T -10

We're on countdown to Kindergarten.

Darren is celebrating by taking this week off from work so we can have some extra fun & relax together. You could call it a staycation, I guess. So far, so good.
Today we had lofty plans that all involved being outdoors...
alas, it is mega-blech out there, so we decided to try out
Lost In Fun instead. It was a HUGE hit!
My favorite part: adults are free. I think every place specifically devoted to kids should never make the adults with them pay. They should want adults to be there to supervise, I would think! Don't you agree?

Rebecca was off the wall adventurous. She just ran from activity to activity in glee. She even faceplanted come down off the slide once: no reaction. Do it again!

***

T -9
Today we took a long leisurely walk around the neighborhood before the heat hit. We enjoyed a few fun friends along the way, pretty butterflies, acorns, a big hole with forms for a soon-to-be-poured basement, & lots of "chip snakes" (as Rebecca calls the worms dried up on the sidewalk).

After a cool afternoon indoors the big kids & I ventured to a neighborhood pool with some friends. It was a marvelous time! Andrew even went down the waterslide into the 5' water (as long as I was right there to catch him when he popped up). Thanks, Kim!

Then last night we had a New Family Tour & picked up uniforms where Andrew will be going to school. Besides making lots of new friends while cruising around,

Teresa took her first real unsupported steps!!!
It was most definitely the highlight to the evening.

New Trick #3

This girl is busy!

Monkey see

Teresa has a buddy. They go out every Wednesday night to Bible Study & party til way past their bedtimes. They mostly just chat, play, & take turns whacking each other on the head. Isn't that what friends are for?

I love how they make each other smile & giggle. Once when Teresa had fallen asleep on the way to study, she woke up *cranky*. I couldn't do much to console her, but as soon as she heard Ellie playing & babbling across the room, she grinned & practically jumped out of my arms to go play with her. They are so fun to watch together!

Stats

At 9 months Teresa was...

17 pounds heavy

29 1/4 inches tall - 95th percentile!

(even taller with that bow on her head)

At 3 years Rebecca was...

29 1/2 pounds heavy

37 3/4 inches tall

(and fabulous at coloring inside the lines)

At 5 1/2 years (Kindergarten check-up) Andrew was...

46 1/2 pounds heavy

46 1/2 inches tall

(Is it still hip to be square?)

Caboose Fun

Summer vacation this year was at Two Rivers State Park. We joined Lisa (an old L Street roommate) & Jeremy with their family. It was our first vacation with non-related family & it went great!
If you've never been there before, the "cabins" are quite a draw. They have 10 old cabooses decked out with bunk beds, bathroom & shower, kitchen, & air conditioning. While our daytime experience was very similar to camping, night was much easier with kiddos. I love to be able to wash off all of the sunscreen & bugspray before laying them down in a cool bed. Hallellujah! Jeremy let the kids try out -his- remote control gator.

Teresa even wanted to give it a try. Here she comes!
We enjoyed many tasty meals from the grill.

The campfire was still a necessity for marshmallow roasting, of course!

The kids spent a lot of time cruising...I mean racing the pavement on their bikes. There are five lakes to pick from when choosing a fishing spot. We had a beautiful morning to enjoy the lake. Unfortunately, this was our biggest catch.

A whole school of minnows was swimming right near the dock. Jeremy did some crazy acrobatics to scoop some into the sandpails for the kids to enjoy... then Darren offered him a minnow net. :P

One of the lakes had a pretty nice swimming beach.

At one point Andrew was rolling around in the sand, so I decided we should just go ahead & bury him. He liked it for about 10 seconds then started saying,

"How do I get out?!?"

Teresa loves the water.

It was a vacation we will not soon forget!

(Thanks for the great time & great pictures, Lisa.)

New Trick #2

Looks like we'll be going through a little more toilet paper around here.

Make a Splash!

We enjoyed a few more summer reading activities in the last few weeks. Above, the Kokyo Taiko Japanese drummers were super cool. It was pretty loud, so I was a little nervous about the girls freaking out. But they did great! Rebecca & Andrew were "drumming" right along with their hands on their legs. Teresa just kept clapping & squealing with delight. Their favorite part was when they were supposed to shout, "Heh!" at the end of the song. They talked about a drum large enough for eight men to play at once... Andrew asked if we could get one. ;) I love to see them sitting together so rapt with attention.
Jeff Quinn magician was fun, too. He had a LOT of varying scarf & disappearing water tricks but the kids didn't seem to notice the repitition. Andrew did catch on to the water ones though after we learned so much at Splish Splash Science. He asked,
"Does he have that stuff from Teresa's diapers in there?"
I'm assuming he meant the polymers...
The most fun was going to see Oscar Rios perform. We were in foreign language methods classes together 10 years ago & I've been impressed by him ever since. He's the leader of a band called Kusi Taki that plays Andean folk music. He brought along a few unique instruments to show, explain, & teach how to play. Here's Rebecca with the zamponas & Andrew with the chajchas that we have at our house. The charango was a cool little guitar that was made out of an armadillo's back! (Maybe Fr. Jon will bring me one back from Peru?)

At the end he asked questions about the instruments he had brought & Andrew answered correctly to win the CD he's so proudly holding. The instrument he identified was an Andean flute called a quena.
"Like the Wedding at Cana!"
he said to me. So THAT'S how he remembered it's name. :)

A Herd of Cousins

My parents graciously hosted us & a whole herd of cousins at the farm a few weeks ago. It was both peaceful & chaotic... like most gatherings! Gotta love watching them play with our old toys. The joy Teresa got out of this mirror was amazing! I'm thinking we need to invest.

My Godchildren: Lizzie, James, & Julia

No that's not my sister... it's my niece! I'm in awe at how mature Clare is & how wonderful she is with all of the little ones. Lucy is quite the little mommy herself.

A stroll down the gravel road. Just us, a couple of tractors, & the butterflies.

The mighty warriors

tamed. Innovative swinging

Thanks for a fabulous time, Mom & Dad!