May is flying by

So I really have been pretty pathetic in terms of picture taking, but after I compiled pictures from my dad, my camera and my phone there were quite a few and I didn't feel so bad.  It took a while to organize but I think I've got it.  So here's a little (okay, maybe long) snapshot of what we've been up to lately.

We've been meaning to do the 9/11 memorial and finally found an excuse to do it.

 Rachel
 We signed Rachel up for Tee-ball this spring because her good neighbor friend was doing it.  She was nervous for her first day because she didn't know how.  I had to keep telling her that it was for her to learn how.  It's 1 1/2 hours on Saturday morning and there can be a lot of standing around time which makes her a little antsy but she's really started to get the hang of it and is enjoying it much more lately.  I must say, it is SO CUTE to watch!!

Rachel loves matching with her sister

We've been to a million birthday parties.  Okay, not that many, but a lot!  We had 3 in one Saturday.

Rachel had her little end of the year celebration (even though she still has a few more weeks of school)  It was great to read all of her writing projects.  She especially loved the poetry unit and is quite a good poet.  I'll have to share as soon as she gets to bring them home.  She has LOVED her year at school and it blows my mind that I almost have a second grader!

Mrs. Totaro

We really lucked out with another great class with lots of great friends

Tommy 

I already gave a pretty good synopsis of this boy but here are some great shots 

He's excited to play tee-ball...next year

Oh Tommy boy

Tommy is still enjoying his karate class and is so happy to have his new camouflage belt, because no one can see him

Told you this kid love to help me

They have an amazing story time/craft on campus.  This day they read a story on tooth fairies, they made wings and a wand and went on a tooth hunt (small white rocks in a bag)  So adorable!

Our ball girl

The little lady has been really into dressing up lately

Gotta love it

KatelynThis girl is changing everyday!  With new words and new discoveries and has such a fun personality.  She still does most of her communicating by pointing or grabbing our fingers and dragging us to what she wants.  She loves "books" and she is LOVING our family photo albums and we go through all of them at least once a day.  It's so cute to hear her shout "Wachel!" as she points to the pictures.  Another favorite thing..."play!" which is either playgrounds or play dough.  This girl wants to do everything her older siblings are doing and never wants to miss a beat.  I'm already having a little trouble with her in the napping department.  She refuses to sit on any kind of high chair or booster, which is kind of tricky with our 4 person kitchen table.  It's pretty cute to watch her climb up on the chair, but she also gives me heart attacks from fear of her falling.  She's just so cute!

Dino-FOUR Tommy

My Tom Bom has turned four years old.  It was fun to have my dad here to celebrate it with us, and to have his help too.  He made the breakfast and the delicious cake.  When Tommy first told me he wanted a dinosaur birthday I thought seriously about trying to talk him out of it, but it turned out to be really fun...probably one of my favorites! 

Birthday breakfast!  His favorite...whip cream, with pancakes

I used to love these things when I was little

For his party we did a little "dino dig" at a nearby park with a sandpit.  I made "bones" from dinosaur molds and plaster of paris and buried them in the sand.  I also buried plastic eggs I got on clearance filled with goodies.  It was a BIG hit!

Volcano cupcakes...not sure what happened to the frosting

Dino tracks sugardoodles

 

Rachel had half day at school and we did a spur of the moment experiment

Daddy as the hit of the neighborhood

I love Kate in the background

Spice cake...MMMM!  And sugar cookie bones on top!

He got a play tent from Grandma and is loving it.  He can't wait to go real camping with Daddy tomorrow for Father and Sons.  Too bad we got rid of all our camping gear when we moved to NYC.

For those who want to know more about my fun-loving four year old:

·      He LOVES oatmeal and eats a lot of it!  He likes syrup or honey mixed into it

·      He can now buckle himself in his car seat…now if we could only get him to learn how to put on his shoes, we’d be set!

·      He’s recently become entranced and hooked on audio books in the car.

·      He LOVES his preschool thing.  

·      He requests a green smoothie for lunch everyday.

·      He LOVES to help me bake and cook in the kitchen!  Any time he sees me starting something he yells, “I wanna help” as he’s pushing the chair over to the counter. 

·      He’s an awesome helper at the grocery store…tells me what we need.  Our last trip he picked out pears, shrimp, and a baguette.  Supposedly his favorite food is fish.  (PS I don't know how because I don't cook it)

·      If we have an open day and I ask him what he wants to do that day it’s either the library, or the playground.  If we stay home, I’m lucky to get him out of his pjs by lunchtime.

·      He loves to tell a good story and is pretty dang good at it.

·      He rarely leaves my side…unless Rachel or Daddy are around. He LOVES his Daddy.  His new favorite game with him..."funny monsters" (being thrown around on our bed)

·      He’s awesome at sharing and is pretty good at saying sorry.

·      He’s at the height of the “why” stage.  Driving me nuts.

·      He is dramatic!  It usually has something to do with his bones being broken.  His “blood” also makes him do a lot of things he typically wouldn’t do.

·      He uses the letter g instead of d…”gestroy”, “gessert,” gelicious”…I love it!

·      He is a really great dishwasher loader.  He'll happily do it every night.  I actually think he really likes it.

·      He really likes his treats, a new favorite…speculos spread

·      He always has to make one curtain call before going to bed.

·      He has the cutest excited run.

    He is obsessed with treasure hunts!

The rest of our trip

I played with a feature on my camera for the first time.  It's called movie digest and somehow it records the four seconds before you take a picture, and then it combines them all into one movie at the end of the day.  It is such a fun way to capture everything.  Still, it's amazing how much 4 seconds can add up.  So, if you're in the mood for a 7 minute video of us, (mainly the kids) enjoying Brussels then press play.  In summary, we really enjoyed the pastries at the bakery and we really took advantage of the times it was not raining, which was sometimes brief.  We started saying, "what a beautiful moment" (instead of "day") when the sun would peek out for a while.

Ahhh, Venezia

Jake and I took a nice little getaway to Venice for his birthday and our anniversary.  Even though it was quite cold, we really lucked out with weather and squeezed in the two dry days in the week full of rain.  We checked out a couple travel books at the library and had some things we wanted to see but with no real plan, we just allowed ourselves to get lost in the tiny streets and I think we bumped into it all...maybe even more times than we wanted to :)  We ate pizza at almost every meal and tried every flavor of gelato.  It was perfect!

View of Venice from our hotel.  They had a free shuttle boat that took us over to the island

You just have to love the architecture.  We loved the little building squeezed in between here.

The big 3 0

The Bridge of Sighs

According to Italy Jake became an official Adult that day

One of the highlights for us was taking a ferry over to Giorgio Maggiore, going up into the bell tower and getting a fabulous view of the city.  It was quiet and not crowded at all. 

Another angle

The colors, the water, everything about it...I just love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was one of those things we ran into at least a dozen times

Completely by chance, we're not sure what it is even...looks famous

One of those shots that takes 50 tries to get right

Looking at Giorgio Maggiore

One of my favorite shots

From the Accademia Bridge...Salute Cathedral

We had a great plan of finding a gondolier earlier in the morning, when they're not busy and making him a low offer.  It worked beautifully.  With a great price and a slightly shorter trip, we had a great time roaming the canals.

The low tide allowed us to go under these low arches too, which was fun

8 years and counting :)

I wish the picture could have captured how truly stunning the gold mosaic walls and ceiling were.

Classic

Our one regret with not planning ahead.  We really wanted to do some secret passage way tour they do in the Doges Palace.  Sounds really cool, but it was booked for weeks!

Where we spent a lot of our time

Ahhhh, I love Italy

Ahhh, I love Jake too :)

We were planning on taking the bus back to Jake's house but the kids surprised us at the airport.  So fun!