First Fish
We went to a picnic yesterday hosted by Steven’s co-worker. He lives in a rare place around here.
He lives on a farm. With a pond. We brought bread to feed the neighborhood cows, but they weren’t home, so we did the next best thing.
We went fishing.
While Matthew learned the ins-and-outs of baiting and casting,
David sampled the bread for himself.
Daddy is a good teacher. It only took a few casts before….
he caught his first fish!
Slimy!
Matthew actually caught a number of fish, sometimes on his own. By the end of the afternoon he was (you knew this was coming, right?) hooked.
Happy Lunchtime
Matthew wanted a happy sandwich. I obliged.
I used my new Pampered Chef crimper to make the round PB&J. Veggie chips make the rays. Organic, bunny-shaped, fruit snacks are the eyes, mouth, and plate decoration.
He liked it, and best of all, he ate it!
Alexander Turns 5
Last night we helped Alexander celebrate his 5th birthday.
We had pizza for dinner,
horsed around on the couch,
and ate Uncle Franco’s latest creation…
dolphin cake! Isn’t it pretty? He just made it up, free-hand. He is my cake decorating hero.
But before we ate the birthday confections, we had to sing. Guess who learned to play “Happy Birthday” on piano?
Meghan! (David helped).
The cake was super yummy. Alexander got some fun gifts, including a pair of “night vision goggles.” All the boys were very excited.
Turns out, “night vision” on a kids toy really means “little green flash lights.” They had fun playing in the very dark basement anyway.
Except for David, who was super tired.
Snuggling with Goo goo helped.
Five years ago today, Steven and I went to visit our newest nephew at Fairfax Hospital. No matter how big he gets, I will always remember seeing him swaddles in the plastic basinette. He was a very sweet baby.
Max on the Mend
We had a kitty crisis this weekend. After months of losing weight, and weeks of a diminishing appetite, Max stopped eating and drinking entirely on Saturday. By Sunday it was clear he needed the vet. So, in the middle of getting the house ready and food cooked for a picnic, I packed Max and David into the car.
One block down the road David threw up on himself. Sheesh. We came home, cleaned up, grabbed towels, and headed back out.
Max spent three days at the vet and possibly has early kidney disease or thyroid malfunction, or both. It’s hard to tell without time, more blood work, and a change in diet.
Matthew took Max’s absence harder than I would have thought. He cried when he found out Max had to stay at the vet’s office. He commented regularly that he missed Max. When we picked Max up yesterday Matthew got on the floor, stuck his face against the carrier door and greeted Max warmly. “HiMax!WemissedyouMax!Areyoubetternow?Didyoumissus?IloveyouMax!” David added in his own greeting, “meowmeowmeowmeowMEOW!!”
Poor cat looked like he would have preferred going back to the cage, frankly.
Now he is home, with a sad, shaved fore-paw from the IV (Matthew is convinced Max has a hurt knee), a new diet of prescription food, and vitamins the vet swears “taste good.” I haven’t tried them, myself.
I used to think people who left their estates to their cats were nuts. Now I am beginning to understand. All that money? It’s just for the vet bills of an aging cat.
Trust me.
Peek!
A friend got some pictures of David peeking out of the church nursery window.
Funny Face.
Sweet Smile
A Tale of Two Memorial Days
This is how David spent Memorial day.
He was sick. He was tired. He felt awful. He slept a lot.
This is how Matthew spent Memorial day.
He felt great! He went to the Natural History museum with Daddy. He got to see dinosaurs,
and butterflies
and whales, and some mammals, AND he rode the train….
He had a blast.
Memorial Weekend Picnic
We decided to have a few friends over for a picnic Sunday evening. It had rained during the day, so we weren’t sure how the evening would go. Luckily, the rain stopped and we could enjoy some time outside.
David and Nate played on the pint-sized swing set.
Our pool reached maximum capacity.
The adults enjoyed some adult conversation.
I made my favorite patriotic dessert – Flag Cake! It’s super easy (yellow cake, cool whip, strawberry stripes, and a blueberry field) and pretty yummy.
This time I used my star-shaped fondant cutter and made pear stars. So fun!
Clemyjontri
Matthew has been asking to go to Clemyjontri park a lot lately. It’s one I can’t do on my own with two boys because it is a) enormous and b) not fenced in. But with Daddy home on Saturday, we figured it was a good day to go to the park and have a picnic.
Keep in mind, we have no air conditioning (the coolant ran out Wed. night). Clemyjontri has very little shade. It was mid 80’s and a little humid. In hindsight, we might have been better off going to the mall. But I digress.
Matthew was all excited to ride the carousel,
until we got ON the carousel, and then he wanted to get off. Too late!
Enjoying the see saw,
and the slide.
Flight 1863 from Dullus to Ft. Lauderdale, get ready for take off.
Running in the dirt.
Covered in the dirt.
“Climbing” the tree.
Peek-a-boo!
We staggered home a few hot hours later, to house somewhere in the mid 80’s as well, and were thankful for the ice maker.
Certificate Day
The penultimate day of pre-school was Certificate Day. Every “friend” in the Ducklings class got a certificate of “play and learning” from the teachers.
The parents were invited to stay and play with the kids outside.
We got a paper in the bag today recording height and weight. During the course of the year, Matthew has grown one inch and gained 9 lbs.
Look out summer – here we come!
Can you hear me now?
Yes?
Good.
David had his hearing checked today. He is A.Ok. He did NOT care for the cymbol crashing, jumping monkey toy that went off everytime the sound did. We can cross “caliope player” off his list of future jobs.
One worry put to bed.
Thank goodness.
