The Best Day Ever

According to the kids we've been having a lot of  "best day evers" around here! That is very good news as I feel it has been an exceptionally busy summer. Given the young ages of the kids and my decision to work outside the home, I often wondered if I was around enough to give them lots of "best day evers". Right or wrong, I rationalized my choices in favorable statistics - as I am not at home with them every day the percentage of "best day evers" (BDEs!) are higher due to a smaller sample size. Narcissistically, I am attributing BDEs to me being around -  it makes me feel better! And when you feel better, you parent better, right?! This type of me-swayed logic ensures I have few bad days!! Happy pills for the egotistically mad.

To attempt to compensate for being busy, I have done some crazy things in the hopes of  providing BDEs - like zoo camps for Tings that are 80 miles roundtrip a day (not including driving to the office) in rush hour.



Once again, thank goodness, for my parent's jumping in to help. My carefully planned logistics fell apart on Day1 when I had to attend a late evening meeting. I think Tingu enjoyed it but we were all exhausted by week's end.

Cheetahs at the Zoo!

Not completely surprising but Zoo camp did not get BDE exclamation. As a reminder, to mainly myself, the weekends that were most highly acclaimed were ones spent chilling with the guys. The kids were much more adept at self-serving BDEs then I gave them credit for - I just had to set the stage and they were off:

Indulging desires to experiment early in the morning ensured I enjoyed a full cup of coffee warm till the end - without a reheat.

Hunie smelling his experiment - seems pleased with the results!

We attempted to play hide and seek:

Hunie hiding and Tingu building an inconspicuous fort to hide in....one day.

My dad used to do a very convincing version of ride the tiger - I tried but reverted back to standard horse, much to Tingu's chagrin. The kids sat on B & my backs' and battled each other with swords commanding, "Ne-how horsey!" Mandarin and horse noises seem to be the same for my 3 year old...yes, the one I brag about being very adept at languages....

The guys are riding "the horse" tandem and backward...B's knees have yet to fully recover...

Buying lots of edible googely eyes and figuring out something to do with them....and when it involves sugar
all the better.

Presents for my cousins - who have always suffered through all my wierd cooking concoctions and now seem to be indulging the hobby...(thank you for the ice cream maker!!)

More messy - mashmellowy junk food...

Huns knocked over most of the ingredients on the floor ...twice.

Waterfight parties -

Welcoming committee:

I have given in - sometimes we spend all Sunday morning in bed with all our Apple devices. The kids at least have to start off with educational games but as soon as I am not looking Subway Surfer reigns !

Tingu's weather forecast included, "terrifying storms" as he intrepretted Google weather icons for severe thunderstorms! 

Sadly, I had to give up on Tingu playing tennis this summer. He was much more keen on dressing like a tennis superhero then actually playing the sport. I debated a lot about letting him quit but it feels right - we will give it another shot next summer.



I hope they figure out how to make most days their BDEs though adulthood. As a parent, that would give me a lot of satisfaction. There has been a lot of press coverage lately on if and how women can have it all. I don't believe anyone, male or female, has it ALL so I generally disregard these articles, however, I am very grateful for what B & I do have and it is in large part due to my parents and the strong support of extended family.

After-work circus show - in every sense of the word!

An ode to the grandparents blog is long overdue, as they truly provide the everyday BDEs for the kids.



 As my in-laws are coming soon, I am sure I will have even more to write about on that topic shortly!