A Summer At Home

When people ask me what we did this summer, I stare blankly for a few seconds trying to search my memory for what has filled the 74 days since the bell rang on the last day of school.  I say, "Well, we went to the Como Zoo! And, ummm, the boys took a music class through ECFE! And...oh ya, we went for walks every morning!"

The thing is, we didn't really go anywhere or do any of the typical big family summer vacations. We did not go meet Mickey Mouse and his princess friends. We did not soak our toes in the salty waters of the Atlantic or Pacific.  We didn't even load up the car to head Up North to a cabin in the woods.

But yet,  I can't name a summer that has been more enjoyable than this one.

Yes, our days were filled with a predictable meal, nap, and snack schedule. Bath and bedtime around here were as routine as brushing your teeth (we did that, too).

But it was in fact those daily routines and all the moments in between that made this the best summer ever. It was chasing my boys around our backyard while one was eating rocks, and the other trying to climb the slide. It was trying to prepare healthy meals while 2 hungry and growing boys were yanking on my legs. It was listening to Owen and Aaron's first word ("woof, woof") every time we passed a dog out on our walks, and then hearing them repeat it, over and over and over again until we got back home. It was lathering two wiggle worms up with sunscreen every day, when sitting still was the last thing on their minds.  It was seeing the curiosity in their eyes as they stopped in their tracks to pick up a stick out in the yard. It was driving across town to meet up with other twins and their mommas, who just get it. It was hearing the giggles of brothers who, on occasion, do not want the same toy at the exact same second, and think it is amazingly fun to play peek-a-boo with each other in the curtain on our patio door. It was taking Owen to get his 1st haircut and watching him be so brave sitting in that big red chair. It was climbing through tunnels at the park on playground equipment that clearly wasn't built for adults. It was both boys sitting in my lap to read the book Dinosaur's Binkit every single day. It was thanking God for Aaron's 2 top teeth, that finally broke through after months of painful teething. It was being there to get them out of their cribs when they woke up from every single nap. It was teaching the words "ishy" and "diaper" and "all done" and "big truck." It was driving my car home from lunches out with Daddy and looking back into the mirrors to see my 2 little pumpkins zonked out from a busy day. It was perfecting my tractor noises and crawling around the kitchen floor. It was saying "no, no" for the 817th time when the boys tried to pick the flowers from the pots on our deck. It was witnessing the boys "hug" for the first time, by leaning their heads towards each other and pausing momentarily before bedtime each night. It was....perfect.

I am so fortunate that my "real job" as a teacher allows me the summers "off" to stay home with my 2 most favorite 1 year olds. I know that it will be hard to leave them in someone else's care as I head back to start another school year tomorrow. The tears will be hard to fight back (okay, so they are already rolling as I type this now..)

And so, even though we didn't pick up any souvenirs from an out-of-state resort, my heart is filled with more memories than those kinds of vacations can buy, spent right here at home.

Scroll through the many photos from this summer below.....