Boo at the Zoo (again!)

I think this is year 5.  Sometimes, when we do these cute, little-kid things, I find myself asking, "Will this be the last time?  Next year, when it comes time for this, will we get an eye roll and a shoulder shrug?"  When will they look me in the eyes and say, "I'm too big for this, Mom."  

Thankfully, this was not the case yesterday.  There was still enough enthusiasm to go around. Leaping, shrieking excitement over getting to ride the carousel.  (I've gotten so old, they make me dizzy! I think I might have reached my last carousel ride.) The only real sadness was that the giant snake slide wasn't open this year.  (Come on, zoo people.  It's a given!) I could see the beginnings of some of the reluctance, though.  The hesitation to go dance at the "dance party"- which was a thumping speaker in front of a video screen - because they didn't want to be seen on the video feed.  But then they met another kid in a Hogwarts costume and they and Naomi shared the greatest, most confident one-pump handshake I've ever witnessed.  

Bike!

Ok, I've figured out how to configure videos again!

*tap tap*  Hello?

I'm quite certain no one is out there reading this anymore.  I just had to wander the labyrinth of resetting my password for this site.  Still figuring how to get pictures loaded.

Facebook TimeHop sent me back to this little black hole with a video from 2011 and I was promptly sucked in for the last two days.  Wow.  I hardly remember some of these things.  I definitely don't remember having two very tiny little people who lived in my house who shrieked with laughter and read lots of books and made a fair mess of every space.  Wait.  That does seem familiar.  Only they're quite tall.

And they thoroughly enjoyed watching the videos of chattering laughing babies as well.  We've looked through the printed books at Nana's house before, but those don't come with video playback! We've all had a good laugh over the silliness of two year olds. I've only cried twice.  And thought, maybe, just maybe, I'd try to create a new post.

So, real quick.  In the last three years we've:

Moved to a new house
Started school, finished kindergarten and first grade
Grown 7 inches
Bought a pop-up camper
Swept up 17,000 pounds of dog hair
Visited Hale Farm 17 times.

That's a pretty accurate summary, I think.

Soooo, what do you want to talk about?

Adventures in the Creek

We took a Father's Day hike in the nearby park this weekend. It was lovely and idyllic. After we clambered over the trail, with aggressive warnings about poison ivy, we came to Roxie's favorite part.  We used to take her here fairly regularly in the time B.C.  Our little old lady dog was right back to it, like a baby mountain goat, skipping up the sides of the creek bed and sniffing her old haunts and occasionally worrying about our parenting skills as we let the girls explore.

I love this little series of photos as William and the girls scheme about how to get up on the Very Big Rock That Is Slightly Too Far Away.

Contemplations....

The plot and plan.

Swing!!

The eagle has landed!

I do not have a photo of William and Naomi slipping down the waterfall on our way out of the creek, but it was only a minor disaster and no permanent damage was done. Hopefully, for Naomi, it will not overshadow a wonderful day of splashing and  trumping and exploring a little treasure so close to our house. Because this picture....

...

This is what I want to remember out of this day, this celebration with their Daddy and what a wonderful human being he sand how very beautiful life can be.

Fairy magic

Ivy turned four yesterday, which further proves that time is accelerating.  These three are great friends, running and laughing and plotting against Jack when all of us are together.  They love to throw their arms around one another, pose for a photograph and frequently beg to sleep over one another's houses. We haven't braved that adventure yet, but I'm sure it's coming soon.

The party was, by all definitions, magical.  The weather is always perfect for Morehouse parties and yesterday was no exception.  Dozens of children donned wings and sparkly crowns and wings and flitted about the perfect afternoon, playing games and clambering in the treehouse.  Adults milled and talked and spun children around when they came close enough.

It was what I imagine when we talk of raising children. 

I'm sure Amanda will write a beautiful post about it and what we really want here are pictures.

Up, up, up!

Here we are hunting for treasure, little sparkly gems and shiny buttons sprinkled through the back yard.  Hope we got them all,'cause that will hurt shooting out the back of a lawnmower. 

This gorgeous shot is from Nat as Naomi rode the zip line.  Yes, they have a zip line in their yard.  I told you it was magical.

This is a still shot for the Broadway production of Frozen: The Freeze Dance Reprisal

Even Momma got into the act, wearing wings.

Investigations

(This has been hanging in limbo since February.)

What if I just jump in here, and pretend there hasn't been awkward radio silence for two months?

Great.

We went to Farm Park today for Discovery Days explorations. It was a bit chilly, but the sunshine made it bearable and the maple sugaring demonstration made it all worthwhile. 

We helped make ice cream and investigated some seeds in the greenhouse.  It was good to talk about things that were connected to spring!

What else had happened since we last met here? We got Lillian's hair cut.

Oh.  Christmas. At chick fil-a. It was random.

Also, the girls say really weird things like, "If you tape a light to a dolphin, you'll have a light-up dolphin!"

Clearly,I need to get my sea legs back on this blogging thing.

Look out, Neal Degrasse Tyson!