So Tired

I am in need of a weekend to recover from the weekend. Daddy had to be at a conference, and I have learned it's critical for us all to keep busy during those weekend, and boy were we busy!

Friday afternoon, I attended the camp closing ceremony. It was so fun to watch the kids do some of the songs and games they had been playing all week, and I brought two exhausted kids home with me. We ordered pizza and called it an early night to get ready for the very big weekend!

Saturday, we had our last ADF performance. Since Daddy couldn't go, Issa asked Abby to go along and then spend the night. The occasion required a selfie:

 We saw the Doug Varone company, and they were a more traditional contemporary company. The girls loved seeing dance that they felt like they knew; Evan was not entirely sold on the idea, but he said they were pretty good. The second piece was a new piece for them--we were only the second audience to see it--and it was based on the art of Joan Mitchell. They used the scrim as a canvas and the dancers as the pastels. Again, the girls and I were enthralled; Evan thought 45 minutes was a bit much of anything.

We headed home and the girls went straight to crafting while Evan waited outside for Henry to come. He came back in five minutes later with this:

 That would be a lizard tail. I was not happy. He was quite proud of himself.

As soon as Henry got there, the boys headed upstairs. I got exactly one picture of the boys:

 We had finger foods for dinner, which was a huge hit. We also baked cookies. I think my kitchen has recovered. They were so funny measuring and scooping. It's a miracle they came out well!

I was also so thrilled by how well all four kiddos played together. They put together a whole puppet show, complete with scenery and refreshments. It was too funny, and I loved listening to all of the laughter coming from upstairs.

Poor Henry did not make it all night. As we started to get ready for bed he got homesick. Poor Evan was so scared he would catch it! It took a lot of explaining. The girls were so sweet, though:

 After they were ready for bed, they invited Evan to be part of their party. Those children were up reading and giggling for-e-ver. I was so tired when they finally fell asleep.

They were up by 7:30 Sunday morning, and we had pancakes. The girls played dolls until Abby got picked up, and Evan contented himself with me.

Once we had the house put back to rights, the kids and I went back to school shopping! I am a huge fan of getting that out of the way at the end of July. The year round kids are already back, and most people aren't thinking about it yet. The stores start to panic about inventory overhead and we get great sales. Yesterday, everything was at least half off--and now we're finished! Poor Evan was less than enthused about his lack of options compared to Issa.. It is tough to see Issa pick out all kind of colors when his list is very, very specific. But I was feeling generous and let each kid choose a treat--which never happens--so he was pretty excited Issa chose an American Girl movie, and Evan chose a small Lego set, which he promptly built all by himself:

He was so proud! We also made peach roll-ups and gave Neela a much needed bath.

And that was the weekend. The kids are at the Museum for camp this week, and I'm back to working on all kinds of data. Here we go...