Field Day

This post is very late, as field day was in late May - but because I wasn't able to attend, I had to rely on the parents' of Elizabeth's classmates for photos, and they generously helped me out - thanks Kate and Jennifer!!  K-2 had field day at the school a few weeks ago, and the kids had a blast.  Lee and Emily both attended and after a while, Emily was our sole family cheerleader, as Lee helped coach the kids - he got rave reviews from parents and teachers alike!  Elizabeth had a very good time with all of the different activities, and just hanging out with her friends and classmates all day outside.

Elizabeth and all of her classmates' siblings who were there to cheer!! 

Elizabeth running. 

Elizabeth.

Lee helping out. 

Mrs. Newton giving the kids a pep talk!

Elizabeth and some of her classmates. 

The potato sack race.

Elizabeth and the girls. 

Lee cheers on Chaney with the potato head roll.

Braggalope Bay

A few weekends ago, we spent the day with a bunch of our childhood friends.  We always make an extra effort when Sheila and Clint, who live in Arizona, come out for a visit, so when they let us know that they had purchased a lake house in New Hampshire and wanted everyone to come celebrate with them, we knew we had to be there!  It was a fabulous day of kids playing in the water - Elizabeth and Ethan were literally in the water from the time we arrived until the time we left (more than 5 hours!!) - and adults relaxing on the shore.  We are so excited that the Braggalopes will be spending more time in New Hampshire and we are looking forward to seeing them again in the fall.

Elizabeth and Ethan in the water. 

Cute little Owen.

Ethan 

Some of the kids having lunch.

Emily

Elizabeth catches a bubble from Greg. 

Prune hands - what you get when you spend 6 hours straight in the water!!

Ethan leaps into the water!

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The Haircut

As many of you know, Emily's hair is so long that it has become almost unmanageable.  When wet, it reaches the tops of her thighs and even when it is dry, it falls past her waist.  The tangles are difficult to keep up with and combing it out after her shower can take more than 10 minutes.  Yesterday, two days after she turned four, we finally cut it - more than 8 inches!!!  This was an incredibly emotional experience for me - I was in tears while it was being cut and I would re-attach the ponytail in a heartbeat if I could.  The good news is that Emily loves it - and that we are donating her ponytail to the PonyTail Kids Club, so it will be used to make a wig for another child.

I took these last Sunday when I was doing her hair. 

Measuring it..... 

The big cut!

Very proud! 

Lisa evens it all out. 

If you are wondering what I looked like, I was calm compared to Elizabeth.  Here is a shot of Elizabeth after we calmed her down.  Much to our surprise, Elizabeth was absolutely hysterical about Emily's haircut - she was completely traumatized by the ponytail and was screaming at the top of her lungs.

VERY short hair!! 

Watching Lisa cut Elizabeth's hair - after seeing how traumatized Elizabeth was by Emily's haircut, Lisa only took about five inches off about five inches of Elizabeth's hair.

Emily loves her hair!!  And she looks beautiful!!

It's America!!

The girls' dance recital was this past weekend and despite some last minute changes to the venue and the routine to which we have all grown so accustomed, it was their best performance yet!  We are so proud of how well they did, how well they knew their dances and how great the show was.  Congratulations TDI dancers on another fabulous year - we are already looking forward to the fall!!

Emily is Four

Our sweet little baby girl turns four today.  Emily's birthday always seems a bit paradoxal for me:  I can't believe that she is already four, but at the same time, she seems so much older than four - how is that possible?  And likewise, her journey from three to four has been both surprising and amazingly predictible.  High points from the last year include starting preschool, learning to survive all day without Elizabeth, mastering the skill of manipulation, learning how to swim all by herself, going from a daily three hour nap to no nap in the span of two weeks (and simultaneously, falling asleep at the drop of a hat), still clinging to her beloved Lambie, mysteriously learning how to write her name (we did not teach her, nor did her preschool teacher, who told that me that they only worked on recognizing letters this year, not writing them), and developing a wonderful sense of humor.  We truly enjoy seeing the world through our little Emily's eyes and we are looking forward to what age four will bring about.  Happy Birthday to our sweet baby girl.

  

Truly happy. 

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Roasting Marshmellows

Ever since Elizabeth roasted marshmellows at Camp last summer, she has wanted to do it at our house.  We bought a bag of them to roast over Memorial Day weekend but ran out of time, so Lee promised them that we would get to it this weekend - little did we know that the weekend would be littered with massive thunderstorms and tornado watches!  On Sunday morning, he stored some wood in the garage so it wouldn't get wet in the rain and when the storms finally passed, he fired up the outdoor fireplace and we started roasted.  The girls definitely like the roasting more than the eating - after completely savoring the first few bites, the marshmellows were just too sweet for them.  But it was a good time!!

Roasting with their special s'mores sticks. 

The poor marshmellows.

mmmmmm 

Sharing a marshmellow.

I love Emily's smirk here. 

A Concerned Call

On Saturday night, we learned from my friend Janet that her son Ethan had just received stitches in his knee.  Elizabeth and Ethan are best buddies, friends since they were just a few weeks old and as you can imagine, Elizabeth was filled with all sorts of questions and concerns.  When I spoke to Janet on the phone, we kept getting interrupted by Elizabeth and Ethan, who wanted to reassure each other that everything was okay.  Finally, I just handed the phone over to Elizabeth so that she could talk to Ethan herself....

Memorial Day Festivities

On Monday, we ushered in the unofficial beginning of summer (sorry Janet, had to steal it) with a day filled with festivities!  We went to our local Memorial Day parade, which gets more fun every year because the number of people that we know in the crowd and marching in the parade continues to grow.  After the parade, we went home, packed up our stuff and headed to the Dudleys for a Memorial Day party.  The kids spent the majority of the afternoon in the freezing cold pool and the adults ate and talked, ate and talked.  It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon and if the summer looks anything like our Memorial Day weekend looked, it's going to be a great one!!

The girls in their patriotic dresses.

 

With Debby, who marched with the historical society.

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The Perfect Hike

Last weekend, we spent a few hours at Dinosaur State Park.  Although Elizabeth and I have been there before, it was Lee and Emily's first trip.  The trails around the park are great, and are the perfect distance for an almost-four-year-old, as not once did Emily complain or asked to be picked up.  We topped off our hike with an ice cream from Stew Leonard's and the girls were in heaven!

Checking out the dinosaur footprints - notice that Emily is grasping Elizabeth's hand tightly.... 

Footprints. 

Emily working on a craft. 

Elizabeth works on a door hanger.

One of the many butterflies in the butterfly garden. 

Heading right into the frogs... 

Elizabeth literally almost fell off the bridge trying to get a better look at all of the frogs (which were quite loud!).

PlayDate

For the last several weeks, Elizabeth has been begging us to have a "play date."  It's not like she doesn't get to hang out with her friends all the time, but there seems to be a big trend among her classmates to have playdates - one on one time at the house with another child.  She was persistent enough about it that Lee and I finally relented (between her school and extracurricular calendar and our weekend calendar, finding the time has been hard) and her buddy Chaney came over this past weekend.  Truth be told, I was a bit nervous because I didn't have anything planned, but my fears were short lived, as the three girls (Emily was not to be left out) ran around, played, went in the sprinkler, talked and ate for the better part of three hours.  Our first playdate was a success and I'm sure that there will be many more.

Playing in the sprinkler - what could be more fun?? 

Chaney in the sprinkler. 

The girls had a blast.