Summer Silliness

A fairly uneventful weekend around here. Just house/yardwork and trying to stay cool in the 90 degree temps. William tried the kiddie pool for the first time. He was so fascinated with splashing in the "deep" water that I wasn't able to catch a photo of his face.

Sunday we decided to go for a picnic after church. After packing up the car with the requisite mountain of kid related gear, numerous trips to the potty, and filling up with ridiculously overpriced gas, we were off. An hour's drive into the mountains we had finally found the perfect spot and settled in for a scenic meal. When wouldn't you know it, the skies opened for an afternoon storm. Perfect timing. So it ended up being a picnic for five in the minivan. Not particularly pleasant. And now the interior is covered in sticky kid fingerprints of various colors and textures, gummy puddles of lemonade from the Capri Sun packets, and piles of crumbs. Guess what I will be doing this week?!

Now THIS is how you PARTY!!

Nick received a very neat painting easel for his birthday from Nonie and Grande. Both the kids love it and couldn't wait to try it out. Thank You so much!!

But as usual, Eleanor carried on the creativity a little farther than we wished.... Here she is in all her green and blue glory. "Mom, you have to feel your emotions" was her explanation for this horror. Not sure where that phrase comes from, but I was definitely "feeling" something!! I couldn't decide at this point if it would be better to have a glass of wine (or two), or to just throw in the towel and go to bed for the night!

The Scooby Doo Mystery Birthday Party

The big day has finally arrived. Nick was super excited and so was Eleanor. Paul and I were a little hesitant about the event, but how bad could it be?! I had lots of games and activities planned for the kiddos, and an elaborate Solve the Mystery Scavenger Hunt too. The Scavenger Hunt went really well actually, the boys were very into searching for clues and then trying to decipher the riddles once they found them. The other games however, not so much. Ellie as you can see below, is the only one playing the Scooby Snack Bone Drop.The pinata went over well though. Here is Nick taking a swing at it. We had a pull string pinata, but we let them beat the heck out of it with a stick instead. It seemed to be a little more up their alley.

Pizza and cake for all. We had planned to eat outside, but it ended up being 95 and sunny today. So we enjoyed the food inside in the AC, all the kids smashed up at one table. But they definitely didn't mind!

Nick's Birthday Party....

Eleanor at her brother's party. So sweet here. Stay tuned for her "new and improved " look later on....Nick and his best buddies Callan and Sam.


Nick and Sam, best friends since preschool.
We all survived the party. Whew! So did the house and William slept through the entire thing. I don't know how, as it certainly wasn't quiet! The boys got a little wild the last 20 minutes or so, but they all got a kick out of me teaching them to play Red Rover. No one had heard of it before. I thought that was a standard kid game, we used to play it in gym class. But maybe they don't do that anymore, and I just dated myself with that reference!

Thank you Anna and Holly!

Just had to say thank you for all of the wonderful goodies you sent in the big box! Ellie as you can see is in love with the light up Simba shoes. She wears them everywhere, with every outfit. Such a huge hit! Thanks so much! (This is her big "Ta Da" pose, just for you!)

Happy 6th Birthday Nick!

We had a quiet day today as Daddy was at work, and the big party is planned for Saturday. Nick had his first tennis lesson this morning. And he loves it! Yeah! He asks to play every day. Nick loved the big boxes from Nana and Papa- the pirate ship is perfect and he loves all of the coloring things and bug catching gadgets too! Thank you!
We had a small cake after dinner. Nick picked the most candy infused variety he could find at the store. Then he didn't like it as it wasn't chocolatey enough for him. Oh well.
I just couldn't resist taking a picture at precisely 8:59pm, exactly six years to the minute after our little first born baby arrived in this world.
Happy Birthday Nicholas!!

Thanks to all for the phone calls and well wishes today. It really made his day special, and we loved it!

Alas, poor Nacho Cheese Fish...

I hereby sadly report the demise of our short lived friend Nacho Cheese Fish (the solid orange one). He/She did not survive the daily bowl cleaning today. Oops! I gave him a final salute as I flushed him to his watery grave. I guess the clerk at the pet store wasn't kidding, they really won't live much longer than a week.

Trying to explain a dead pet goldfish to a three year old was interesting. Nick was very matter of fact about it, possibly because it wasn't his fish that died. Ellie had LOTS of questions about this topic today. We told her that the fish had gotten sick and died and that now he/she was swimming in heaven with Jesus. Now she is just sure that next Sunday she will be seeing Nacho Cheese Fish at Mass. In a big bowl, right next to Jesus on the cross. It should be an interesting service. Unless (hopefully) she forgets over the next week.

Here was her next line of thinking:

Ellie: Do good fish go to Heaven with Jesus?

Me: Yes, Nacho was a good fish and is in heaven with Jesus.

Ellie: Well, then the next fish we get should be an evil fish. Then he won't go to heaven and he can live here forever in our bowl. Now I want an evil fish.

Me: ?!?!?! (where does she get this from?! And how does one answer that!)

Our New Friends

Introducing "Nacho Cheese Fish" and "Cheetah". The kids have been BEGGING for a fish all school year and I finally relented on the last day of school. I know this just means more work for me. And Daddy doesn't know yet..... Surprise!!

The woman at the pet shop said (promised) that they won't live longer than 10 days. Do they give refunds if they do?!

I'm Going to First Grade!!!

Today was Nick's very last day of kindergarten!! He is officially a first grader!! He had a good year and did really well. He was in the top reading group in class and learned to write short paragraphs in his journal. He can count to 100, tell time on the clock, count by 5s and 10s, knows all of the coins and their values, studied chicks and worms and weather in science class, and made some new friends. His teacher Miss Boyles said that she will miss his wonderful stories, contagious laugh, and the fact that he is the only kindergartener she has ever had who "gets" sarcasm. Where ever would he have learned to pick up on that?! She said he cracked her up all year long. That's our Nick!

And next Tuesday he turns six years old. Summer is off and running! We have a couple of quiet days for the end of this week; and then it is tennis lessons, day camp, his six year old birthday party, and lots of fun in the sun. Happy summer vacation to all!

Cozy Coupe

William loves the "coupe-a-coupe"!! (That's what Ellie calls it.) He thinks that he is quite the big kid being able to ride in it now. He loves the door most of all, and spends most of his time opening and closing it. All the while with a big grin on his face.

William Meets the Sprinklers

William toddled outside today while Paul had the sprinklers running. He was simultaneously horrified and fascinated by them. Only slightly more intriguing is the drinking glass that he managed to get his hands on. (No, it is not actually glass. We aren't that daring, especially after Ellie's ER trip this week. Once is enough.)

And the first to get stitches is.......

The Perpetrator:

The Victim:

The weapon of choice: a metal spatula.

The winner of the first child to go to ER for stitches is..... Eleanor! What a surprise! (Not!) With the kids underfoot as I tried desperately to make dinner, I decided it would be a great idea to give them some cooking implements and let them play kitchen. Who knew that could be dangerous?! Nick threw a metal spatula at Ellie for reasons known only to him. Of course it hit her in the face. Of course it broke the skin. Of course it was over 1/4 inch long and needed to be closed with stitches. And wouldn't you know it? Paul had to work late that night.

It was quite the experience getting a three year old to lie still while they stitched her up right under the left eye. Can't say I blame her there, I don't know that I would be still seeing a needle coming at my eyes! The ER doc could only get one stitch in her due to all of the movement so, she went right for the center of the cut and thankfully it held the whole area together. She is healing very quickly and although I have been told it will scar, it looks really good. Phew!

This photo was actually taken the day the stitch came out and the swelling and bruising was pretty much gone by then. So here you go Holly, the injury is immortalized forever! Does one scrapbook this sort of thing?!

Happy Memorial Day

William enjoying a patriotic donut. Not a traditional Memorial Day activity, but cute none the less.
This one makes me laugh. He reminds me of a squirrel holding a nut.
Yum!

Payton is waiting for her chance at the donut.
(My other two children are MIA somewhere at a neighbor's house otherwise I would have photographed them too.)

Happy Memorial Day!

Think he takes after Daddy?!

Wearing his Detroit Tigers shirt and watching TV. Nice that he has the remote control figured out at 13 months.

William at 13 Months

Here he is at thirteen months and three days already and I still haven't managed to capture a one year photo. The boy is FAST! I have some lovely blurred pictures of him toddling or crawling away from me though if you are interested! Posing on the rocks didn't work out very well for us, they are far too tempting for a climber. He did enjoy exploring the tree. I think he was contemplating climbing it. A couple more months and he'll be swinging from the branches like the other two monkeys I'm sure! (Yes, he is eating a stick. I try not to think about it. Ellie has certainly eaten worse and lived to tell about it. )

The First Mountain Trip of the Season

It was a wonderfully warm and sunny weekend. And we finally made it into the mountains today. Yeah! We had a picnic in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Then the boys wanted to try some fly fishing. Nick caught his first fish with a fly rod!! A rainbow trout, and he waded into the water to pick it up himself! Unfortunately I was too busy chasing the baby to record the moment. Sorry Nick! Next fish for sure.A little spring time scenery for you. There is still snow up in the high country, so the water is really frigid.
Ellie did her best to catch a fish with her stick. She did manage to catch some water plants. And she was pretty happy with that.
William wore his fly fishing t-shirt in solidarity, but we didn't let him near the water. He spent the afternoon climbing all over the picnic table and trying to decide if pine needles are edible.

William we have discovered, is NOT a road trip kind of a guy. He enjoyed the climbing part and the picnic, but he was a real stinker for the rest of the trip. Shrieked in his car seat, and tantrumed in the carrier on our feeble attempt at a hike. He is going to have to get with the program, as the rest of the family is ready to explore this summer!

Eleanor the Ballerina!

Here is our little ballerina on her way to perform. They danced to My Little Sunshine on an outdoor stage at the outdoor annual festival. Two of the little girls didn't perform due to stage fright, but not our Ellie! She was a little confused in a couple of parts as her partner was missing, but she did pretty well for 3.5years old. She did a lot more singing than dancing though. Maybe we should have put her in voice lessons instead of ballet!
Here she is afterwards. "Is it over Mom?" "I want to do it again!"

I did record the dance, but blogger doesn't like the video apparently. No luck loading it here. In a moment of obvious insanity I volunteered to be a chaperone for her class at the recital. Whew! Keeping track of 8 little girls in a crowded festival is work! But I managed to ensure that they all made it back to the correct parents.

As we were leaving I did have a few strangers stop me to say that they enjoyed Eleanor's enthusiastic performance the best. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not! But she is definitely a little ham!