seven and the secret beach

Scout asked me if I was 32 the other day. I'm pretty sure I turned 32 a month after Catcher was born, so the answer is no. I know this because yesterday was his 7th birthday. We wanted to do something new and fun to celebrate, so I hatched a plan involving a secret Austin beach--I would tell you more, but it's a secret (duh)--and left the children a note on the kitchen table saying "Good morning! Put on your bathing suits and get ready for a super secret adventure." Catcher tried to decode the message while Scout wondered who had sent the letter. Tillie was preoccupied thinking about what dessert would befall us on this blessed birthday.

We left the house around 9:00am and brought donuts--a Catcher birthday breakfast tradition--and watermelon on our super secret adventure. On the way there we heard rumblings about "Where are we going...just tell us!" and "Are we still in Austin?" But once we arrived at our destination, the ten-minute car ride and short hike down a windy path to our super secret location was all but forgotten. When the sub-ten group landed on the beach--I use the term "beach" very loosely here; it's really a quiet stretch of sand and rocks along the Colorado river--it was an instant playdate with nature. They learned how to skip rocks under the tutelage of their father (well, Tillie mostly just chucked big rocks into the river), and Catcher made friends with a big dog. Whenever a kid gets to hang out with a dog on his birthday you know it's a good one.

splash down

I took these looney tunes to the splash pad this afternoon. It's one of those free summer fun activities in which we had not yet partaken one month into our break, so it was time to give it a shot. It turned out to be one of my better ideas because there was a birthday party happening there and Scout's BFF was attending the party. Great because 1) Scout hasn't seen her since school let out and 2) Catcher convinced her to swipe some lemonade from the birthday party for him. There was also a mariachi band playing, so it all felt very festive.

home of the brave

I had this great idea. We needed sparklers and an American flag. I went to six stores yesterday morning with the three children searching for sparklers and an American flag. Nothing. Actually, I'm wrong. We did find something when we stopped into a local bread shop and the nice young man--I think I'm old enough to call a guy in his early 20's a "nice young man"--behind the counter gave my children a giant Rice Krispie treat in the form of an American flag. However, that wasn't the American flag I was looking for for the photo shoot I was masterminding in my mind.

To make a long (and boring) story short (too late?), it only took Alex one trip to Dollar Deals to come home with not one but two American flags and a pack of sparklers. So this is what we got when the Wheat family tackled a July 4th photo shoot:

room for five

This was my view from the bottom bunk of the room Alex and I shared with our three children at the beach last weekend. The bunk beds were twin-over-full, so there was room for two on the bottom. I opted to sneak into bed with Tillie instead of sleeping next to the big guy, however, for fear of rolling out onto the floor in the middle of the night.

Believe it or not, bed times were quiet (thank you sun and beach for wearing out the kids) and mornings were chill as the little ones woke up and tended to their summer reading. Group meals with the nine other families (for a grand total of 19 children) were a different story. Chaos ensued, but I have to admit I didn't mind it. Sixteen children other than your own running around screaming for juice or bouncing in baby chairs crying for milk took your mind off your own craziness. And then there was the beach to wear them out during the day so you could do it all again tomorrow.