It's the last full week of summer vacation and I plan to live it up. I know sounds silly but I love having my girls with me. I think since I work every afternoon I am motivated to have fun mornings with them and since we didn't take a full week off to go away I am pushing as much quality time together as possible.
When I first had my daughter I didn't have anyone close to me who had kids or who wanted to give me advice or input or took me under their roof to do play dates or kid activities. None of my friends had children and I was so eager to get involved in kid stuff that I actually joined a Mommy meet up group in Fairfield County online. It was amazing. They taught me what activities were available around town. What gym classes and mommy and me classes to take. Now 8 years later my sister moved back to town and she has a one 1/2 year old. I am loving showing her the robes.
Four mornings a week we go out with the kids and it's been amazing. I wish I had someone close to me who would be willing to do this when I had a baby that it makes me even more motivated to show her all the amazing things out there to do that I had to figure out on my own. And let's be honest some things do cost money but a ton are FREE. We split a couple family memberships and now our kids have different options of where to go play but we also go to local parks and beaches and they are all free. My daughters did two free camps this summer. The library has free events. It's amazing the resources available.
It's been a really awesome and fun thing having the cousins play together. When I pick my sister and niece up my niece screams on top of her lungs as if she saw a Rockstar. I have never had anyone have that reaction of me pulling in the driveway in my minivan. My friend gave me a car seat she doesn't need so I could keep a permant one in my car for my niece.
It's amazing memories we are creating together and the love they have for one another is awesome. We have even helped eachother with babysitting so we can have some alone time. We really look out for one another. I wished I had this when my oldest was a baby but I met a lot of amazing moms along the way and were able to create memories and build friendships that way. Now I get to live it up and what's better than with family who enjoys our company as much as we enjoy theirs.
