Playschool graduation

Last week was a proud moment for us as parents as we attended playschool graduation and a short program the kids performed. Sprout fell asleep in the car and this is how excited she was during the performance. We have a short video of one of the songs, but it involves Sprout alternating between glaring at the camera and covering her face.

We were really fortunate to have such wonderful teachers for the year. Here is Sprout with Miss Jamie on the left and Miss Mo on the right. They have such patience and enthusiasm when interacting with the kids.

Of course no graduation is complete without opening of gifts. Each child received a book and a graduation certificate.

Babysitter of The Year

This was one day. The pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

We have peacocks now...

I went to work early on Tuesday, leaving before the rest of the family woke up. Karen texted me later, saying that some god awful noise coming from the neighbor's house made the dogs go crazy and woke up. As it turns out, our neighbor had two new peacocks. 

Fast forward to Saturday. Said neighbor threw a party for his grand kids. Their parties are always well-attended because they have awesome food and a jump house. As we walked over to the party, we were met by the peacocks, which fleeing the party in the direction of our house. When I inquired about the peacocks, he said he thought one of his friends dumped them off at his house during the middle of the night because they were too loud for him to keep.

After dinner, I noticed one of the peacocks was on top of the shop while the other was on the horse trailer. Assuming that they were looking for a place to roost, I decided to chase them back over to the neighbor's house. When I flushed the hen from the horse trailer, she flew off, circled the shop, and landed near the top of our tallest tree. The male quickly followed suit. 

Not to be outdone, I grabbed a bunch of tennis balls and headed for the tree. I made dozens of throws while the dogs retrieved the balls for me. After I beaned the male for a third time, they both moved to the safety of the middle of the tree. Checkmate.

This morning the peacocks were grazing happily alongside our chickens.Something tells me they will live the life of Enchilada, who is still living happily at the Bean house.

Summer kickoff

This week we took advantage of school still being in session and went for our first big outing of the summer. This was also a late Christmas present for Alex and Katie and they were able to choose to choose the agenda, and decided on the aquarium and Chuck E Cheese. Sprout is getting old enough that she is enjoying the rides and games.

 She tried her hand at air hockey and was surprising not too bad. It may have been pure luck, but she did score a few points.

 We took a quick photo to commemorate the day.

 We then moved on to the aquarium and another photo op.

 Lisa treated the kids to fish food so they were able to feed the fish, sting rays and sharks. There are several hands on exhibits and the aquarium and they were the most popular with the kids.

 Marcus also enjoyed watching the fish. This tank had low windows and was just his height.

 The kids all loved the tide pool exhibit.

Last night when I was getting Sprout ready for bed, we talked about the day and what her favorite part was. Her answer- the pizza. Have you ever had pizza from Chuck E Cheese? I wouldn't say they are known for their food.

Update

I have a few random pictures that I thought I should post. As you can see above, Marcus loves guacamole. He had three bowls, and I think some of it actually made it into his mouth.

Here are the kids helping me make guac (actually, Marcus is just dumpster diving for a snack). Elena washes produce and eats it about as quickly as I can chop it. I took her with me to the grocery store the other day. As we walked through the produce department she said, "Oooh, yummy cucumbers! Can I have one Daddy?" Then "PEPPERS!" and "I want tomatoes!" Other parents looked on in disbelief.

We've been enjoying excellent weather lately and have spent lots of time outside. Here is a picture of Elena honing her gardening skills. She also helps me feed our 100-plus chickens and collects eggs daily.

On Mother's Day, we fetched Karen's grandpa from the care facility for our family brunch. He's getting along very well considering that he broke his femur a few weeks ago. He did so well that we plan to pick him up again tomorrow for dinner. The only picture we took on Mother's day is this one, where Marcus is hijacking Great Grandpa's walker.

"Camping"

I have been remiss in my blogging duties lately. We rented a cabin near Featherville for the weekend almost two weeks ago. The highlight of the trip was our 2.5 mile hike to Skillern Hot Springs. Elena spotted four caterpillars on the hike, which was her favorite part. I showed her a large tree (3' diameter") that a very industrious beaver nearly chewed down. Elena was very upset with the beaver and said, "That's not nice!" We spent most of the next week fielding beaver questions, so we picked up some beaver-related books at the library. I tried reading them to her, but she "reads" them to me instead. Most of the stories go something like this: "There's a beaver. It chewed down a tree! That's not nice!"

Here are some pictures from our hike.

We ate lunch near the hot spring while the tub filled up. We had to abandon our first lunch spot because we were attacked by ants. Following the ant assault, Elena stomped on every single ant she crossed on the trail. I finally had to carry her because we were only moving about three steps between ant stomping episodes.

Here we are enjoying the soaking tub. Skillern is a decent hot spring, but I wouldn't rate it as high as some of the others we have visited. Marcus really enjoyed it because the pool was shallow enough for him to stand up on his own.

Elena learned how to use the "outside potty" on this trip. On Mother's Day she demonstrated her skills on John and Mary's back patio (she and her cousin Katie were outside and the rest of us were still in the house). Then she sat in it.

Marcus: 11 months

As Marcus approaches the 1 year mark, his personality is really starting to develop. He eats pretty much everything, including rocks (see below). He loves grilled salmon.

He now has two lower teeth and is working on two uppers. He isn't walking yet, but we expect him to take off any day now.  Here are some pictures that Karen took of him with his lion.

Overall, he's a happy guy. He loves bath time, playing outside, exploring the cupboards/drawers. He devotes a majority of his day to finding ways to irritate his sister and fend off her defenses and attacks. Not wild about diaper changes and long car rides.

 

10 months

 

**I was just informed that while this was written a month ago, I never posted it. So, one month behind, but here is Marcus at 10 months. 11 month update coming soon as well as pics from the first camping trip of the season.

 Marcus has made it to the 10 month mark. He's become much more mobile in the last month- crawling all over the place and pulling himself up to stand. He is just starting to balance for a few seconds unsupported and to cruise the furniture. What's different from Sprout is how careful he is about sitting back down again.

This isn't the best picture, but if you look closely you'll see his first tooth on the bottom. Marcus is a happy baby overall. He enjoys his naps, snuggles, bath time and playing outside in the swing. Not so fond of his sister and some of her antics. Likes just about all food, with no clear favorites. He continues to grow and explore the world around him.