Some More Sparkler Pictures

Here are a few more sparkler pictures that a friend of ours took. As you can see Jeffrey really did try them out this year (and honestly I wouldn't go near them until I was in college). Thanks to Mr. Jamey for sharing these with us.

Camp

Both kids got the chance to go to a short "camp" last week. The teacher at Erin's preschool organized 3 4-day camps throughout the summer. Each had it's own little theme. The July one is the only one we were able to sign up for due to some other things we had going on. Since Jeffrey is starting preschool 2 days a week in the fall I asked the teacher if he could try out the camp. He's been obsessed with Erin's preschool ever since she started going last fall. So he got his chance to try it out for a few mornings last week.

The theme of the camp was food and cooking. This is a perfect theme for my 2 kiddos who LOVE cooking (especially baking bread with daddy). I dropped them off the first morning and Jeffrey never even looked back. A little kiss from Erin and half a wave from Jeffrey and I was dismissed. Jeff had been instructed that it was very important he listen to his teacher if he wanted to stay at school (something I said in front of her as well so he knew she knew his instructions). To my surprise he made it through each day wonderfully.

They both LOVED the camp. They made all kinds of things. The favorites seem to be the mini pizzas, fruit kabobs (with different shaped fruit) and Popsicles. Erin also talked about a volcano (which she remembered bubbled up when baking soda, "red stuff", and vinegar were added). The best part though was the field trip to a local pizzeria. They got to ride the bus (a major addition to the excitement of the morning) to the restaurant. There they got a behind the scenes tour of how the pizza was made. They got the see the ovens and how the dough was made. I asked Erin if she saw them toss the dough and she just giggled at me. She said that the chef did but not Erin. They did let her touch the dough which she described as "really cold."

After the tour the kids got to make their own small pizzas. Jeffrey put sauce, cheese, pepperoni and bacon on his. And then apparently ran around the restaurant like a mad-man (so says Erin. Teacher didn't mention it). Erin didn't want sauce ("I don't like sauce at restaurants") and put cheese, bacon and more cheese on her pizza. Each ate one little piece and brought the rest home.

Wait, did I mention the hats? They all had little white paper chef hats they decorated themselves. One of the cutest things I've ever seen. Now the kids have something to wear when cooking with daddy.

Jeffrey had an awesome time at camp. I'm so glad he enjoyed it and am certain he'll enjoy school this fall. We really were lucky to find such a great school to fit with our philosophy of learning through play.

Happy 4th of July

We had a great and busy weekend celebrating the 4th of July. And although we had lots of fun everyone's pretty exhausted.

We started at the Annual 4th of July parade in town. Equipped with gallon Ziploc bags to pick up the flying candy (I still can't get over that...never seen it before) we headed into town. It was a little cloudy which made it somewhat comfortable instead of super hot. The kids had lots of fun. This year Jeffrey wasn't nearly as frightened by the fire trucks (the sirens really) and got really excited to see them. He was also enthralled with the tractors. Erin really just wanted candy. If someone marched by or drove by without throwing candy she declared them no fun. It is nice to have such a cute little community event to celebrate with though.

After that we spent the afternoon at Uncle John and Aunt Margaret's house for their "Don't Swear in Front of the Baby" party. There was tons of food, several kids to play with (one who brought a bunch of toy cars to entertain everyone) and ..... Rock Band (a video game or sorts). Both kids are now obsessed with watching this game that includes people playing drums, guitar and singing (somewhat like a karaoke band game). Jeffrey was quite upset when he wasn't allowed to sing, but I had to explain they just didn't have Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as a option.

We finished the night off watching the city fireworks show from John and Margaret's back deck. Jeffrey was so excited about the fireworks. But about 10 minutes into the show he laid his head down on Aunt Margaret's ever shrinking lap (Baby John just taking up more and more space these days) and fell asleep. Missed the whole rest of the show poor kiddo. At least he stayed asleep on the trip to the car, the ride home AND the change into sleepy diapers once we got home.

Saturday was just as exciting. Mr. Johnbaker held his annual Crab Fest and cookout. We arrived early to help set up. Jeffrey was asleep in the car so we rolled the windows down and parked in the driveway so he could continue his nap. Erin helped babysit the crabs, which were less frightening this year than last. Once Jeffrey woke up and more people arrived they got into their swimsuits for some fun play in Mr. Johnbaker's little pool. For them this was the highlight of the day. Until it started raining that is. When the rains came boy did they come.

Remember I said that we left the car opened up so Jeffrey could continue his nap. Well, we he woke up no one thought to go back out and close up the car. Henceforth we had one totally flooded (and now very stinky) Intrepid. We spent all of yesterday airing it out. Running a fan. Tonight we're going to run a dehumidifier overnight to try and make sure it's as dry as possible.

Back to the party. Everyone congregated inside and the kiddos entertained themselves with the "Move It Move It" movie (Madagascar). When the rain started to slow down the kids went outside to play again. They were soaked again, and in their clothes by the time the rain really stopped.

Mr. Johnbaker finished the night with some fun sparklers and fireworks. Jeffrey enjoyed the sparklers much more this year than last. He even held onto them by himself. Erin continued to enjoy waving them around. The fireworks were great as usual but a little loud for Jeffrey. Maybe he'll enjoy them more next year. Once they were done it was time to head home with some borrowed towels from Mr. Johnbaker protecting our already somewhat wet clothes from getting even wetter.

So we certainly had a busy but fun weekend. Now everyone needs a good LONG nap.

Family Getaway

We decided to take our first "family vacation" this past weekend. We've never gone away just the 4 of us and I thought the kids were at the right age for a long weekend getaway. Well it was a little more stressful than Tom or I had hoped (Jeffrey really doesn't like to listen these days) but we had a great time doing some fun things together.

We left Thursday morning for Hershey PA. After looking at going a few different places we decided that was the most ideal because it was within close driving distance but had some fun things we could all do as a family - IE. Hershey Park. There was much excitement about staying at the hotel (which Erin continually confuses with hospital not sure why). I think much of this stemmed from the idea that there would be a pool at the hotel, which there was. Swimming is always at the top of the list.

We arrived early afternoon and got things stowed in the room. Since Jeffrey was asleep in the car we decided to head immediately over to Hershey to check things out. Our first stop... Chocolate World. Jeffrey roused just as we got there and both kids got immediately excited to start "cation" (vacation). Chocolate World is a free part of Hershey Park that includes a little ride that provides an introduction to Hershey's Chocolate. Complete with singing cows (a part of the tour that I don't remember from my visit nearly 20 years ago) it was a huge hit with the kids. Especially the free chocolate we got after the ride. Then they got the chance to become chocolate factory workers and fill a box with Hershey's Kisses. The best part being a paper hat which Jeffrey insisted on wearing for the next 2 days.

We then decided that it might be fun to take the trolley tour of the town of Hershey. It was a little pricey but ended up being totally worth it. The tour was really entertaining and even kept the kids attention for all 45 minutes (the free chocolates passed out again certainly helped). The tour guides also led the group in several period songs which Erin thought was the best part. Personally that was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Oh yeah a little about my trip. I went to be Wednesday night feeling cruddy. Woke up Thursday morning feeling crappy and didn't get any better. Determined to not let it stop us I self medicated my sore throat and eventual swollen and goopy eye with some Advil and NyQuil. There were some cruddy moments but nothing that kept us from keeping with our plans. Today though the goal is rest, rest, rest.

Back to Hershey. We arrived back at the park Friday morning right at opening (with mommy's medicated body in tow). The kids measured up as "Hershey's Kisses" height-wise for rides (and were provided with more free chocolate). This meant they were allowed to ride a large portion of rides but most had to be accompanied by mommy and daddy (which was fine). We charged on in to the park making our first stop to meet "Mr. Chocolate Bar". I expected Erin to go running up and Jeffrey to shy away but it ended up being the opposite. Jeff was obsessed with Mr. Chocolate and quite sad when it was time to say goodbye.

The kids hopped on a few rides including a Hot Air Balloon ride which was a hit and a rocket ride which was great for Erin and apparently terrifying for Jeffrey (too loud he said). Tom said he screamed throughout the whole ride. After a calming break on the carousel we continued into the park. We hit several other rides in the morning including the Skyride (chairlift ride), Flume (which Erin was sitting in front and got pretty frightened) and the ride where the kids could drive cars. Tom and I also hit one of the big coasters. They had a great plan for families where we would all stand in line together, Tom or I would ride the coasted while the other waited with the kids and then we would switch off. It was a great way to let mommy and daddy get a few thrill rides in.

We had thought ahead and packed some sandwich fixings from home and a cooler for lunch. Since admission back into the park was simple we took our picnic lunch at some picnic tables by the car. This then allowed us to grab our swimming gear for some fun at the water park section. We headed directly for the water park after lunch (with a few quick stops for some short rides on the way.) Once we got there we realized why the rest of the park was so quiet.....the place was mobbed. Tom tried to rent a locker for our stuff but found they were all sold out. After debating whether or not to try the water park we decided that we'd promised the kids some "swimming" so we would take turns with them in the water attractions.

I got first go. Both kids seemed obsessed with a large water-works zone that had lots of water spraying and dumping and some water slides. Once we got inside the kids played with the outside sprayers a few times. Since they were "Hershey's kisses" I had to stay with them the whole time (like I wouldn't anyway, the place was mobbed). They headed for a cargo net that led to the structure of the zone. Here we discovered that water poured from everywhere, squirted from all angles and totally soaked us quickly. Add in close to 100 children and it was pretty daunting. Erin got freaked out and refused to move. We finally got ourselves down off the structure and found a calmer area that had a water slide the kids could do. They had fun there for a few minutes but it was still a little nuts for Erin so I made the executive decision to try and find Tom, switch out watching the stuff and have him take them to the calmer area.

As we were looking for Tom we heard the loudspeaker announce....Due to turbulent weather in the area we are closing the Boardwalk and water attractions until further notice. Well this led to even more insanity and about a 15 minute search for Tom. Once we hooked back up we all got changed and headed back to the dry area of the park. Tom and I noticed that the line for the new super-coaster was pretty short and convinced the kids it was "our turn" for a ride. We waited about 20 minutes and the "turbulent weather" caused them to close that ride too. So we decided to seek shelter under a nearby tree (and once the rains really hit under the shelter of a concession stand).

After about 45 minutes of rain ( in which the kids ran around splashing in the puddles and making their own water park) it slowed enough for them to reopen some rides. We hopped on a few with the kids and then got in a short line for another coaster. After Erin's 2nd coaster that she was informed she was too short to ride we found one that the kids could ride. When we got there there was absolutely no line. For a kiddie coaster it was pretty good. We even let the kids run around and get back on again. Jeffrey even thought it was great. We continued the evening taking advantage of the short lines. Combine the rain with a large concert (Dave Matthews) nearby and the lines were the shortest I've ever seen at a theme park. We ended up closing the place down. The kids certainly tested their limits but overall were good and had a great time at the park.

After spending the whole day at the park on Friday we decided NOT to head back on Saturday. Instead we went to Hershey Gardens which has a notable children's garden and a butterfly exhibit. We spent the morning there and the kids really enjoyed it. The children's garden was actually a great area with lots of small fountains, flowers to intrigue the kids, musical gardens and the butterfly house. After the gardens we decided to take in a movie (WALL-E) which the kids loved. Then we drove down to Gettysburg, the second half of our trip. Once we got to the new hotel mommy took a little rest and daddy took the kiddos swimming, something they'd been waiting to do for days.

Gettysburg was more a stop for Tom and I (OK well really me. I really wanted to see the new visitors center and figured the kids might enjoy being able to explore the battlefield). The new visitors center is really impressive with a wonderful and FREE exhibit on the entire Civil War, with a focus on the battle at Gettysburg. Not really geared for the kids but enough interactive films and "camp life" exhibits that I could keep their interest.

We decided to purchase a book with a driving tour of the battlefield that we could take on our own time. A real battlefield guide would have been cool but not so sure the kids would have put up with him. So after another picnic lunch we headed out to see the battlefield. The kids showed some interest but not a whole bunch. They did like getting out to look at some of the monuments (one made to look like a tree with a robin's nest was particularly memorable) the canons or climb the observation towers. They really enjoyed hiking around on Little Round Top and climbing around in Devil's Den. So while they probably didn't get much history out of the trip they did enjoy the day.

After a dinner at a local ale house (can't drive by one and NOT stop) which was actually really good we took the kids to play mini golf and get some Ice Cream. They both had a blast golfing. Jeffrey certainly has his own method of golfing but at least he has fun with it. We did have to sit aside for a few minutes and let a big group of loud Boy Scouts play through since a 3 and 5 year old don't play mini-golf very quickly. Erin's already asking to go back and play again some time.

Monday morning we woke up, checked out of the hotel and briefly walked through the Gettysburg National cemetery. By mid morning we were headed back to Virginia. Jeffrey got very upset that "cation" was over and started crying. Erin was ready to head home though.

When I ask the kids what their favorite part of vacation was Erin says, "I liked the rides." Jeffrey will tell you "I liked Chocolate World (which I think means anything in Hershey)." So I'm glad they had a good time hanging out with mommy and daddy for the weekend.

Mommy

Thought I'd share this picture. I know you all know what I look like but I'm rarely the one in the pictures because I'm almost always the one taking them. This is also one of the few pictures of the kids and I. Tom took it last week on my birthday and somehow got all 3 of us looking cute and at the camera at the same time.

Butterflies

Butterflies have always been a favorite insect around here. Especially since Erin's spring obsession with caterpillars. We even had a caterpillar make a chrysalis in our jar, although nothing came of it.

Before being aware of Erin's butterfly fascination her Noni got her a butterfly "house" that came with an order for live caterpillars. So on Erin's birthday we opened up her butterfly house and sent away for the caterpillars. In waiting Erin kept bringing caterpillars from the yard into the house wanting to put them in her butterfly net.

The caterpillars arrived in small plastic specimen-cup. They were about 1/2 inch long. There was some nutrient on the bottom of the cup so we didn't have to do anything but watch them grow. And grow they did. After 3 or 4 days they had doubled in size. They looked the size of your garden variety caterpillars. After about 10 or so days they all climbed to the top of the cups and made their chrysalis. I'd never really watched it happen but over the period of a day they went from mobile caterpillars to hardened chrysalis.

The top of the cups were lined with paper so after making sure they were securely enveloped in the chrysalis we moved them into the butterfly "house". This meant taking the paper top they had clung to and pining it to the inside of the house. We cleaned off a corner of the piano and set the house where we could watch inside without disturbing too much.

Four mornings later we awoke to find 1 lone butterfly sitting at the bottom of the house. By mid afternoon we had 4. By the end of the next day all 10 butterflies had emerged. The kids are fascinated with watching them. They are painted ladies and have a beautiful orange and black pattern to them. Jeffrey loves to bring a chair up to the piano and just stand and watch them. At this point they are fluttering all around the house. We've put some orange slices on the bottom to feed them and they seem to like it.

We've been really lucky that the cats haven't knocked the whole thing over. That was my greatest fear when looking for a place to put it. I've found both cats stalking the butterflies a few times but never being aggressive in trying to get to them.

So here are a few pictures of our little science experiment. The net to the house makes it pretty difficult to get really good pictures but these give you an idea. The red stains you see on the net are the meiconium which is secreted just after the butterflies emerge. It's just been so much fun to watch the change from caterpillar to butterfly happen right in front of our eyes.

Yes..this is June

I just took these pictures today. That's right. June 16. Not the middle of January. June.

We got nailed with one severe thunderstorm that tossed hail around for about 15 minutes. We were driving home from the gym, and I decided to take the 'long' way around to check the mail. When we pulled in the driveway the skies opened up pouring. I decided that since Jeffrey was sound asleep we'd just wait out the storm in the car.

Well not a minute later small hail started falling. Withing another few minutes it was bigger hail. Erin was actually rather excited, while I was getting a bit nervous. Sitting in the car during a thunderstorm - fine. Sitting in the car during a tornado...not so fine. Anyway we managed to get a call through to Tom and he said that severe thunderstorms were in the area with the possibility of hail (I confirmed that possibility for him) but no tornadoes.

It got loud in the car...really really loud. Erin sat in the back seat covering her ears. I tried to keep myself calm while watching things begin to swirl around outside. The winds picked up and broken leaves began swirling around.

When it all slowed down I made a dash for the basement door, ran back to get Erin from the car, and eventually Jeffrey - who was amazingly still asleep. We surveyed the damage. So far I've not found any structural damage (not even dents on the car...which sounded like it was being bombarded with frozen grapefruit). The stoop outside the front door had 6" of hail piled up. The hail was all about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. Unfortunately EVERY plant was destroyed. We were just getting flowers on the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. They are all now totally flattened. Their stems and leaves were literally shattered.

I'm really glad we were at least in the driveway and not stuck out on the road somewhere. And plants are replaceable. But the power of the storm is something that Erin and I are unlikely to forget any time soon.

Our First Camping Adventure

For Father's Day, Tom wanted to go camping for a night. He mentioned it to the kids earlier in the Spring and Erin has been super excited about it for weeks. I'm not sure she understood really what camping was about, but she was definitely ready to give it a try.

We got to our tent site a little after noon. We decided not to go too far for our first trip so we just picked a campground up in the Shenandoah about 30 minutes away. Tom and I had practiced setting up the tent last weekend so we knew what we were doing when we got there. On the drive, Jeffrey had fallen asleep in his car seat so Erin and I cleared an area of the site for the tent while Tom unpacked everything from the car. After Tom and I got the tent up, with a little help from the kids (Jeffrey had woken up about 15 minutes after we got there) we encountered our first camping "issue."

Bugs. Yep little gnats around faces. Both kids, Jeffrey especially, would just stand there and scream about "All The Bugs", "Make Them Go Away". I brought some OFF which I sprayed into my hands and rubbed around their necks and faces. That helped somewhat. At least enough to create a placebo effect.

I Do NOT Like Bugs

After setting up Erin's little dome tent and having lesson 2 - PLEASE DO NOT just get in and out and in and out and in and out of the tents. If you leave them open the bugs will get in there too. So if you want to get in, that's fine but you need to stay in there for a while - we set out lunch. We'd packed sandwiches, chips, grapes and some gorp (lesson 3 - ju ju fish are NOT good in gorp). We had a nice lunch at the picnic table, although we still had to bribe Erin to finish her sandwich.

Fun in the Tent

We decided to take a walk and go exploring after lunch. We made sure to toss all the clothes and sleeping supplies in the big tent and the food back in the car (have to beware of bears). We headed out on our hike. We followed a long paved path down to the nearby visitor's center (about 1 mile). We talked about the ferns on the ground, picked up sticks, fell down and scraped knees (well at least Jeffrey - lesson 4 keep Cars band-aids on my person at all times), climbed on rocks, and spotted a deer in the woods across the road. We got to the Visitor's Center just in time as the storm that had been rumbling around us for 30 minutes opened up right on top of us.


We stayed out the storm for about an hour. Near the end, while Tom and Erin were checking out part of a Jr. Ranger program, Jeffrey and I sat by a huge windowed wall that looked over the nearby meadow (a meadow on top of a mountain is pretty cool). We spotted several deer who'd emerged after the rain. Then Jeffrey pointed out a Mommy, daddy and baby deer. He was right, there was a fawn with one of the other deer. We watched them wander around the meadow for a while. One of the rangers even lent us her binoculars so we could get a closer look at the fawn.


When Tom and Erin finished with the program, the sun was coming back out. We crossed the main road and started walking an access road through the meadow. We spotted probably close to 15 different deer across the meadow. They are very comfortable around humans. A few crossed the road right in front of us no more than 15 feet away. The kids thought that the deer were just fascinating. Tom was also able to show them deer tracks in the gravel road and Erin spent the next 15 minutes staring at the road, tripping over her feet, looking for more tracks.

One of the Many Deer We Saw

Checking Out Deer Tracks

After walking about 3/4 of a mile we decided to turn back. We got on the main path back to the campsite. Both kids were a little cranky, and Erin insisted on carrying this stick almost as tall as she was. About 1/2 a mile from the campsite we noticed a fog rolling down the road...literally. It's something neither Tom nor I had experienced before, but we were quickly engulfed in a thick fog (OK we're in the mountains..it was a cloud). Everything changed. The sounds deadened. The kids quieted. The smells changed. And then......

...It POURED (lesson 5 - when walking into a cloud in the mountains it means walk faster it's going to pour). Erin and I sprinted for the ranger station which was only a few hundred yards away. Tom tried to get Jeffrey to run, but he wouldn't. He just walked along, SCREAMING and SOBBING getting more and more soaked with every second. We stopped outside the campground ranger station to wait out this second deluge. I'd guess we were standing for 15 to 20 minutes. One of the rangers nicely let us borrow her poncho to use as a tarp to keep the rain from blowing on us.

Once it slowed down again we made for the campsite. What we found met our biggest fears. Everything was soaked. The tent was simply unable to withstand 2 torrential downpours in 2 hours and had about 6 inches of water on the "lower" side. Erin's little tent made out somewhat better but still was wet. Unfortunately, we'd decided to store all our things "IN" the tent so they were also soaked. That means sleeping bags, clothes, books (including a library book and several of the kids books) etc... Needless to say we had no choice but to pack everything up and head back down the mountain. Lesson 6 - Until you're certain the tent is waterproof if it looks like it's gonna rain...store stuff in the car.

Wet, Going Home and NOT Happy About It

Erin stood in the middle of the campsite sobbing that she really wanted to camp. Jeffrey ran around and jumped in every mud puddle he could find (as long as the rain was not coming down he had no issues with being wet). It took Tom and I about 20 minutes to get everything taken down and packed back up into the car.


We got back home a little after 6 PM. The kids got into some dry clothes while I took a hairdryer to the library book (all 490 pages of it). Tom got out the dinner we were going to make at the campsite and cooked it up. Needless to say everyone was pretty beat. After a hot shower and some down time in front of the Food Network everyone was ready for bed.

The First Night "Camping" (I count 7 aminals and 4 blankets in bed with him)

So this morning we're going to look into either resealing the seams in the tent or getting a new tent so we can try camping again in a few months. Maybe after thunderstorm season has passed.

Who Needs a Pool?

Summer is here...without even a sign of Spring it feels like. We've been up in the 90s the past few days and I've had to resign myself to shutting the windows and turning on the AC.


We haven't tested the lake yet. I can't imagine it's that warm yet, but maybe it is. Since we don't have a pool, flat space for a little pool or even a sprinkler I "punted" yesterday. I got out the garden hose, a large 5 gallon bucket, a couple of water squirters and filled the water table. Toss in a couple of kids in swimming suits and you've got an afternoon of fun.

They had an awesome time. We'd run in the hose for a few minutes - we meaning I was holding the hose - I'd make sure the bucket was filled with water for the squirters too. Then they'd play for a while with the squirters and rotate back up to the water table. Once they got a little warm we'd recycle the whole process. I did my bestest to stay dry...Erin did her best to make sure I didn't. I certainly met the wet end of the water squirter a few times.


Jeffrey did get himself in a bit of trouble by deciding to turn the water table into a wading pool. I'm actually amazed it didn't collapse under him. I tried really really hard not to laugh, but I just couldn't. As soon as he saw that he knew he might be in some trouble...but nothing major. And since I had the camera nearby I just had to get a shot and video of it.

It was so great to see them having so much fun with simple stuff. No fancy inflatable water slides. No in-ground pool (but let me tell you the next house we get....). Not even a sprinkler. That's the way an afternoon of fun should go.

Early Birds

Don't they realize there's no worm to be had? Here in good ole S'ville there's no prize for getting up early. But Erin and Jeff seem to have decided that they are going to become Early Birds. For the past several weeks they've been waking up at the crack of dawn (at least it feels that way to me). They've been getting up between 6 and 6:30. Going down to daddy, who's desperately trying to get out of the house for work, and demanding breakfast at 6:30. If he has a few seconds he'll open a couple of cereal bars or nuke 2 bowls of oatmeal, but he doesn't always have the time.

I'm not sure which one of the two started this trend. I think it's Jeffrey. Generally I hear him moving around first. He'll go into Erin's room to play and inevitable wake her up. This spring we'd been having issues with Jeffrey waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. So I started explaining to him that he can't get out of bed until the sun is up. Well, the sun is getting up earlier and earlier. Before I know it, Jeffrey's going to be waking up at 5.

I - not being a morning person try to milk as much time from them as possible. If I can hear them playing in their rooms I'll doze for another hour or so. Sometimes I'll just listen to them playing. It seems that these morning play-dates are something special though. There's rarely any arguing. I hear a lot about taking turns, sharing, and playing together. Sometimes Erin will "read" Jeffrey stories. And this morning I even heard her ask him to read to her on the potty...which he did with great pleasure. Generally by the time I'm up and moving, their rooms are disasters - toys, dolls, blocks, books, dress-up clothes are everywhere. One toy box is generally empty because it's a great place to hide for hide & seek. But their imaginations are running wild and the special sibling bond is strengthening.

So while I'm not at all a fan of this new trend in waking hours. The time they are spending playing together makes it worthwhile. So while the schedule is morphing to include earlier nap for a while, I think we can manage it. I guess that's what brothers and sisters are for. Maybe there is a worm after all.

A little about doctors

Jeffrey has a boo-boo on his foot. Nothing major really. He just scraped the top of his toe. He came downstairs to show me his boo-boo. I offered to give it a kiss and even a boo-boo strip (Band-aid). I was clearly informed that wasn't necessary.

"Dr. Seuss will take care of it mom."

"Really, Dr. Seuss?"

"Yep"

"So...Dr. Seuss is going to fix you toe. You don't want a boo-boo strip?"

"Yeah he's gonna fix it ...... like Bob. Bob can fix anything."

"Bob?"

"You know mom....can he fix it..yes he can. Builder Bob" (Bob the Builder, a character the kids really don't watch or know very well, but clearly know enough that Bob fixes things. Generally he fixes buildings, or machines or plumbing. Not usually toes.)

So Dr. Seuss and Bob the Builder are all that's required to take care of a boo-boo. No mommy necessary apparently.

More Graduating

Erin's pre-school had a graduation last Friday. The kids all wore tie-dyed shirts they had helped make. They also had little graduation hats. The teacher played Pomp and Circumstance while they all walked in. The presentation was a month-by-month review of the school year through song. Erin was in December and sang the "Christmas All Around" song from their Christmas program.

They asked each of the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up before the program. As they were dismissed to their parents the teacher shared each child's aspirations. There were several firefighters and policemen, a couple of animal helpers, one who wanted to be a mommy, an astronaut, a princess....and Erin's response...... A butterfly. That's right, my daughter wants to grow up to be a butterfly. I'm hoping she changes her mind before she tries to spin her own chrysalis from the bedroom ceiling.

Afterwards Erin took one last swing on the swings with her friend Abbey. We're hoping Erin and Abbey end up going to the same school, but Abbey lives right on the line between 2 school districts and mom still wasn't sure which one she'll go to. When it was time to go, we went into town and celebrated her "graduation" with lunch at the Chinese buffet....mmmmm

Erin really loved being at pre-school. She made some really good friends and learned so much. I took her in for kindergarten registration today and the screener said Erin's certainly ready for school. Erin quite agrees. I get the "how many more sleeps" until Kindergarten question daily. I try to tell her it's more than she can count, but that doesn't work anymore. Maybe in July I'll make a little paper chain so she can tear links off to see exactly how many sleeps left.

Until then we're going to keep busy here. Both kids are going to a week-long mornings camp at the pre-school. Then there's swimming lessons and tumbling camp. Don't forget a week at the beach, some trips to DC, camping in the mountains and a long weekend away with mommy and daddy. I'm afraid August 20th (first day of school) will be here much to soon.

Saying one last goodbye to a super teacher

A Weekend of Celebrations

We visited New York this past weekend to see Uncle Jonathan graduate from college, and to celebrate the birthdays with Grandma and Grandpa W. and Aunt Katie, Uncle Bill and baby Will. It was a great weekend - even if the weather didn't really cooperate.

Erin was very excited to be at Uncle Jon's graduation. It was a long long affair (as most graduations are). She did a great job sitting and listening (and playing, coloring, singing quietly lol). Jeffrey didn't do so well with the cramped quarters so he and daddy took off and sneaked back in every once in a while. The did manage to get the best view of Uncle Jonathan walking across the stage to get his diploma though. Sadly they didn't have a camera on them. It meant so much to Uncle Jon to know that we were there supporting him. We did get a great chance to see him walking by, getting ready to receive his diploma. After graduation we took a few pictures, something we don't always take time to do in mommy's family.

The next day (after spending the rest of the afternoon moving Jon out of his room) daddy's family came down to visit and celebrate birthdays. Originally we had hoped to meet at a park outside, but it was rainy and cold....so we took over the indoor pool (fall-back plan so everyone was prepared) and had a blast. The kids swam with everyone for close to 2 hours and had an absolute blast. Then we celebrated with some cupcakes and nibbles and of course presents.

Erin is still obsessed with her baby cousin Will. She kept her eyes on him most of the day. Any time he was fussy she'd run over to him and rub the top of his head. She did get a chance to hold him too....both of them more comfortable with it than in February.

We finished the afternoon going out to dinner all together. We headed to a local brew pub and everyone found something good to eat.

Both kids were very excited to spend some quality time with Noni, Grandpa, Oma and Uncle Jon at the hotel. Noni and Oma graciously offered to let the kids sleep with them and give mommy and daddy a few quiet nights to sleep. Uncle Jonathan added his assistance with taking care of the kiddos too. When it came time to say goodbye and start home 2 overtired kiddos were totally in tears. Erin didn't want her booster seat moved back into the Intrepid and Jeffrey didn't understand why Uncle Jonathan wasn't riding with him any more. And although the kids were completely burned out and totally overtired it was a wonderful weekend.

Greetings

Jeffrey has certainly developed into a social butterfly. He has absolutely no fear of adults or strangers at all (which is actually somewhat disconcerting). He has a regular friend at the grocery store (one of the managers I think) that he runs up to every time we see him. He also greets every person he sees. People at the store, neighbors in their yards, friends at church, pretty much everyone. Maybe my 4 summers greeting people at the Disney store got into my genes somehow and turned Jeffrey into a greeter.

So this morning we are heading out for a day at the gym and errands. As we are working on getting into the car I hear Jeffrey begin his usual pattern.

"Hello, What's your name?" "I'm Jeffrey."

I look around to see if there's a neighbor working in the yard or someone jogging on the road. No one catches my eye.

"Who are you talking to bud?"

"I'm not bud, I'm Jeffrey" (another one of his phases, can't call him anything but his name otherwise he gets slightly offended or upset)

"Ahhh. OK. Sorry Jeffrey. Who are you talking to?"

"The clouds." Said very matter of factly. "They're not talking though. Hi clouds. I'm Jeffrey"

So there he was. Standing in the middle of the driveway looking up at the sky having a quite lovely conversation with the clouds. He wasn't in the least bit concerned or disturbed that they weren't responding. I guess he just took it as part of being a cloud.

Ahhh for the days when life was so simple it was important to make sure we greeted the clouds.

Mother's Day and Happy Birthday

We had a wonderful shared Mother's Day and birthday on Sunday. Erin made a special gift for me at school. She kept it hidden in her room for 5 days before giving it to me on Sunday. It came with a card she made herself and had written on the inside (with spelling help) "Mom I Love You". The gift was 2 terra cotta pots painted and stacked inside each other with a spacer so they make a wind chime. It was the sweetest Mother's Day present. Then the kids also picked me out a new Wii game and some nice wine.


Erin was very excited to tell everyone at Church that it was her birthday...and I mean everyone. Once we got home it was all about opening her presents -- lots of books and games, a cool caterpillar house and a new camera. She also got some little "workbooks" which she has already almost completed on her own. She really loves them. Guess I'll have to look for some more.

The afternoon was spent playing Wii with mommy and daddy. We tried her new Playground game, did some Kart racing. It was really nice just to relax and have some fun time just the 4 of us after the super busy weeks we'd been having.

Since it was also Mother's Day I slyly suggested we go to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner (before Erin could ask for Red Robin). Both kids love the food and Erin really loves the show they put on. Jeff still gets a little iffy about the "fire" but was 10 times better this time than when we last went at Christmas. So all day Erin walked around talking about going to dinner at the "fire place with the rice." It was worth it. The food was great, kids well behaved and Erin even got a birthday cake brought out and all the people at our table helped sing her happy birthday.


So all in all we had quite a special day on Sunday. My little girl sure is growing up.

Happy Brithday Erin Wynne

Happy Birthday Sweet Erin.

May 11, 2003

May 11, 2008
Oh what a year we've had. So many firsts. First day at school (preschool). First time as a flower girl. First time swimming on her own (with floaties). First time staying with Noni & Grandpa while Mommy & Daddy went on vacation. First big girl Birthday Party.

Erin has really blossomed this year. She's made some special friends at school and at the plays. She LOVES being at school still. I've watched her get more and more interested in learning her letters, shapes, writing so many words, even beginning to read. She talks all the time about her friends and what they all shared or played at school. She also LOVES being outside, getting in the dirt, making up stories and games with a stick and a rock. I am amazed every day by the things she does or says, or the simple "I Love You Mom".

Movie: Annie (on the Incredibles)
Song: Hard Knock Life (detect a theme?)
Book: Pinkalicious
Toy: Been playing a lot with her Little Pets and having tea parties.
Game: Wii bowling, boxing, baseball. And now Mario Kart Racing.
TV Show: Good Eats (on the Food Network)
Food: Olives and cheese or soup.
Drink: Lemonade
Dinner: Tacos at home (I think she says she doesn't know) or "Rice at the Fire Place" (Japanese steakhouse restaurants).

OK...here's the Montage. Grandma, Noni....get your tissues out (this is also a little long, about 8 minutes).