Was it just last weekend that we had graduation, and a big party, and the in-laws were here, and then I packed and flew to Arkansas and back? And got filmed in a studio in which the producer asking me the questions looked exactly like Dave Matthews, only about 10 years younger?

It feels like weeks ago. The students are gone now and everything is quiet and right now it is about 85 degrees out and humid. It is officially summer in my book!

Tonight my co-authors are flying to Madison for our 2-day work session to try to outline our book. I am so glad it is not me who had to get on another plane today! They are so nice to fly out here instead.

Today we went to a small town about 25 miles out of town. It was the original Swiss settlement in our state and Jake's great grandfather used to live there. He and his family have been going there for years, and his parents got engaged there. It is a cute historic small Swiss village (about 2,000 people) with giant plaster cows everywhere, pretty little shops selling chocolate and cheese and Swiss things, and nice delis and pubs. Jake got the idea that it'd make for a nice Sunday outing so we packed up the kids, spent the morning playing at a park in the center of the village, and then ate at a restaurant for lunch before heading home.

Yes, 2 restaurants in as many weeks for the kids! This is quite a big deal since we only took the kids to restaurants maybe 2-3 times in the first 2 years of their lives. But now they are big enough that they can sit up and eat food off the menu, and drink their milk out of the glasses, and we can practice appropriate restaurant behavior in the low-key setting of a weekend lunch. They once again did a great job and behaved very well. (Hmm. Maybe we should eat out more often.)

I've only been to this town once before and it was for Oktoberfest, on Jake's 27th birthday. We drove down on a Saturday and spent the day with his parents, aunts and uncles, and a bunch of friends (all there for Oktoberfest) and then we camped there overnight.

Nora said some funny things this weekend. On Saturday morning I gave them watered down juice at breakfast because we were out of milk. They basically never get juice like that, so it was a huge deal to them and they both downed 2 cups. Nora said, "It's a juicy day!" Then later she was feeling jealous and didn't want to share me with Milo. I said, "I'm Milo's Mommy too, you know." Nora thought for a minute, and then she said, "Daddy is Milo's Mommy!" Jake thought that one was sort of true.

Also, the kids were horrendous this afternoon. I have started to notice some things from the park, story time, play dates, and other outings: Nora and Milo are not like other kids. And not in a good way. They seem to be a year or two ahead when it comes to their verbal skills, but they seem...how do I put it...way more jerky than other kids. Like, more demanding. More difficult. More apt to fight. More apt to argue and talk back. Other kids their age don't have the language to really engage in the finer points of extended debate, so that's part of it, but holy cow. Are we raising a couple of jerks? I don't understand! We're so not permissive, we try to follow the books and stuff, but tonight was seriously nuts. Honestly Milo's behavior every night at dinner is so atrocious you'd think he was raised in a barn. And Nora...little Miss Debate Team...she thinks she's Perry Mason or something. It's ridiculous.

The best part is when I refuse to argue with her, which is basically all the time, and then she'll demand "Argue, Mommy! I want you to argue! I need you to argue, Mommy!" and she'll get seriously upset about it and then basically we're in an argument about whether or not we're having an argument.

Aaaaauuuugggghhhh!

Milo now thinks it's funny to spit, stick out his tongue, make disgusting throat noises, and basically be gross. We are ignoring this when we're outside or in a situation where it doesn't matter, because I know he is trying to get attention, but we don't allow it at the table. And then we engage in WWIII every night. If Milo were a husky kid I'd just end the meal. Still too afraid to end meals because of the whole underweight thing...I'm going to check it with the doctor next month to get the green light on ending meals and letting the little so-and-so go hungry for a night. So instead it's this:

Milo: HUUCCCWWWGGGHHHHH!

Me: Not allowed at the table.

Milo: But I want to!

Me: No.

Milo: I want to!

Me: No.

Milo: I want to!

Me: No.

Milo: I want to!

Me: ....(takes a bite)

Milo: I want to!

Milo: But I want to!

Milo: I want to!

Milo: I want to!

Me: I SAID NO.

Milo: AAAAAaaaaaaaaa! (Bursts into tears)

Yup. Fun times.