Today’s Sentimental Snapshot is twofold.  First off, it represents how everyone in our family feels at the end of the summer.  South Dakota, Wyoming, Ocean Isle Beach, New River Gorge, Obed Scenic River, visits FROM family, visits TO family, and of course several day trips to local crags thrown in for good measure – it seems to reflect Cragbaby’s motto of “Play Now, Sleep Later.”  It’s a recipe for loads of fun and family memories, but sooner or later it catches up with you and you have to stop and take a break!  So this picture is an accurate representation of how our entire family has been feeling lately…  

Secondly, this picture is important to me because it’s one of the last photos I took of Cragbaby in his crib.  Yep, that’s right, my little C is now in a big boy bed! A lot of folks had told us that we needed to get him out of the crib around a year old when he first learned to climb out of the crib…but we knew he wasn’t ready then. We considered an idea of a mattress on the floor. Thankfully the climbing out didn’t become a problem, as on the rare occasions he wanted to attempt it when I wasn’t in the room were almost always announced with “Mommy, spot C!”  The switch oddly enough happened a few weeks ago while our family was beaching at Ocean Isle – he was having a lot of trouble going to sleep, and on the second night he made it quite clear that he wanted no part of the pack and play – so the big queen bed it was.  The first couple of nights we kept expecting to be woken up with a big boom coming from the next room, but thankfully that never happened.  Instead, we opened his door every morning and were delighted to see a sweet C sitting up in his giant bed, reading a book we’d left for him on the nightstand.  

And with that, another summer is gone, and another milestone is reached!  My little boy is growing up, although his “play now, sleep later” mentality seems to be sticking with him.  Anyone else lives by that same motto?  If not, how would you sum up your approach to balancing fun versus work versus rest?  And another question – does it involve caffeine?  If it does, you’ve got a chance to score a caffeinated care package from the folks at Peet’s Coffee and Tea.  They have generously agreed to reward one lucky reader with a Summer Prize Pack with a 16 ounce Tumbler as well as a bag of their special Baridi Iced blend coffee.  To enter, all you have to do is answer the previous question – How would you sum up your approach to balancing fun versus work versus rest?  Play now, sleep later?  Or something else…Contest will run through Thursday, September 13, when a winner will be randomly selected.  Good luck to all and thanks for reading!