Eleanor was in town for a few days at the end of last week and the beginning of this week. I didn’t take any pictures. Well, I did take a few but they were unbearably bad so I deleted them. We had fun. Here’s a related picture of the girls at the Olympia Seafood Company (related in that we had mussels for a late dinner one night while Eleanor was here). It’s a stretch:

Jane is a little bit afraid of the crabs. Cate is consoling her. So sweet. My girls are starting to act like sisters and I love it.

carrot soup with fried bread crumbs, a photo by telfandrea on Flickr.

I am also finally feeling like cooking again. I get so tired of cooking and eating at the end of summer. It seems like a dreary, endless enterprise. But now it is Fall! And I can make soup again! This is Alice Waters’ carrot soup recipe from The Art of Simple Food. Truly simple and so delicious. I fried some bread crumbs for a garnish. Does anyone else think of You’ve Got Mail when they hear the word “garnish”? What are you doing? You can’t do that! That caviar is a garnish!

It’s been one of those weeks. I have felt slightly behind and slightly late for absolutely everything. My desk is piled up. New things are starting (preschool, a couple of other possible big things) and I am feeling overwhelmed and off my game. Telfer starts vacation tomorrow. He has a whole week off. We are going to finish our house projects (pictures forthcoming) and take Fall walks and maybe even go see a movie or two. I think it will be exactly what I need.

Cate had her first day of preschool on Tuesday at the brand-new children’s museum in Olympia. I was not at all sentimental about the start of preschool. This kid is ready. We arrived right on time and we were the last parent and kid there at the school. Then I picked her up right on time and I was literally the last parent to come get their kid – most parents and children were even completely gone by the time I got there. I was so confused and slightly irritated. Let them have preschool, people!

Cate is a little difficult to draw any details from but she did say this about her first day: “The other kids stepped on my shoes.” Anyway: these pictures are too fun.

Jane's actual birthday was on Monday. Cate thought we were going to have *another* party with the same people and more cupcakes so the day was decidedly low-key.

On Tuesday, Cate played with Grammy & Papa while I took Jane to the pediatrician for her two-year-check-up. If anyone wants a copy of her growth chart, my pediatrician literally made me 10 copies. I will totally mail you one! Jane is still in the 90th percentile for head size but is now finally on the growth chart for weight…in the 5th percentile. I am inordinately proud. We celebrated at the Bread Peddler with morning rolls. I love spending time with my girls one-on-one. 

The bookshelves at the top of the stairs are mostly done – I am still moving books around but they look so good. The upstairs is still in major disarray but these things just take awhile and we are having quite a bit of fun. We took the girls to Ikea one day last week. It was something else keeping them entertained. We all ate dinner for $6.69 however (meatballs!). Also, this broke about 18 safety laws but made for a very good picture:

I am feeling very nolstalgic over the end of summer. I feel like the girls had a SUMMER. A popsicles on the porch, swinging, walking in the neighborhood, beach trip kind of summer. I am feeling nolstalgic for Sunday afternoons with Telfer as well. We usually picked up fresh chicken rolls with peanut sauce at our favorite local Thai restaurant downtown and then had a glass of rose or white wine in our backyard when the girls were down for naps. We would eat and then talk about our week. Such a summery-type of memory. I am assuaging the nolstagia with the thought of this apple pie and the promise of a lovely Fall. I think this was the first time my apple pie looked as good as it tasted. Usually I freak out and Telfer has to help me with the pastry. I think my success is due to the fact that I am 34 now and squarely middle-aged. I no longer freak out at the possibility of wonky pastry. Maybe?

On Sunday we had a second birthday party for Jane. It was a rainy day party. All the guests wore rainboots. It was such a fun time celebrating our sweet Jane. For someone who is NOT CRAFTY I am sure having a great time doing birthday parties for my little girls.

My parents got Jane an itty bitty baby from American Girls. She loves it. Telfer took a really, really long video of her opening the present so I need to edit it before I can post it. 

You also might be wondering who some of the extra little girls are? Elizabeth has a new friend named Jason who has three beautiful, sweet little girls. We like girls in this family. That's all I am saying for now.

And now we are back home. This is Cate at approximately 7:15 in the morning. She was already dressed in her ballerina outfit when I got her up at 7:00. All of the sudden I realized that my old high school homecoming princess crown was in a box in the basement. We went downstairs to get it and you can tell she is completely thrilled with herself. I had not coffee yet so I was considerably less thrilled.

Ah, September. My favorite time of the year approacheth. The girls and I are headed to the farmer's market in a bit. In a season-spanning move, I am going to buy some local berries to freeze to use through the winter AND I am going to buy some apples for an apple pie to make sometime this weekend. 

We are in full-on project mode. We had a new bannister/shelving unit built for our upstairs while we were at the beach. We need to paint it and we have a a lot of fun ideas for the room at the top of the stairs that we are trying to implement in the next couple of weeks. We also had the girls' closet (it's really big) repaneled and Telfer put a laminate floor down as well. We still need to paint and then we are going to move both girls' beds into the closet. Doesn't that sound wrong? Pictures will be forthcoming of course.