Some Summer Stuff

The heroes and Betsy with their popsicles.

I really have no idea why this painting project surprised me



Ingrid took some pictures of us at the beach. June 2009
Sam's tennis form. Wimbledon? We were watching Wimbledon and so when he went for his second tennis lesson he was shuffling his feet back and forth - hysterical. He thought it was weird that Andy Roddick got a mirror when Roger "Feathery" got a cup.







It seems silly to blog about weather, since that topic is for polite conversation that you have with semi-strangers, but this summer in Richmond has been really good. I really don't like the summers here. When someone asks me if I like Richmond I say, "yes, but it is awful in the summer." It can be 87 degrees but the heat index is something like 102. Ridiculous. You can't even get dry after you get out of the shower. So, the weather is pretty key to my summer survival and it has been so nice. The fact that we have been able to go to the park and doing anything outside is surprising and is keeping the peace around our house.

This summer is different because I have scored myself a helper. She is a student from the University of Richmond but lives in NYC. She has an internship in Richmond this summer and is currently living in our basement. In exchange for that, she helps with the kids about 10 hours a week. It has been great. We are all really happy with the situation. The kids love her and Joel and I get to go out at least twice a week. We have been able to go out from 3-10 - totally unheard of! It's so helpful to have someone who can sit with the children through what feels like endless dinner times and we don't have to pay too dearly for it. The kids really like her, as Sam said, "She is my favorite big person." This little situation has made our lives a lot easier. She works during the day and she is out with her friends a lot of the time, and then she is here when we need her. It's nice having someone around. At this point, with only 1 more weekend to go before she leaves, I am not very excited to going back to the way it was. It's nice to not have the high expectation anxiety that comes with booking a babysitter and making sure you have the time of your life while the clock is ticking.
The kids have changed their play too. Flying is still the theme around here, but it's not Peter Pan it's Superheroes. Sam is Superman. Oliver is Batman. I made some (very bad quality capes - luckily they are not at the stage yet where homemade things aren't as good as the store bought stuff). So, it turns out that superheroes aren't necessarily appropriate for 4 year olds, that stuff can be kind of scary. So, we've spent a lot of time on youtube.com watching the theme song from Superman and seen Christopher Reeve flying everywhere and saving helicopters. Sam likes to dress like the man of steel, but you have to do with what you've got. So, he wears his Spiderman costume (it's blue and red, underwear on top - since Superman has that on his costume) and his cape. Sometimes he puts on a button down shirt and then pretends to rip it open to show the big "S". It's classic. Oliver isn't in to dressing up too much, he just walks around and repeats everything that Sam says and basically just being a monkey.