Snoozing on the Road

Having outgrown portable cribs, Lucie and Ryan found some creative ways to sleep on our recent trip. At Grandma and Grandpa's house, they were greeted by a fun handmade headboard filled with pictures of their recent adventures. The kids enjoyed pointing out photos of themselves and recalling the stories behind each shot. This, along with beds set up with guard railings and special bedding, made for some cozy bedtimes.

At Gigi and Papa's, Lucie and Ryan enjoyed an entire full-sized mattress to themselves (on the floor, just to be safe). It was their idea to sleep head-to-toe, which I thought was really cute. And, they're always excited to pull out their favorite "Gigi and Papa loved ones", some new, some from our childhoods, including Uncle Andrew's baby quilt, and two musical lambs, nearly identical except for their 30+ year age difference.

And finally, here's my favorite sleeping shot. This photo was taken at Tate's, after the trip to the water park. Tate had never seen "Cars" before, so we put it on for a little late-afternoon downtime. The next thing I knew, everyone was asleep -- except Taterbug. While Aunt Rach, Caleb, Lucie and Ryan napped, Tate kept his eyes wide open, making it through all 116 minutes of the movie. That Lightning McQueen is a pretty mesmerizing force the first time around.

Celebrating Summer

Leaving behind gloomy June weather, we spent a week-long trip enjoying family and sunshine. Lucie and Ryan basked in the warm weather, taking advantage of every opportunity they could to swim, splash, jump waves, and get as wet as possible.

The water fun began at Grandma and Grandpa's, where L & R hit the pool with Grandpa for evening "night swimming", a favorite tradition. They loved going swimming after dinner, especially when it meant enjoying their brownie dessert in the pool.

Later in the week, we visited Tate's neighborhood park, complete with a water area. The three cousins ran from fountain to fountain, gleefully anticipating where the next spray of water would shoot out and catch them by surprise. Tate's favorite trick was to stand right on top of the spray, letting the water balloon out his Nemo swim trunks. Lucie and Ryan thought that was hilarious.

At Gigi and Papa's, we spent a gorgeous day at the beach. Each time they returned from jumping in waves, Lucie, Ryan and Tate would plead with Papa, "Can we go again, Papa? Please? Now?" Lucky for them, they have a Papa who enjoys the water just as much as they do and was more than happy to take them out.

After all this water play, Lucie and Ryan crashed hard at night. Now that they sleep in "big kid beds", I have some great pictures of their new sleeping set-ups at grandparents' houses, and of course photos of sweet new cousin, Caleb. We pulled off some interesting diaper changes with two cousins and a big brother helping out. More to come soon....

Snapshot of Homeschool Preschool

After a rousing game of "Mother May I?", the homeschool preschool crew posed for this shot last week. I just love it. The looks on each face are terrific, showing six little fun-loving personalities, and how much their friendships have grown in the past ten months.

Last week's theme was on manners and helping at home. During circle time, the kids came up with examples of how they help their families — everything from holding their dad's hand while crossing the street (Eliza) to hugging their brother (Ethan) to fetching their twin's favorite blanket in times of need (Lucie). They are all so genuine, sweet, spontaneous, and eager to share at circle time.

This week we talked about visiting the doctor and dentist, a topic of much fascination for three-year-olds. They took turns playing the roles of doctor, nurse and mommy/daddy as their stuffed animals went in for check-ups. The most popular medical procedure performed on their furry friends? Shots! There's no getting behind on vaccines with these junior medical professionals.

We're coming to the end of the "school" year, with plans for a beach day, and a camping trip later in the summer. It's always a blast, and never dull or quiet, when these six get together.

Forts and More Forts

Lucie and Ryan have always been big fans of homemade forts. And fortunately for them, they have a father who considers himself an amateur structural engineer.

So we've built forts out of cushions...












and out of cardboard...












and out of used garden sheds...

and, as of this morning, we've built forts out of big kid beds.









Lucie and I did the initial construction while Megan and Ryan went grocery shopping. Although the problem with using beds as the foundation of your fort is that you need to take the fort apart for sleeping. And since we usually still get a nap out of L & R on the weekend, we dutifully took apart our fort at naptime and then promptly rebuilt once everyone was awake again.

Cousin Number Two!

This past Saturday Lucie and Ryan awoke to the happy news that their new cousin made it safely into the world. Little Caleb Manuel (Manuel was my grandfather's name) was born early Saturday morning, right smack on his due date. What a punctual guy!

Lucie and Ryan can't wait to meet "Baby Kay-yub" and spend time with his big brother Tate. They took great pride in assisting with his "Gigi blanket" when Gigi was here last month. In their minds, a special Gigi blanket officially makes him one of the cousins. (Here are Lucie and Ryan with their blankets at age 3.5 months — can't believe they were once that tiny and took pacifiers!)

Welcome Caleb! We love you to pieces already. And, Ryan hopes you love the color orange and firetrucks as much as he does, as we'll have a steady stream of hand-me-downs headed your way.