Spoiler Alert: Dancing toddlers ahead!
It is 6:30 in the morning. Landon is already off on a road trip to Colorado with our friends (we're joining them tomorrow) and since I woke up every hour all night thinking it was time for him to leave, I figured, what's another hour of sleep at this point? I'll just blog instead. James is at swim practice, Winston is snoring in my bedroom, and the girls are *hopefully* still asleep in their room but I'm not going to check because it feels like a Schrödinger's cat situation.
Speaking of Winston snoring in my bedroom. He sort of sleeps there now. He usually sleeps with Landon, but with him gone at Camp PapaGigi this week, we decided to put Winston in his crate in the TV room. He did not appreciate his crated accommodations and woke us up at 6 a.m. barking to be let out. 6 a.m.! My children all sleep later than this and normally, so does Winston! And because we know the importance of creating firm boundaries for impressionable young humans/canines, we totally just let him sleep in our room the next night.
He was so excited.
And he slept until 8! James went to swim, I got up and showered, and Winston was still there loudly and laboriously snoozing at the foot of our bed.
He did rouse himself to give me a little side-eye when he saw I was taking embarrassing pictures of him, but then he went right back to sleep.
I thought his melodious snoring would drive me crazy, but with a white noise machine on high in my ears and my love of Winston in my heart it actually didn't bother me at all. And so James's jealousy of Winston grows.
Oh! In other important Winston news- he wore his first t-shirt!!
He... did not love it.
But he did look h*ckin handsome. (So I'm like the last person in the world to discover Dog Rates, but I love it with my whole heart; it tickles my funny bone and and I possibly lost about 2 hours of my life reading the twitter feed back to its very beginning a couple weeks ago and spamming my family text group with favorites.)
Also, turns out he's a youth small? He knew he was so petite?! My adult small looks ridiculous on him and really brings out his wrinkles, poor guy. Claire's shirt was much better.
The big kids got home from Camp PapaGigi yesterday. I met my mom in Corsicana to exchange them- they were super excited to see me, or so I thought until I saw their reaction to seeing Winston.
They had a FABULOUS time and were sun-kissed and exhausted and full of stories on the drive home. And then, once we got home, they showed me how much they'd missed me by whining and attempting to drive me crazy until I finally threw up my hands and yelled to Landon, "I hope you weren't acting like this at Papa and Gigi's house!"
"Of course not!" he replied, truly shocked, "we were great there!".
My mother confirmed this to be true.
And so, mere hours after our joyful reunion, I was already longing for my only-Cora-child. It really was a special few days with her. She loved me picking her up from school - and even dropping her off a few times! And not that I ever doubt the value of Tara, but MAN did I miss her on Thursday when I spent an hour in the car racing from work to the house to school to the pool, frantically changing Cora into her swimsuit in my car in her school parking on a 100 degree day and still getting to her 30 minute lesson 13 minutes late.
I loved, loved this week, and it warmed my heart when I held Cora's tiny hand upon request in her school hallway and she looked up at me and beamed "Mommy, it is so special to me that you pick me up." But I'm also with Cora as she sighed later, "Mommy, I also just miss my Tara."
And so with all my ducklings back in town, we did some unpacking, washing, and re-packing for our next trip that Landon was leaving on immediately. We picked up Cora at school, who squealed in joy at seeing her big sibs, and then shoved food in their faces so we could rush off to Cora's dance recital!
Oh yes- her "'cital" was finally here -- and now, in a Hip Hop Cheer edition!
She was a little skeptical about her outfit ("I'm not wearing my Cinda-well-wa dress?"), but decided to embrace the sparkle shorts and tolerate her old athletic shoes, despite how inappropriate they seemed for a dance recital ("Are we sure I don't need my bah-way shoes?").
The dances were hilarious and adorable, and the cheers obviously very heartfelt, though unclear who or what they were cheering for.
Cora loved every single minute and was ALL IN for every move. Total dedication. Total focus. Lots of enthusiastic waving.
She continued to side-eye anyone who got near her tape spot on the floor and took the whole thing very seriously while also wearing an ear-to-ear grin.
When we got in the car she gave a big sigh and said "Mom. I just can't wait until my next 'cital AGAIN."
We can't either. I even told her we could sign up for big girl dance classes next year if she wants to. It'll be a whole new world for us.
Annnnd now Cora just came out of her room (RIP to the cat), wearing her fully packed backpack, her best traveling dress, and a can do attitude, TOTALLY ready to rock that road trip ... that we're not leaving on until tomorrow.
Until then- packing and errands ahoy. Also, figuring out how to fit Winston into a small suitcase. I'm sure he'd be a great hiking companion. As long as we could also pack his wagon.
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