Hikes and the Mock-n-duck

Not wanting to waste the holiday, we decided to try a family hike in the Fells. It was a beautiful day and we were motivated to explore. We had plenty of water and snacks, but unfortunately no bug repellent. Holy cow, the mosquitoes were out en force. Wasn't too bad at the waterfall lookouts, which were cool. Probably can't see us here, but it's me, Pip, and Viv, shot by Phil from above the fall. But as we walked deeper in the forest we were swarmed, and hightailed it out of there right quick!



Back at home I caught Vivie singing the mockingbird song. As always, I missed her strong part and she got a bit shy when she saw me with the camera. But her interpretation is too cute for words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPjsz9NSbLo


While Viv and Dad enjoyed an afternoon nap, Pip and I took a long bike ride. Actually he rode, I huffed it behind him all around Melrose. First to see the swans, who were out for a swim, then to the library, and then to the park. From there I pulled out my handy new Droid and called Phil for a pick-up!

Memorial Day BBQ

We were invited to the Hoffenberg's, (aka Brillo from rugby lore), for a BBQ this weekend. What a blast. Pip and Vivie ran from noon until 8pm when we dragged them out of there.

Vivie loved the swingset. And this baby swing kept her occupied for a long time. Even at a hot dog in it!


For Pip, the highlight was definitely the waterguns. Here, he huddles with Liam and Ella, trying to figure out how to open the packaging.


Problem solved, Pip and Liam are on the hunt. I believe Brillo was attacked so heavily as he bravely manned the grill it was a miracle the flames stayed hot enough to cook out food.


Phil and I may have set some sort of record for calories ingested, however Pip and Vivie likely were on the low side. Not for lack of trying. They just only wanted to eat corn. I think Pip gobbled 5 cobs. Here's Vivie chowing into hers.

Vivian Reads

Seriously, this girl is amazing. She's been reciting book snippets here and there and loves to sing, proving she pays attention to the small stuff. I had bought a couple books to send to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Matt and was organizing them for the mail. On this, her official second birthday, Vivie spotted Brown Bear, Brown Bear -- a favorite among all kids as far as I can tell -- and plopped down on the kitchen floor to read it. But she wasn't just paging through, she was reading. I stood watching for a while and then finally grabbed the camera and got it on tape. She gets a bit flustered when she knows we're watching, but she still pulled it off. So Vivie and Pip both read Eric Carle first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsY4lMpKUs8


Later that day we went to look at another open house in Bedford. Very close to what we want. Nice yard, nice family room, open concept. But small, squished bedrooms on a busy street. As much as we want to lock something in, I think we're gonna wait and see what else comes up. But, this house did boast a snake in the backyard, which I wrangled and showed to Pip lest he forget what an awesome Mom I am.


As if our day was not busy enough ,we rounded it out with a sleepover at Nick and Natalie's. Dinner and hysterics for the parents will remain un-blogged.

What happens in 2 years

Vivian is nearly two and WAY to big for her baby swing. Can't believe it's been two years. I know everyone says it. I suppose it feels like a long time in the way that I can't remember life without her. Nothing more precious than my Pip and Vivie.

Go pound chalk

Our driveway is a dru color wasteland right now and when it rains, it's going to look like a psychedelic dream. Pip needed something to hammer and all I could offer was chalk. I tried to ration him, but when I went to get Vivie's milk, that sneak grabbed 4 more pieces! What the heck, I figured, knock yourself out.


He even taught Vivie how to hammer it too ... and carefully. No ouchies at all!

Happy eaters

Normally dinner is a not very relaxing dance between us and the kids. Phil and I try to make small talk while attempting to keep the kids engaged (i.e. not leaving the table and hopefully eating). This is never easy. There is the rare occasion, though, where Pip and Viv are both hungry and eager to show off their eating skills. This was one of those magical days.



Not only did they want to eat, they wanted to tell me how much they liked what I gave them. Lots of "I like my carrots Mommy!" and "I like my sandwich Mommy!" No Mom on earth could resist the urge to videotape such a meal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjy6K6C8YD0

Oh, and if you notice the scrape on Vivie's eye ... she had a run-in with the Pilot's muffler and lost.

Drew's birthday/goodbye party

It was all fun for the kids, but us adults knew there was a grey cloud inside the silver lining. Pip's bestie from school is moving this week to Cincinnati. We went to his 4th birthday party the weekend before to share one last afternoon of smiles and fun.

Pip does understand that Drew is moving and won't be at school, but he has no idea that this is permanent and that Drew isn't moving where Pip is moving. It's so sad. Ramila, his preschool teacher, told me Pip went up to her on Friday and said "I'm gonna miss Drew". Makes me just want to cry.

Here they are one last time, whooping it up:

Sillies

What sillies I have!!! Pip spent his first four years freaking out whenever water got in his eyes. Turns four ... bring it on.



Next day we went to Liz's and shared cupcakes for Pip and Nick's birthdays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X32qCsqje8c

Had lots of help blowing them out!



Vivie found these glasses in Charlie's doctor set.

Nick's Birthday Party

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day. Warm, sunny, with a light breeze. Luckily for Susan who bravely hosted about 18 kids and 19 adults at her place for Nick's 4th birthday party. It was a very happy affair with all the kids running and playing out in the sun.

The spirit hit me too and soon I found myself engaged in a pirate battle where I was the prey. A rowdy band of pirates chased me all over the yard until one of them ultimately caught and slayed me. (Note the paper airplanes in the twp pics below, courtesy of Grandpa, who had just left with Grammie prior to the party).




Once I was down, I had to rely on Pip and Vivie to kiss me and bring me back to life. Luckily, they both had my back.





We left the party a bit after two in time to swing by two open houses. I was skeptical, because honestly we've not seen much to speak of over the last four weeks and what we have seen is quite expensive. But we had time to kill because our place was being shown so we couldn't go home. The first house had me at hello. Nothing grand, nothing over the top. But solidly built, beautiful kitchen, nice yard (pool!), finished basement. I could see us living there. AND well within our price range. So now we have some motivation to actually sell this place. But still no viable offers on the homefront. Lots of showings, though, so our fingers are crossed.

Grammie and Grandpa visit!

This weekend Grammie and Grandpa drove up to visit us. We hit the road as soon as they got here, driving into Boston for lunch in Fanueil Hall. Pip was mesmerized by the statue man who moved when you gave him a dollar. (we got out of there only $2 down, not too bad). Then we rode the carousel and hit a bit climber by the North End.


Too soon, they were ready to leave the next day. Before they left, we were making a card for Nick's birthday and I asked Grandpa to make Pip a paper airplane. He's got some serious skills! Look at it fly off the deck ... straight as an arrow!




Here's Vivie watching the planes with Grammie!

Pooped

This Monday we went to Mom's group and got home exhausted. Vivie and I had no problem's admitting it, but Pip insisted he did not need a nap. So I let him watch a video while Vivie and I went upstairs to sleep. I woke about an hour and a half later, fully rested but a bit confused. How did that actually work? This is what I found downstairs on the couch:



Theoretically, Vivie should have been well rested herself, but for some reason she got herself worked up. Here's a little Vivie tantrum in action.

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great Mother's Day weekend this year. Despite a full schedule of open houses and scheduled home tours, I managed to squeak in a mani/pedi with Tasha and was spoiled with handmade cards by Phil, Pip and Vivie, and the biggest ice cream cake in the world. This might have had something to do with the coaching I gave Pip about how big the cake had to be. THIIISSS big!!

The best thing of all, though, was getting to listen to Pip and Vivian say Happy Mother's Day all day long. Of course, when I get the camera out I have to ask for them AND they're full of boogers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iexinw-aZMA


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73MFLjTWlTg

Dirt!

Here we see Pip's sphere of infuence coming into play. I am quite sure Vivie would not have wanted to play literally in a pile of dirt unless Pip was so enthusiastic about it. Sure enough, there she is right with him, carting dirt into the driveway (not like we're trying to sell this house or anything) and practically rolling in it.

Jenga!

We revently got the game Jenga, where you make a tower and try to slip blocks out without knocking it over, thinking Pip would like it. Turns out he does, but he as a different take on it. Lots of different takes. In addition to throwing them (default preference), he makes some awesome houses ala Frank Lloyd Wright, and creates some crazy wall coverings, requiring both balance and patience. Check it out!

Sprout and the butterfly

So I can only blog this because there is good news at the end, so don't freak out. Sprout was lost outside for 3 days. We believe one of the tours led through the house on Saturday accidentally left a door open and Sprout, spooked by the new folks, bolted. Pip and Vivie were very concerned. I looked all over the house and called for her outside to no avail. I checked under the porch and the back deck. Also no luck. So we were hoping she'd return on her own (but there are very very large raccoons around here ... yikes).

Today I was getting organized around the house and Pip yelled for me to come downstairs. He was yelling that he found Sprout! Sure enough, he was peering out the window and saw her poking her head up onto the porch from under the front deck. We all went out and convinced her to come back home.

PLUS -- we found this amazing butterfly. It didn't appear hurt, but it also wasn't wanting to fly. Having recently conquered worms, Pip decided to let the butterfly crawl on him too. We tried to get it to walk over to Vivie as well, but she was a little too jerky for it to work!

Daniel's party!

This was actually our third party of the weekend, but I didn't get any pictures of Tristan's party because I failed mommy-hood and messed up the time and so we arrived an hour late just when all the kids were leaving the play area to go sit in cramped quarters and eat pizza and cake. Was this what Pip was looking forward to at the party? No. You can see why no pictures were taken.

I was careful not to be late to Sunday's party. It was at a HUGE jump center, where we also scheduled Pip and Vivian's party this year. Pip took to it like a caterpillar to ripe green leaves. He jumped right in and I didn't see him for a long time. Vivie needed a little coaxing. The jump houses were fun but she soon wanted to do the big slides -- with me. So I think I went up and down those slids like 50 times myself. Yippee! So this explains why I got no action shots there.

At one point we switched rooms and Pip and Vivie lined up quite patiently and for a long time while all the other kids were corraled.



Happily exhausted and fed. Hats on. Smiles wide. Success!