Trolling through the Swamp

Yesterday was an incredibly nasty "Spring" day - it was raining and snowing and the wind was howling - LOVELY! We got a reprieve today and I hustled everyone in the Mamamobile for an "adventure"....... the children always cringe when I tell them we're going on an adventure. The Lawyer had to stay home to do some "work" - yeah, right.
We went to Tinker *Nature *Center - a cute little place in the woods, with a playground, pond and a boardwalk through a swamp.
First pitstop, playground. Notice that there are no shots of Elizabeth - she was a whirling dervish, not to be captured by camera.


The first climb of the season! Frances is a monkey with great upper body strength. She shimmied up to the top.


Just a little dose of cuteness.


Then it was into the deep dark swamp.......


We spent a lot of time looking for critters and were very excited to find 3 snakes.


Elly really wanted to pick it up but Lewis warned her that snakes will squeeze you to death if you touch them. He's just a little ray of sunshine.


Some other swamp creatures.......


Lewis was SO LOUD that I think he scared most of the animals away. We didn't even see one deer.


Frances' new fashion accessory - her ipod. We had a deal that I would pay her $1 for every hour she practiced violin until she had enough $$$ to buy an ipod. She did it in about 4 months.


Another sign of spring - the green machine is back in action!

Crouching Little Dragons, Hidden Tigers

On Friday we went to the Little Dragons' graduation ceremony. They performed a kata, showed off some punching and kicking, and received their new belts. The senseis gave a self defense demonstration that thrilled the kids, except for Elly who thought they were really attacking and beating the crap out of each other.
Here they are, all lined up for their moment of meditation. It is SO hard for Lewis to keep his eyes closed during meditation - his face is always scrunched up!


The karate kids with their new orange belts!

My little jocks (not)

I just got my second phone call this week from Ana and Frances' school nurse to give me a heads-up that they were injured during floor hockey. Frances got her foot slammed and Ana got clocked in the face. The nurse said that she is going to be HAPPY when the unit is over! My dinky kids should not be playing with kids twice their size!



Maybe next year, I'll have to send them in some protective gear!

Hunting for Spring

I didn't have much enthusiasm from the troops when I suggested we go on a hunt for signs of Spring. Elly and Ana ended up agreeing to go with me, out of boredom if nothing else.
It really was heartening to see robins, pussy willows, forsythias, snowdrops and lots of humans up from hibernation.


Frances has developed a new habit of sneaking my camera off of our desk and taking random pictures. For once she took a cute one. It looks like Daisy is belching.


How's that for a rip roaring exciting weekend report?? Frances was feeling punky, no one wanted to play with me and I did a L*O*T of laundry. I don't even get to watch Big Love! The Lawyer begged to put it off until tomorrow so she could watch The Amazing Race. I'll work on better blog fodder for the next report.

Imagine my friends, that you are ready to celebrate your 81st birthday. All of your 6 children come down for the weekend to take you out to dinner and partake in merriment. You can choose any restaurant for your dinner. If you are my old man, you pick this:


It brings back fond memories of his youth, because it's been open since his youth. Since 1942 to be exact. The old man made reservations and we all went over for a St Patrick's Day buffet dinner. Frances ate 4 baby carrots, Lewis had ONE meatball and Elly and Ana had salad. My dinner consisted of a boiled potato, a boiled carrot and a wedge of cabbage that had been boiled in pickling spices. Mmmmmmmmmmm. On the way over to my Dad's house afterwards, I had to make a pit stop at McDonald's so the kids could actually eat.


They certainly were in the Saint Patty's Day spirit. Here's one of the waitresses.


Cousin Al, for some reason, thought it was a good occassion to teach Lewis a tango........


As always, the saving grace was the hotel and pool. We spent hours swimming.


A rare sighting of Frances and Elly communicating with no venom spitting forth.


On Sunday we headed home and stopped at the Corning Glass Museum. Frances took all of the pictures in the museum.


All the kids loved this one. Lewis kept screaming "look out all you dudes in the houses, the knives are coming."


BIG FRUIT





We watched glass blowers, which was really cool.

What blog worthy activities will take place this weekend? Stay tuned.

The Twins Turn 7

The blood sugar levels are getting back to normal after a steady diet of cake for the past several days.
Lewie had the 1st celebration on Wednesday. Notice that he is dressed in a robe. It's his leisure suit. We like to call him "Howard," "Mr Hughes," " Hugh" or just "Hef," for his wardrobe choice.
Just so you don't think I'm TOO TOO clever, I made a simple round cake, frosted it blue and plunked on a frog cupcake from the bakery.

Lewie sucked almost the whole frog down, It was BIG.


Then he ripped into his gifts - Pokemon cards, an airhog-inside-radio-control-airplane-thingy, a puzzle and a Domo stuffed animal to add to his enormous collection of "friends."


Round 2 of merriment was on Thursday for Elizabeth. The Lawyer fashioned a cake with some shamrock cookies and festive sprinkles. As you can see, Eliz was thrilled. She scored a leapster game, clothes and some earrings & rings.



Next up - the birthday blowout weekend for my Dad.
Aunt Suzie will be taking attendance so don't be late.

A very special week

Oh birthday tree, oh birthday tree, how shiny are your branches!
Hello Darlings!
It's birthday week for the Twins! And my old man, CJ!
Gather around the tree! Sing along!

Before Xmas, Lewie and I were shopping and he asked me "How come there are only trees for Christmas? Can we get a birthday tree?" The week after Xmas we were at Target, taking advantage of the deep discounts on leftover holiday crap. We found a little silver tree with lights, 75% off. I plunked down my $2.50 and a new tradition was born.


Stay tuned for birthday reports. Lewis turns 7 tomorrow and Elly turns 7 on Thursday. Woo-Hoo!