Summer is in full swing and that means finally a few days of sunlight! With the warmer temperatures appears our three fashion icons, who -unlike their mother- instantly boasted a tan and brightened blonde locks with their new fashionista attitudes. With Grandma Sue in town for the month as our built in daycare, that means days spent at home and fifty thousand outfit changes. Her visits always equal a lot of fun activities and goodies; new artwork decorates my walls, colorful bathwater now has to be saved for future use (don’t ask…) and crystals and gems are growing on the counter. At this point it’s hard to picture summer without her after several years of visits.

As shown in the photos, we’ve apparently entered the girls’ high fashion era—think stilettos, strappy sandals, and a rotating wardrobe of too-big junior and women’s dresses, now making daily appearances in our living room runway and around town. Each of the girls handpicked their own thrift store heel, scoring treasures like sparkly pink wrap-around stilettos, black chunky heels with sparkly butterflies fluttering up the leg straps, and silver flats that shimmer with every stomp.

Harper, in true firstborn form, struts around the house in 3” heels like she’s been doing it since birth; unlike me, who barely survives standing in heels, let alone walking in them. I tried on the size seven ones at their request; and nearly didn’t survive that five minutes. Harper’s skill is frankly rude it’s so natural. And Emerie and Reagan, well their confidence and thrill of style far outweighs their coordination, but don’t tell them that! They still charge into the backyard in their new shoes, attempting to climb playhouse, swing, and help with gardening with all the grace of baby giraffes on stilts (great visual right?!). But hey- as Grandma always says, beauty is pain….right?

Along with the heels came an influx of XS dresses from the women’s section and enough sweaters to dress all the Bluey grannies. The girls have a sixth sense at spotting their desires; it might just be in their DNA from my skill finding a good deal in clearance sales. One day it’s a pink off-the-shoulder sequin dress, the next it’s a glittery black gown that looks like it was made from recycled sandpaper. They also swap colors and parade around, announcing they look like their sister. And comfort is clearly not a requirement. The discovery of oversized cardigans too, that naturally go with evening wear or even pajamas pants, support this fashion-forward household. After several weeks of searching, Harper and Reagan excitedly found thrifted hooded bathrobes, one pink and one teal. Emerie initially claimed an adult-sized purple robe, rocking it like a tiny boss until I caved and ordered her a kid-sized version—at which point she graciously “allowed” Sue to wear her discarded one. Even on a few warm nights, these three goofballs still curl up in bed wrapped in them like cozy, baby burritos. I mean honestly, it looks kind of cozy…if it wasn’t the warmest time of year for us!

Papa Cliff stopped in a couple weeks ago and delivered roller blades, which caused quite the discussion on who received what color, and very interesting times watching them try to run across the front yard and not lose all their teeth or break any bones. They excitedly rocked their half pajamas, half winter wear with elbow and knee pads, another fashion forward style apparently. And no, they cannot skate like Craig- who is exceptionally good at it- but they sure wish they could!

Grandma Sue visits always equal your body weight in goodies; and no, we are not complaining! As the girls have grown, they are a little more manageable on the cooking output, not eating handfuls of flour, licking their fingers every five seconds, or sneaking chunks of butter (hey they are their grandma’s granddaughters haha). Fashion forward outfits contribute to this activity as well, with messy buns in the morning for scones and much more handwashing than in years past. The past few weeks they’ve tried their hand in peach pie and crust (Emerie), key lime cheesecake, multiple flavors of delicious scones, and you can’t forget the non-desserts, like homemade fried rice and favorite and local flour explosion, chicken fried steak.

The girls, Sue and I spent the first real sun of the summer out of town, and what better Father’s Day gift to a busy girl dad then giving him two days of kid-free silence while we harassed the Kenai Peninsula. The weekend was smooth overall, the girls bonded with their new identical twin cousins, barbecued with family and made smores, and discovered a few treasures at local garage sales. It is fun (for me!) to try to figure out which twin is which, something that is always fun when trying to distinguish who is who on identicals, and Reagan is getting really good at it. We rounded out the trip stopping for the waffles at the train restaurant, and were back home in no time.

It’s not all fun and games when the parents are off at work- there’s still a busy household to run. Thankfully, Grandma Sue runs a tight ship and keeps the girls busy with chores. And by chores, we mean supervised chaos with good intentions and efficiency. For example, the reseeding of spots in the yard. In order to avoid stomping the spots, the girls “helped” throw grass seed, with a level of distribution far exceeding the adults and their enthusiasm. So far all are abiding by the rule well, and excitedly notice as grass starts to fill in since they helped with the process. Around the house, they’re also tackling the essentials: loading the dishwasher, making beds, putting away clean laundry, and attempting to clean up the daily toy explosion. It’s a group effort -with some fighting and arguing in between- and the job jar is never empty!

In addition to having little fashionistas, we once again have tiny entrepreneurs with a homemade lemonade stand, all inclusive with colorful Rice Krispy treats (extra marshmallows) and M&M cookie bars. Picture three sets of energetic hands helping Grandma Sue stir the cereal; it was a chaotic and hilarious scene to watch. Yes, hands were washed, and yes, we limited the direct cereal-to-mouth ratio…at least until the end. The giggling lasted about as long as the stirring. Sign making didn’t receive the same level of enthusiasm as last year’s marathon art session, but the results were still pretty customized and cute. Everyone rocked lemon-themed outfits and, for the most part, stuck to the front yard, where they joyfully harassed any passerby and our good sported neighbors. All agreed to spend their revenue on fancy nail polish at the nail salon, and hopefully we are working toward a good understanding that hard work equals reward, even at this age.

Each morning, just like during the school year, Emerie continues to patch her eye and still questions why she has to do it when the other two don’t. In the past month she’s become more aware that her weaker eye doesn’t always appear straight, especially at night, and was really stuck on the thought for a few days. We’re not sure if a friend pointed it out but it’s the first time she’s ever noticed, and it doesn’t seem like it came from her sisters since patching is a normal occurrence throughout the years.

Needless to say, we’re working hard to reassure her that patching strengthens her eye, and that it won’t be forever. We also remind her that her sisters will likely end up in glasses eventually, given the genetic odds stacked against them with both parents and grandparents in the bad eyesight club. Our hope is to ease her worries now, before they snowball into something bigger… especially in a house that’s destined to have three teenage girls under one roof. We know she will appreciate all these efforts as an adult, because glasses or not, she will have sight in both eyes!

Other summertime adventures include a stop at the local reconnaissance fair, a first for the girls and during an excessive downpour afternoon. Excluding the cold hands, wet raincoats and attire covered in clay from learning pottery, it was quite a fun afternoon. And not so cold as to avoid an ice cream treat (according to the girls…because I was cold!). Our annual visit to the Scottish Highland Games was also a success again this year. The Douglas kilts aren’t nearly as oversized with growing kids, and we managed to snap a family photo with the Douglas scarves from Grandma Anne in Scotland last month. With only a few rain sprinkles here and there and mostly sun, the girls rocked their kilts, drank a gallon of fresh lemonade, gleefully found the dip and dots booth, sported cute face paint and begged to do the harnessed trampoline jumps. They nibbled on lunch during the Harp Twins concert and handed their coloring to the twins before getting our annual, three-sets-of-identicals photo. Everyone enjoyed watching the dance clubs highlight their dances. Another highlight was all three volunteering to go on stage with other kids and learn one of the dances, and they did pretty well. Stage fright is not a concern in this house (other than Reagan occasionally) and they listened, followed along, and gave it their best. All three get their rhythm from their dad 🙂

I can’t believe July is already here. We continue to get out and about and enjoy this great state, visit parks and ride bikes through the neighborhood, and get out of town when possible. For now, we will continue crafting, baking, picking all the wildflowers, and enjoying our time together.

❤