Austin and Our New Nephew

We went to Austin for the weekend. It was a super quick trip, just up on Saturday and back on Sunday, to meet our new nephew and get him baptized!

We drove up Saturday morning and stopped at Iron Works BBQ for lunch on our way to Mike and Jess's house. Yum! Henry loved dipping his fingers in that barbecue sauce and eating it all up!

Gene came bearing gifts. Instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, he brought wine, linguica and cheese (all Portuguese, of course!). And here's baby Michael, all ready for his baptism! The kids waited somewhat patiently for the ceremony to start.

But Henry decided he'd had enough photos taken already! Part of the ceremony The proud grandparents The family

After the baptism, Mike and Jess threw a great party at their house. The boys loved the cupcakes, of course!

And then all the dads took the boys outside to play soccer in the backyard! Uncle Gene with baby Michael It looks like Henry and I are having a great conversation here!Bye-bye, Mike and Jess!On the way home, we stopped for ice cream in Columbus.
It was so hot that the ice cream melted faster than we could eat it! It was a super fast trip, but we are so glad to have finally met the newest addition to the family!

No More School!

School's out for summer! It is bittersweet for us this year because we are not returning to SBC Weekday Preschool in the fall. We've been going there for four years (since Will was one!) and we've absolutely loved the school. The teachers are sweet and loving and it's been a fantastic place for our boys to learn and grow, but the drive is just too long from our new house.

We made thank you gifts for all of the teachers. This year, the boys helped me make orange-poppy seed breads and we paired them with local honey and tea. Will wrote thank you cards for his teachers too!
The last week of school was full of fun activities. Both boys' classes enjoyed Water Day. I snapped a picture of Will all ready to go outside and splash!

Henry's last day was Thursday. As always, each child comes home with a picture book full of memories from the school year. We have four books for Will and two for Henry and it is so fun to go back and look at the photos. They have both grown so much!

Will's last day was Friday. The kids celebrated with a class party, of course! Ms. Amy led the class in a little prayer. And then they got down to the business of eating! Will and Chloe sat together. And fortunately, there is always enough food for Henry too!Will wouldn't let me take his picture with Ms. Jan, the director, so I got one of Jan with Chloe instead! And here's one last photo of Chloe and Will in the same class. Henry thinks he's as big as the "big" kids!The day ended with a little ceremony for the big Pre-K graduates. Will got a hug from Ms. Amy and this certificate!One of the gifts that Will came home with was this beach ball. All the kids in his class signed their names. What a great keepsake! It's always hard when something ends, but I am so thankful that we found SBC and enjoyed four wonderful years there. And I have no doubt that the boys will continue to grow and learn at their new schools next year.

Get Your Grill On

School's out, it's Memorial Day weekend and summer is officially starting, so that must mean it's time to get outside and get your grill on! Gene fired up his beautiful new grill yesterday and grilled up some chicken sausages and linguica to go with the CSA-heavy veggie pasta that I made for dinner last night.

And while Gene was grilling, the boys were busy racing around, squirting the roses with a new water gun, and playing with beach ballsin the backyard. WHEE! Welcome, Summer!

Another Busy Week

Last week was such a busy week for our family. It was the last week of school, but Will didn't have lunch bunch and was done with school at 12:15 every day, so that meant there was no point in me driving all the way back home just to turn around and drive back to KW. I got next-to-nothing done at home, but the boys and I got to spend lots and lots of quality time with Gramma and Grampa! Here Grampa and Henry were making all the letters of the alphabet with blocks. Can you see the yellow L?
Wednesday was our only "down" day, but it started off with a bang. Pirate Red Beard came for an early morning adventure!
And then the boys decided we needed to visit the science museum. We parked by the botanical gardens and walked through their fragrant garden on the way to the museum. We smelled all the plants. My boys love herbs! Do you notice they're sporting matching outfits? I love for them to match when we are out and about so I don't lose them! Here they're wearing their dinosaur t-shirts that Gramma and Grampa brought back from vacation last summer. And on the way into the science museum. Crazy busy crowds!! I don't think I've ever seen it so busy. Now let the lazy days of summer begin!

Old MacDonald's Farm

My friend Belinda and I met up with all our kiddos at Old MacDonald's Farm on Monday morning. When I told the boys where we were going, they were so excited and had to get out their Little People Farm. And of course we listened to farm songs (from Henry's second birthday party) on the way there!

We had been trying to have this playdate for at least a month and we kept having to postpone it. I have to admit that I wasn't too sure about it since I am a hot-weather wimp, but it turned out perfectly! It was definitely hot and muggy, but there was a brisk breeze and there were no school field trips, so we had the park practically to ourselves!

We fed the ducks and pigs,

played with trucks

in this huge sand pile, rode a "wagon,"

found an old tree stump to climb in,

rode the ponies

all by ourselves

around the pen,

ate a snack,

climbed like monkeys,

rode the train

(with baby Nicholas too!),

and just really enjoyed spending time with some of our best buddies.

Yes, it was hot and humid and dirty and dusty, but in the end, it was so worth it to see the smiles on the kids' faces!