Our Summer in SLO, Part 2 {The Babysitter's Club}

When Maren offered for us to stay in her house while they were away on vacation, she asked that we come a few days early to watch her two girls while they photographed two weddings and then edited the photographs before they left.  We were all set for that to happen until about a week before we left when David found out that the previously scheduled installation at Georgetown needed to take place around the same time that Maren needed us.  Even though I offered to watch all four kiddos by myself, I'm SO glad that she had someone come in each day to watch Mila {her sweet 1 year old who likes to put everything in her mouth}.

So, we arrived the day before our babysitting duties began and made it just in time to go to Tessa's very special 4th birthday princess part {extravaganza}!  Sydney fell asleep in the car, all decked out in her Snow White costume, so I ended up holding her for the first part of the party.  I didn't take any pictures of the party, but let me just say it was all a blur of pink and princesses.  One highlight of the party was walking outside to find Olivia and her fellow Aries, Macy, with their clothes taken off and playing in the splash pad.

Once the party was over, we went in to downtown SLO to visit our friend Katie.  Olivia LOVES going in to Katie's shop so that she can try on clothes, shoes and purses.  And, Katie's so sweet to let her do it.  Even Sydney got in on the action this time.

 

Maren lives in a co-housing development, so she put us up in a guest room in the Common House before they left.  We sort of lived in limbo for a few days with stuff in our car, stuff in our guest room and stuff in Maren's house.  We hadn't had a chance to go to the grocery store, so naturally we had to seek out the closest donut shop for breakfast.

We had a great day with Avi and Mila.  It was so neat exploring Avi's little world ... she probably knows every nook and cranny of the 5 acres here.  We had lots of fun with the girls, but I was truly thankful for Maren's neighbor who was there to watch Mila.  Just having an extra set of eyes was so helpful.

The girls were pretty good for the most part...a few little screamfests here and there, but we all got through it.  It definitely made for a long day since Maren and Michael weren't back until after her girls were in bed and then I had to walk the girls back to our room and get them to sleep too.  

But, sleep they did and we managed to awake the next morning ready for round 2.  {She was so excited to flit on down to see Avi...and it only took her that first day to learn her way around!}

The second day was much like the first, only with a different babysitter for Mila and no nap for Sydney.  She crashed out on the couch while I did the dishes after Maren's kids were in bed.  She literally pulled away from watching a movie on the iPad with Olivia to lay herself down on the couch.  {She was only in a diaper because there was a major heatwave -- high 80s! -- and it was too warm for her flannel jammies.} 

While the weddings were over, the editing was just beginning, so I was sort of on-call to help out when I could.  We did need a little break though, so I took our girls back to our old stomping grounds in Nipomo and then to visit our old neighbor, Leslie.   And, you know, we went back for more donuts.  

The next day was more of the same...with a little more embracing of this hippie lifestyle.  Maybe a little too much embracing, if you ask me.

By the end of the four days of watching four kids, we were all pretty spent.  So, we handsomely rewarded ourselves with ice cream and sleep.

{Stay tuned for more of our Summer in SLO series!}