It's all a little much, thanks

two boys, two girls,

all that hair

We are moving the boys into two separate spaces. It's the right time and all that. But man. I had no idea the time that it would consume. Essentially we are losing a boatload of storage space, our office, and guest room all at once and condensing it all into one small room. It's been a good time to purge!

So there is not much going on around here between me and the sewing machine, for starters. Creative endeavors? Ha. Packing boxes a bit at a time is more like it. And I hate the chaos of my house right now, so I can't even really get excited about photos lately. I am misplacing things left and right and feeling a bit nuts. Most of the creative conversations I have lately go like this:

J: What day should we rent the wallpaper steamer?

me: Um, Sunday? And then we can spackle the walls, right?

J: Sure, but let's get all the pictures down.

I: OK, I'm off to paint that dresser now. I just finished sweeping the attic so that we can move some stuff up there. But first, a bunch of trash and yard sale stuff has to come down.

there was this wonderful purple glittery ball,

that did not photograph properly

It's like this elaborate game of strategy, where every action depends on many other small actions being performed in the right sequence. I'm terrible at this but thankfully I am married to a patient strategist who can just tell me what to do when. Add this to the fact that I usually start getting cranky with summer at about this time anyway and you will have a picture of how I am approaching my limit with summer and her lack of form and general level of chaos. (oops, I guess I am early with my whining, just like everything else this year.)

In other news, Sylvan turned 8! (Remember 7?) We had a really glorious day of quintessential summer: bowling, followed by swimming and dinner and cake at the lake with several dear friends and family. It was my first experience of big ball bowling and not candlepin, which is a unique Northeastern phenonmenon. And here is what I think of the big balls: Really Difficult, Unwieldy, and Heavy! (There was a one-armed bowler there who really blew my mind!) Potential for bodily injury is ramped WAY up.

Have we shared with you the wonders of a watermelon in the lake? For sport? It is a short-cut to pure joy and tons of giggling. You can toss it in the air or propel it underwater! Sometimes it surprises you and pops up in unlikely places! This was also part of our festivity! (No you don't need to grease it first, this sounds to me like a mess on your bathing suit.)

And we had to get the requisite dock-jumping pics!

Are you a leg-out-to-the-side jumper?

Or more of a graceful beauty?

Perhaps you're more inclined to take a leisurely stroll off the edge:

At the end of the day, it was golden, and I couldn't stop taking photos of so many beautiful faces. Here is the birthday boy, newly brave with dogs and water on his face while swimming.