in metaphors: Driving Back from Colorado

Can't believe how fast 6 weeks went! The drive back took us another 5/6 days. I have to say, even though I usually LOVE to stay in hotels and LOVE to eat out....it's got kind of old! Eating out with a toddler is just not that fun and staying in hotels gets old pretty fast. Once he's in bed at 8 pm we can't really leave to go do anything so we'd be stuck just watching TV or well, that was it! I also got this terrible sinus cold which has led to problems hearing in my ears. Driving through the mountains with increasing sinus pressure was just not that fun! However, we survived!

Home was indeed sweet to see again and made even sweeter since our house sitter planted some beautiful flowers in our garden to greet us! What a nice surprise! I am amazed however, how much needs to be done around here. Life is busy with organizing and keeping a home again. I like the busyness but find myself a little confused what to do with Silas. He's changed so much! He's talking all the time, so curious about everything, climbing, wanting to help with stuff. I need to re-learn how to be with him all day by myself! Summer weather here is cold and wet right now so we're a bit limited with what we can do outdoors. I'll have to start getting creative.

Another realization: the baby is coming way sooner than I'll be ready for! So much to do to fix up the house and get organized before baby #2 arrives. Are we crazy???

A big thing on my to-do list is to finish this quilt I've been working on (for ages), paint our bedroom, maybe change out the vanities in our bathrooms (eek) and learn how to get this toddler of mine to eat something healthy! I'm in the throes of trying out the book "Sneaky Chef" and have been pureeing veggies like a madwoman so I can start hiding them in recipes. He's such a picky kid and only wants to eat 'loo-la' (his word for yogurt) and 'cooookie' (how did he learn that when we haven't even given him that many??). Grrr.

I'll have to outsmart him with some cooking prowess. I just gave him some 'juice' that had some carrot juice mixed in with OJ and some blueberry/banana/avocado drink. I felt very sneaky and very relieved to know that he was getting SOME nutritional value more than ketchup and carbs.

Any tips for getting a toddler to eat, well, anything? Or anything healthy?

I go back to work this Sunday- feels like awhile for sure! It'll take a bit to get back to some kind of routine here. But this summer is still full of camping, weddings, trip to Saskatoon and many other adventures. We'll see if I ever DO find a routine!

Here's some pics from our trip back: