us. I took away every privilege I could think of.

(The kids in my group hugged me and told me I was a good mom. That's how awful I looked--5 year olds were ready to comfort me.)

Asher finally turned around his behavior (kind of) so he could try and earn back his privileges and fell asleep on the bus ride home.

He woke up and said, "So, do I get my privileges back?"

And, I said, "Yes, but you know what, Asher? I'm not going to go on another field trip with you. You hit me and were mean to me, and I didn't have a fun time."

Asher's response, "But I got my privileges back, right?"