Wedding!

I thought we were done with the wedding circuit ... but there was one more left in us!

Franklin and Zoe, day one

While Karen and Charlie are in limbo for a few weeks, we are getting to cat sit for Franklin and Zoe.  Vivie is quite the cat whisperer.  She LOVES these two, very patiently earning their trust on day one.

Franklin warmed up pretty quickly.

Zoe was a skeptic.

Meg was like ... excuse me, do you guys SEE what is in there!!!

Here is Meg, squealing away with delight over real live cats in her house!!

http://youtu.be/RelalkYlhaA

Meg climbs the stairs

For the longest time Meg didn't bother with the stairs at all.  Then one day she walked over and game them a try.  No turning back.  Now you better not even try to carry her up, she'll squiggle right out of your arms to do it herself!

Here's a video, complete with her "I DID THIS" proclamation at the end!

http://youtu.be/bLerLwswG9M

South Boston

This is after Phil's rugby game one day ... South Boston.  Actually was clean!  The kids waded out and played in the sand.  Could not have been happier!

Sick

Ugh, starting the Friday April 20th with Pip, we all took turns getting sick.  Pip, Viv, and I with a tummy bug ... Phil with ear infections, and Meg with the unnamed blight of misery.  When will it all end??!!

Vivie probably wins the medal for best patient, taking after her Dad again.

Hanging with Ella

While Pip was at Camp Evergreen, Vivie had a playdate with Ella (and Meg and Julia) at Ipswich River Park.  It was crowded, but these girls had a blast!

Gardening

This year I vowed to do a better job with flowers in the yard.  I always thought annuals were such a splurge, but I am starting to come around.  This Wednesday Vivie and I motivated (helped along by a solid 5 hour nap from Meg) and planted some big pots, hangers, and some in the mulch beds.  

Rite of passage

I feel like when a child can pour their own milk from the gallon jug without your help, it basically means they can handle almost anything.  My girl's all grown up.

Phil's Salon

Does this really need a caption?  

Clics rediscovered

The clics had been laying dormant for some time, then Pip pulled them out and we found they were fun again!

Even Meg got in on the action! 

And Vivie too!

Camp Evergreen

For April Vacation week we sent Pip to Camp Evergreen.  It is an old school outdoor camp, perfect for my little ball of energy.  I think the level of dirt soaked into him after his first day is in direct proportion to the amount of fun he had!  

He even caught his first fish there Thursday!

Picnic at Lake Quannapowitt

We drive past this lake on our way to Vivie's dance lessons once a week and this week she mentioned that she REALLY REALLY wanted to have a picnic there.  There's a nice field of grass and climbers for the kids, plus an ice cream truck is usually always parked there.  

After a busy day with the lime-ade stand, a generally unhappy Megan (sick again and teething to boot), and lots of yard work that never ends, we packed up for the picnic and headed out.

Meggie was VERY excited to learn how the slide works.  She did it about 30 times!

Pip and Viv were basically one-track minds ... could not stop thinking of that ice cream truck sitting only a few feet away.  We put them off as long as possible and then finally gave in (Pip to me:  "Mommy, if I don't get ice cream soom I think I am gonna die").  

Lime-ade for sale!!!

Phil saw the kids sitting on the wall while he was in the office today and thought they were primed for their first lemonade stand.  We didn't have lemons, but I had limes and watermelon.  So they wrote up the signs while I got to squeezing.  50 cents for fresh, all natural lime-ade and 25 cents per watermelon slice.

They were very convincing salespeople!  Went knocking on doors to drum up business and gave out some free samples that paid for themselves with repeat business.  We have some very generous neighbors as well.  Total money in the cash box:  $19.10.  After paying out me and Kelly for raw materials, Connor and Bridget took home $6 and Pip and Viv took home their own $6.  Not too bad!  

I was proud of my littles, but Pip was disappointed that all that work was not enough to by the $45 Razor Scooter he wants!!

Easter Activities

We decided to have The Curran's and Cantin's over to celebrate Meggie's first birthday and give that it was Easter there were lots of fun things to do.  We decorated Easter Eggs ...

And after Phil re-filled the eggs with candy, Pip re-hid them out in the yard for round two.  He had all sorts of rules about if you found any eggs with designs on them you could use that egg to steal an egg from someone else.  This got everyone quite excited.

Aislinn found many of this special eggs and kept running around screaming "GUILTY!!  GUILTY!!  I FEEL SO GUILTY!"  Because she didn't want to steal anyone's eggs!

Turns out everyone found so many eggs that no one wanted to steal from anyone, and we all just enjoyed out candy stashes.

I tried to make everyone do the Bunny Hop dance with me, but I have to say, the kids were more interested in their candy than my silly dance!

Meg had another heavy dose of chocolate, and here you can see the sugar shake she does!