Summer - Week 2!

And boom! Just like that, another week of summer has slipped away.

Helen and I went to Chicago (woohoo!) to visit a friend of mine from college, discovered that another friend from college happened to be visiting as well which resulted in a BBQ after a fairground hook-up. Photos in another post, when I remember to download the things off my phone.

When we returned, Helen spent her days at Knights of Columbus camp - which mostly meant hanging outside almost all day. Helen reported the camp was a lot more fun when she had slept the night before, than when she hadn't. This did not, however, encourage her to not sneak a book in bed at night! So yes, that makes two children that I now must wrestle books from after bedtime. This after hours parenting schtick is tiresome.

Connor went away to Boy Scout camp. Ed accompanied him for the first few (and rainy) days. Again, photos from that soon, if I can figure out how to pull them off Facebook. Sigh. Technology.

Helen enjoyed her stint as an only child, soaking up the attention, ability to choose what game we played at night, and even a night out dining with Ed and me. As soon as Connor returned, Helen spent the night at a friend's house, so he also got his own dining night out. Helen went for pizza followed by a trip to Pinkberry - Connor opted for Mussel Bar (a surprisingly kid friendly joint at 6:00).

Marathon training is officially on - and was kicked off by some mysterious ailment that I think was an acute case of sciatica. I could not even move without tremendous pain for two days, then I ran for 6 miles and everything seemed to loosen up (though my foot seemed to be trying to fall asleep a bit) and then the next day I ran 8 miles and voila - I was fine. I don't understand what happened and am naturally hopefully that this is just some weirdo thing associated with being old that doesn't pop up again this training cycle. I'm not quite ready to give up on running Marine Corps Marathon again. However, I really cannot miss any at-home training - given how many days away from home I'll be this summer. I'm already going to be plugging in a ton of solo miles, which will be tedious, I'm sure.

In other, possibly more exciting news, Helen has fully immersed herself in the internet and all it has to offer via an old iphone. We decided to get Connor a phone, and patiently waited for a buy  one get one free offer that I had heard were rare, but possible. The offer arrived, I took advantage of it, and Ed and I upgraded to new phones. This pushed my still decent phone to Connor, and Ed's barely serviceable phone down to Helen. There's no plan on Helen's phone, but she immediately got herself hooked up to the wifi in our house. She then proceeded to pretend to be just vaguely familiar with the vast expanse known as the internet, and asked me if I could help her find videos of puppies. As soon as I picked her phone up, she reached over, clicked on the internet and "Look Mom! I guess I already found them!". Oh dear. A wiser parent would've seen this as a sign of what's to come, but not me.

And what is to come, you might wonder? The next day she found a rent-a-puppy website, complete with price variation relating to cuteness of the puppy. I fully expect a puppy to show up at our house any day, as soon as she figures out how to enter the credit card information. Fun times are ahead, I'm sure. It might be time to up my parenting game.

Elaine