Ah, what starts out rough can often end up awesome! Thanks for the kind words and encouragement on Saturday’s post — we all have those rough days, and sometimes just writing about it puts it in perspective; it’s a bad day, not a bad life! 
This weekend we had a lot of down time — not a lot of plans and not a lot of housework going into the weekend, which was just what we needed after nearly a week without Andrew last week. Sometimes weekends turn out great if we just let them! We marveled at the enormous pumpkin in our garden — now what do you do with a huge orange pumpkin in the middle of August? I haven’t the slightest idea because we weren’t expecting pumpkins until October… 
And more of these slack-lining shenanigans — it’s so much fun! And that Milo is such a bookworm lately! Who knew the day would come when he would choose sitting very still on a blanket in the shade over running and climbing like a monkey on the playground equipment? Not that I’m complaining…
We also partook in a really great block party on Sunday. They blocked off our street and we all set up the slack line, a keg of beer, popsicles and tables of goodies for the kids. The city firetruck came and let the kids check out the equipment, which of course was amazing for all the kids. 
And one of our neighbors juggled fire… 
… while riding a unicycle. You know, the typical neighborhood stuff. 
It was a good one. The end of summer is near, and we are on the cusp of the birthday bonanza over here. First one up, Oliver! What a great summer it has been!
Catching up on the highs and the lows, life with young kids really is just an endless cycle of bliss and torture! No matter how many years ago by, it still amazes me how fast it can all turn- a perfect day suddenly goes sour when they get overtired, or hungry, and everyone is crying and screaming and my brain is swimming. I’ve noticed with two that it’s more extreme because they feed off eachother, so the great times are even more incredible… and the tough ones are total insanity. I imagine three is even more nuts on a bad day (and even more fun in a good one).
As always, I’m totally envious of your neighborhood and your block party looks awesome. Also, Oliver looks huge all of a sudden! Crazy how fast they change.
Glad things perked up, just in time!
Oh and most importantly, that pumpkin! Nice job, that thing is gigantic.
Love all these shots. Looks like so much fun. Where are those blankets from? The ones with the buffalo?
Thank you, Margaret! The blanket came from Montana, from a family friend about 20 years ago, ha ha! So sorry I can’t be more helpful. But I will keep my eye out for something similar and let you know if I find one!