Where did the summer go!?

Dearest Castillo Children,

Yeah... remember when I didn't write at all on the blog over the summer? I totally do. It all started because I got super sick. I mean SUPER sick. We had this horrible stomach flu bug thing for two weeks straight. Annalise would throw up...then Nora would throw up.... then I would throw up... then Annalise would throw up. I even started calling it the Flu that would never end and replaced all the lyrics to the This is the Song that Doesn't End pertaining to our flu. It was bad, kids. When we all FINALLY recovered it had left in its wake a trashed house and one tired momma. I think I am barely recovered from it now, several months later.

The month of July was a blur... I remember the 4th. We spent that at your Grammy and Pop-pop's house. We swam and ate BBQ chicken. Nora got to use a sparkler for the first time and we watched a bunch of fireworks thanks to your Great Uncle Dave. I also remember that we did a lot of fun summer activites like summer movies, swimming, library story time and playing with friends. In July was also my birthday. My Home Teacher and his wife came over and painted my bathroom while I went to an audition for a musical. Sadly I didn't get it, (not too sad since I realized it wasn't the show I thought it was until AFTER the audition, oh well.) but that night your sweet dad threw me a surprise mock-tail party with fondue! I had no clue and he had called all the ladies over to join me. It was so super sweet and made my birthday so wonderful.

Then there was the month of August. OH, MAN! That was a crazy month! Quick re-cap then I'll blog about each of them. August: Trip to Utah with just me and the girls, Nora's 3rd Birthday party, Camping Trip with Castillo Family, Nora started PreSchool and Swim lessons. We were traveling a lot and spent a lot of time with family. I am happy to say that I got to see both sides of my family (Todd's and mine) this last month and that was such a joy. However, traveling with a 1 year old and a 3 year old is EXHAUSTING! I love my girls but being out of their element was SO difficult. I am glad that summer is over for now. We're trying to get back into a normal routine and I'm struggling with the new joys of a 3 year old. I love 3 and I kinda hate 3. I love that Nora singing songs, has this great imagination and can do a lot of things for herself now. I hate that she feels like she can back-talk, order her little sister around and pouts like you would not believe. I'm trying to figure out how to parent a 3 year old. I think 2 was way easier.

I might keep it short for tonight and try to blog about each of the events for August over the course of this next week. We'll see.

With much love!

Your Mother