The rest of summer

What a month it has been for us. Honestly, June was the only month of our summer (even though summer didn't technically start until the 21st) that contained much rest. Starting this coming weekend, we are busy, busy, busy basically through the end of September. Between family reunions, multiple weddings, vacation, visits with friends both here in town and in other states, we are pretty much occupied. I am both really looking forward to it, and also a little panicky thinking about how much travel, packing and unpacking, and planning we are going to have to do. The coordination between both of our work schedules, Chris' evening classes, and childcare for Eleanor is enough to make my head spin, and that's without adding in all the additional planning for taking care of the house, yard, and my tomatoes (!!) the times we are out of town. I fully expect the weeds to be completely out of control and all of my plants to be dead by the time September rolls around (but hopefully not).

That being said, I feel extremely lucky to have the help of family and friends and am very excited for everything on our agenda. We have best friends for neighbors who have stepped in to water plants and watch E numerous times already, and our sisters have all come down to help with childcare. In fact, my sister is planning on coming down to help us again very soon while I have to work and Chris is out of town...thank goodness! I really don't know how people do this without help.

Over the next month or so, Eleanor will have the chance to attend two family reunions and meet over 80 extended family members. In the coming weeks, I plan to be extremely protective of her sleep so I can at least attempt to set her up for success, because the last thing we need is a tired, grumpy baby with 40 brand new faces in front of her :)

So here's to meeting all these people (and more)...

And all these people (and many, many more)...

And yes, that is me as an 8/9 year old, approximately 20 years ago, with super thick bangs and a sweet purple bathing suit. Actually...we should totally recreate this picture because we are going to the same lake! About half the cousins above are now married, there are three new cousins, and a few of the cousins have children now, plus my grandma is no longer with us, but it would be fun to recreate the picture. If we do, I'll be sure to post it :)