Summer Stickiness

It is officially summer and there is that summer-kid-stickiness all over my home.  Sticky fingers seem to touch every square inch of this place!
... dripping orange popsicles .... greasy sun blocked/ sandy hands.... plops of bubble soap from the little plastic wand....

 However,  I do love all the little sweaty baby bodies clothed in nothing but a diaper that have been hanging around the house lately. ;) 

Caleb kicking it  hot baby style

 I cleaned my windows a few days ago; they were smeared and cloudy from little sticky fingerprints.

                 However, a few moments later, they were back to how they were.

This pretty much sums up my life right now: Hot, sticky and filled with needy little people. :)

Bubble soap joy

Usually in summers past (meaning pre-kid) we'd go to the  Blues Fest downtown or buy lunch from a food cart and eat it under a tree.  We'd take Sunday afternoon walks, hike in the Gorge and play in waterfalls. We'd nap. We'd watch movies late into the night and go on really cool get-aways.
 I remember meeting girlfriends and drinking iced vanilla lattes under the umbrellas at one of those cute little tables; I still see them everytime I drive past with my mini van full of children. 

Yes Please

But, we did that.:)

Now, instead my summer so far has been filled with murky public sandboxes, 
                                                                             over crowded parks, 
                                                               curiously complex kiddie fountains 
                                                              and a small blue plastic baby pool on my deck.

                                  There is lots of Sunshine and Sunblock... 

       ...Soggy sandwiches smashed in the bottom of my picnic bag... 
                 and warm water from small cloudy plastic bottles.

Sometimes it's a warm juice box.

Plastic baby pools are the best

I often go to bed before the sun sets here; and even though I am up early everyday (5 am) the sun is already shining. I am grateful for my deck, because even though I can’t venture out into the summer like I want, my deck and all the natural sunlight of the windows allows me to enjoy it from where I am. Another reason this house was hand picked for us. 

We are in the longest days of the year now, both literally and figuratively speaking. 

 The boys are five months old and just as cute as can be. 

They are all laughing. 

James rolled over and discovered his feet. 

Caleb discovered the joy of sucking on his thumb. 

And Levi loves holding toys...and his 6 month shirts are growing tight. 

Levi the man-baby

Evelyn is slowly growing into "mommy's little helper." She talks, talks, TALKS about everything! It must be in her little girl DNA.  

She follows me around and wants to be just like me. She's interested in my make up, wearing my jewelry and really wants to pierce her ears (I told her to ask Daddy about that one) She fixes the brother’s bottles when they fall over; she rocks crying babies and she fetches diapers. I can see her growing up, little by little. We have been having a sweet time together this summer.  

4th of July was a blast too. We took Evie and  our friend’s little boy Brayden to the parade in Lake Oswego.

Sweet little buds

 There was candy to collect and so much to see. Holidays like this suddenly become so much more fun when you can experience it again through the eyes of your children. 

Later in the evening we decorated the stroller and bikes and partook in our neighborhood parade, a tradition that I’ve been excited about since hearing of it when we purchased the house! The streets were filled with families, children, babies, bikes and dogs. Onlookers threw candy and cheered. Many people applauded the triplets as we proudly rolled past.

Let's get this show on the road already!

Here comes the parade!

The gathering of the parade(kinda hard to see...)

I do soak up these hot, sticky days.  The windows never stay clean and my house will always have little sand particles on the floor; but it’s a constant reminder that this house is so full of life right now and this will be a summer I will look back on and smile about. 
                                                   A precious summer indeed.