Memorial Day Weekend

First of all, my birthday was quite lovely. Thanks to Mom and Clara for the cake and all those who sent cards and gifts and called. I felt loved.

 Here are some images from our weekend in Wisconsin. We celebrated my birthday and Dad's birthday and had fun times all around. Check out this face on Eleanor as her dad beats her in Connect 4.

 Dad and Kathie set up minnow races for the kids.

 Penny did some praising.

 We all went out on a big pontoon boat, did some fishing and had a picnic on an island.

 Everything was well documented...

 ...from all angles.

 I loved this picture of Penny.

 All kids got to help Grandpa drive the boat.

 We had lots of chips at the picnic.

 There was fishing.

 And there was fairy house building.

 And a walk in the woods...with no ticks!

 Pete caught a big bass.

 And we read lots of stories together. This one was taken just a few short hours before Henry lost all of his dinner, mostly on Anders' cot. There was a mad shuffle of cleaning and rearranging sleeping kids.

Henry got sick one more time in the night, then once at the beginning (literally, one minute into starting out) of the car ride home and once, in Sunset, at the end of the drive. We kept him home this morning and it was a good thing, because he didn't keep his breakfast down.
By all accounts all other kids are still healthy. Tomorrow we'll really try to get back to normal!
Thanks, Dad and Kathie, for a great weekend!!

Lights, Camera, Action!

That was the name of the kids' dance recital today; "Lights, Camera, Action" and they kept trying to make us say it all together. That was the only lame part of the whole show.

 The kids looked so amazingly cute.

 Clara's performance was from Singin' In The Rain, of course. Here she is getting some pictures with the other girls.

 And then she settled right in, in the midst of the chaos backstage, and read her magazine.

 It was hard to get any decent photos on stage, because I couldn't use flash.

 Here she is during the "sun's in my heart" part of the song.

This is a fuzzy photo, but I couldn't leave it out. Clara was giving me a wave on her way off stage.

 Henry's group got to be in two performances. Here he is at the beginning of the hip hop piece, which was to Lime in the Coconut.

 Later they came out for their ballet dance, which was to These Arms of Mine.

 I bawled all the way through this one. He got to be a little star and he even got some bonus applause. He was the only boy in the entire show!

 Here's Clara giving a bow during the finale.

 And here she is turning around and pointing at her brother.

 Henry got to hand one of the instructors flowers. It was very cute.

 The medals for dance were a bit of overkill, but the kids were so proud of them!

 I'm not sure what was going on here, it was pretty darn hot out, and this is probably my favorite picture from the day.

 Though this one's pretty good too.

 And here they are with Grammie. Grandma and Bampa also came to the show, but they had to leave a bit early, so they didn't get in on photos.

 We tried to do a family photo when we got home, but you know how that usually turns out...

I was so proud of my little dancers today!!! If you're lucky, one day, we might make you sit through the video!

More Treehouse

Dad's back! Here's how the fort (playhouse? mini cabin? Still not sure what to call it.) looked when I got home from work yesterday. That's not a hangman's gallows, it's a pulley arm.

 It had rained all morning, so Dad got a lot of work done inside. You can see the two bunks, as well as the plywood floor which will help keep bugs out. You can also see how tall it is inside. Pete and I can both stand up comfortably inside.

 This is a view from the window back to the main house. The windows will have screens, also to keep bugs out.

 In this shot you can see the trapdoor in the floor.

Today the weather was a lot nicer. Painting happened!!

Siete de Mayo

Oops...a belated happy Cinco de Mayo to you!! Ole!

Nice Weather

Clara and I had some nice weather on Thursday and we took full advantage of it! We did a little swinging...

 a little teeter-tottering...

 and a little duck feeding. Sidenote: We were trying to be good to the ducks and not feed them bread like we used to when I was little. The birdseed we bought was mostly corn, which we thought would be perfect. Turns out dried corn sinks. I also read that oats are good to feed the ducks...that wouldn't work as well for throwing, but it would float.

 Later, after having the kids at Henry's dance lessons, we returned home to find that a familiar face had reappeared after several months of no sightings.

Coffee date

Clara and I are on a mission to enjoy this nice weather. We walked Henry to school and continued on our way with the wagon. We're having a Starbucks pitstop then we'll stop at the hardware store for some cracked corn or birdseed to go feed the ducks at the park. Making the most of it before the storms come this afternoon! Also -for those of you following along, yesterday's appointment went well. The midwife says I'm "easy." I wasn't quite sure how to take that, but refrained from saying "that's what got me in this position!"