1st summer adventure

one of my summer goals is to continue waking up at 6 to go for a run. 4 days in and so far, so good. disclaimer: I have lofty summer goals. I fully realize this. I am always high on the changes of life, and so I will blissfully ride the wave until it breaks. probably next week. ;)

after my run, I sat on the porch and enjoyed the brisk, cool, divine morning. it was so gorgeous. I worked on my ailing fern, pruning and watering. the other two ferns are thriving, so I thought i'd change them around, and also repot them. at this point Delaney was awake and on the porch with me. when I took down the middle fern, I set it down, and out flies 2 birdies. they love to make nests in our hanging plants and yet it's always such a shock when birds fly out. they surprised me by flying back and they are still chilling there. i'm ready to repot, so I home they make a speedy flight.

I wanted to keep our summer momentum going, so I texted a few friends to see if they'd like to adventure with us out to piney point lighthouse. sarah was the only taker, and we set out to get ready. we headed to the library to kill time while they got ready. little reader girl picked lots of books, including several junie b. - 1st grade books.

Delaney played, sometimes nicely, sometimes not. we are working on it.

Frankie played and looked through books. she'd find a book she liked and just lay on the floor and read.

aina's came and we loaded into the jolly green and out to piney point.
we're often grouchy.

our first stop: lighthouse! everyone loved the little door. :)

the girls went for it! they were all brave and excited... for the first few steps.

further up, the drama started. addie and abby were "terrified," and Delaney didn't want to go up at all. she finally decided to let me carry her up the final ladder, slightly precarious given the position and the profuse sweating that made my hands wet and my feet slip around in my flip flops. it was a hot day, but up in the lighthouse, it was excruciating.

we quickly realized a nice group pic was not happening.

so we settled for family pics. half of us were happy. :)

going down wasn't easy either. for some reason we decided sarah should go down first, and I kept adeline up with me so sarah could help the girls down. only, adeline wasn't happy about staying with me. so to add to the slippery, sweaty, hot, drama, we also had adeline crying and then Delaney joined in for good measure.

sarah didn't even have to duck to get into the mini door. :)

we asked our guide to take a picture of us.

the whole lighthouse would have been nice, but you know, you take what you get.

we found some shaded picnic tables and in the shade with the cross breeze blowing, it was a pleasantly awesome day. we ate lunch and then the girls ran and played on the grounds.

among other treasures, Frankie found a crab claw. we took a pic with the table carving to put in Frankie's summer journal - tbm (to be made).

Frankie doesn't match up with any aina's, which can be lonely sometimes, so I let her take my phone for awhile. she's so artsy.

and adorbs.

artsy and adorbs.

this bell was a source of major drama in the 3-year-old crowd when we first got there, but thankfully they got over it. also, Frankie got abby to take this of her...

and she took this of abby. abby's work was a tad better than franks here.

it was so hot. Frankie would come back to the shaded picnic area with perfect beads of sweat on her lip. like so:

these explorers climbed trees, swung on fences, and gathered all sorts of treasures.

Frankie came back and decided to have the crab claw eating the tittle.

our unmatched set. :)

they love each other. or at least Frankie loves adeline. :)

we had a few rocky moments, but for the most part they got along famously.

little dramatic cuties.

sweet girls.

and the lonely 5-year-old.

isn't she purty?

she's one of donahoo's dozens, one of the 12 Maryland lights designed by john donahoo.

the keepers quarters.

towards the end, Delaney was hot and done. she was pouty and wanting to be carried. my no-nap plan is not without kinks. Delaney was asleep before we even left the parking lot - ps.

ahhhhhh. happiness.

we walked out on the dock, but that was stressful with 6 little girls that want to hang their legs over the side of the dock.

we decided to let them wade a little to cool off before we headed to the museum.

adeline was our only casualty of war. she fell in the water. twice.

big girls! they all thanked us for taking them so they could have so much fun.

quick family pics with the sweet little light.

my crew was not as happy about pics. we started with a silly shot...

and it didn't help to make our regular much better. oh well.

Delaney and Frankie slept on the ride home, but woke up as soon as we pulled in. we cooled off with some ice cream and cartoons. we was ti-red. we had leftovers for dinner and had an easy and quiet night. lexi took the girls out to get fathers day gifts, and we got another nice storm. chris worked all day. matt went to help watsons move after work, and then to choir practice. since the last day of school was yesterday, I figured I should finish my poster. #nailedit

our 2nd day of summer was another slam dunk! yeah!