July? Seriously? Already?

Where has this summer gone? I can't believe the last time I checked in was the middle of June. Since we last spoke, I had a birthday, knit some snowmen, and shopped for big-girl beds. Doesn't sound like a lot when I write it like that. Hmm. I'll just fill in the details a bit.
My Birthday. Wow. Let's just say that it was one of the most fun birthdays EVER! In the history of birthdays. My wonderful husband made a huge fuss for me. First,in the early afternoon, we went for an hour long boat ride with Mom and Dad. We had a picnic lunch on the boat -- fantastic food, thanks Mom! -- and cruised around for a while. The weather was supposed to be lousy, but it was sunny blue skies all the way. We sang silly songs and played kazoos. How great is that? I kept playing the theme song from Jaws on my kazoo. My Dad said, "We're gonna need a bigger boat." I like that my parents get me. After that we went home for naps and then, the evening's festivities began. So, I love blue crabs. My favorite way to spend a summer evening is picking crabs. It really is messy -- the way I do it -- so it's hard to do with a toddler. "Sure sweetie, I can wipe your face. Oh sorry. I didn't mean to get Old Bay in your eyes. Does it sting?" So, needless to say, I don't get to do it that often. Well, he arranged for a bunch of our friends to come over and we had 6 dozen crabs, buckets of really cheap beer (the only kind to have with crabs, I think) and lemonade, corn on the cob (another obsession of mine that dates back to my 3rd year at my grandparents' lake house), slaw, chips, and carrot cake. It would have made a very nice death row meal, you know? The crabs were delivered already steamed, which was great, being that I am somewhat hypocritical in my crab philosophy. I'll eat them, but don't like to...ehem...well, there is no delicate way to put it -- boil them alive. Just one of my quirks I guess. Anyway we sat around for hours listening to all of my favorite songs, and ate and talked and watched our kids play. The layers and layers of dirt on these kids! It blew my mind. I had never seen 3 dirtier, happier little girls. Little one and her two friends made "worm stew" from sticks in the yard and berries off of our poor Nandina. I still don't know if the stew was made of worms or for them. Anyway, as the day turned into night, we all decided to catch fireflies. It was little one's first time and she just loved it. She kept bringing them to me as presents for my birthday. She even learned how to catch them gently and not pinch them. I know the firefly population in our yard appreciated that development. All in all it was a perfect summer night, and the best way to start my new year. I got wonderful birthday cards from friends and family, near and far, and even a totally unexpected phone call from one of best buddies from my old stomping grounds, who I hadn't talked to in about a year. It was so great to hear from her! I miss her so much. On my actual birthday day, Mom and the little one and I piled into the car and drove an hour to this yarn store - shocking I know - and we played there for a while. I have never seen anything like this place. Not very big, but holy cow with the stuff! They had fiber from floor to ceiling! An entire wall of buttons! Books, books, books, and more books. I could have stayed there for days, planning all of the projects I want to make. Instead of camping out there, I exercised a bit of restraint and bought one ball of Baby Ull Dalegarn from Dale of Norway. So soft and I even like the ducks on the ball band. Silly I know. But there you have it. I also got a great pattern book, there is a hoodie tunic sweater in there that would make a great beach cover-up. So, when I need a break from the snowman knitting, that's what I'll make.
On to the snowmen. Well, there is this amazing woman that I randomly met at my local yarn store and she has been selling anything I want to knit to all of her friends, of which she has many! Well, now, there is a new venue for me! The yarn store that I just LOVE in the next town has started carrying my little knit guys too. She's asked me to knit snowmen for a Christmas in July theme, and I have been cranking them out just as fast as I can. I still can't believe that my stuff is in stores! So cool!
The big girl bed search began in earnest yesterday. Little one is growing up, and moving on to bigger things. Well, she let me know that she is ready for her big girl bed and I'm all for it. We have kept her in her crib maybe a bit longer than we needed to. We were really lucky, she never tried to climb out. So, we were just keeping her in there. Well, we are about to start preschool in the fall (I still can't believe THAT.) and I just know it's time to have the real big kid bed. So, I found one that I just love online -- one of the few perils of the very small town I live in, not so many choices for toddler furniture -- and Woo-hooo free shipping. I'm ordering it tonight, and in 7 to 10 days, little one will be dreaming in a new bed. Wow.
This time is just going so fast.