summer beach days

We had a list of things to get done in the yard yesterday. Take down the tent which was knocked down during the last torrential downpour (3 weeks ago... procrastination much?), weed the garden that grew by leaps and bounds while I was away, fix the clothesline which fell under the weight of too much laundry....

But as I was driving home from my chiropractor's appointment, the sun felt so nice through the window and the hot muggy air sent other plans my way. What's one more day of waiting to get stuff done anyway? So we quickly threw our things together and headed out to the beach. When Jude was last at the beach in the Bahamas, he didn't like the sand, didn't like the water and definitely did not like the waves. Of course there are no waves at Bird's Hill but what a successful outing! Digging, piling, splashing around... sampling the sand and trying out his steps some more. I'm sort of sad to see him moving on from crawling and to think I won't see his awesome monkey crawl again. He was getting so fast!

Apart from the horrible, bloodsucking monsters lurking in the grass (who swarmed us when the sun went away) we had such a fabulous time. Going away has made me appreciate the time at home so much more. I'll sooner put off doing the chores and household work to jump on spending a moment with my son.

(The last monkey crawl?)

My son who has decided lately that he wants to be up by six am. We've been diligent about staying in bed until seven his entire life because anything earlier is just ungodly. The last time he decided to switch his time to get up, we conveniently adjusted his bedtime an hour later during daylight savings time change. Instead of a 7pm bedtime he would go down for 8, and get up at 7am. But lately, meaning this entire past week, he wants to be up at 6. Or even earlier. I'm not sure what to do since he doesn't need a later bedtime and he usually only naps once midday for two hours. Since we cosleep most of the night, we're all awake when he is and leaving him to cry or play in his crib is not an option. Any ideas???

So this morning Chris and I had a disagreement about who was to get up. I asked him to since it was my turn to stay in bed and he kept me up til one am the night before. He asked me to since he was so tired and was finally having a good sleep. I said no, stated my case again, and after getting nowhere with the sleeping lump, got up with Jude. Oh frustration!

But we ended up having a nice morning - early breakfast, drove to St. Norbert Farmer's Market where he had a ball. Roosters, chickens, goats, more people and children and dogs than you could imagine. I made sure to only bring 20$ since I could easily spend so much more. That forced me to really contemplate what I wanted - fresh local pasta, clover honey, cucumbers, carrots, calendula flowers (for making bum salve) and a ginger flax cookie. Yum! Had to pass on the saskatoon pie (my ABSOLUTE favorite! like my grandma used to make) but there's all summer yet.

The countdown:
1 more day til we strike or come to an agreement with the corporation
3 more days til Jude's first birthday
3 more days til I maybe leave town again for my next trip

oh so much up in the air. breathe. relax. stay grounded. and pack!