First days of the summer hols!

Raf has been home for the holidays for a little over two weeks. We have a new babysitter, katie, who is lovely. But in the afternoons it's me and the children... so much fun, and lots of adventures already.

But first some reading.. 

And train-playing. Hatts LOVES trains.

And, dear Lord, stair climbing.

We spent the first day of the holidays getting some summer flowers.

And that evening we hit the library to join the summer reading programme with friends.

There was live music, popcorn, and of course lots of books.

The kids joined in for the music.

And whilst we were there Raf lost his first tooth! At last!! Such a big day.

The next day we were back at the library for Pokemon club.

The weekend was action packed. I took the children for a hike...

And on the way home we stopped off to hang out with Brian.

Sunday was Father's Day so I took the kids to the beach so Rich could have some time alone.

A great first few days of the summer. So lucky to live in this fabulous place.

Harriet Rose - 1 year check up (at 13 months)

20 pounds, 5 ounces, close to walking, speed crawler, and fabulous climber. She's already learned to climb up and downstairs (with one of us lurking closely behind), and her language seems to be developing quickly. She says mama, dada, dog (da!), ball (ba), and all done (Ar da!). She is incredibly feisty, and lets out an almighty screech when she's not happy. She throws things off her plate when she's not happy with what we've given her, and she throws herself to the floor and wails when she's not amused. She is so fun loving, cuddly, and sweet (except when she's unimpressed). We're so lucky. 

Goodbye First Grade!

This big boy had his last day of first grade on Wednesday. What a year. He began it barely able to read, and now he's reading chapter books, doing lots of big math sums in his head, and is all in all a curious, sweet boy. 

I mostly have been taking Raf to school myself but he elected to get the bus on Wednesday so he could say goodbye to Bruce and to give him the card he made and the little gift we got him.

Hatts was just a little baby when he first started.

Whilst he was at school Chaz and I made a cake for him.

And then we collected him from school.. a teary goodbye from Addie who is going to the bigger kid school.

And then it was off to Sweet Frog for us for some non-dairy treats :)

Hatts wasnt in the least bit interested.

If ice-cream wasn't enough, we headed to get some Pier fries and then hit Camp Ellis for a picnic.

The water was cold!

And home just in time for some yummy cake. A layer of chocolate for Raf, and a layer of vanilla for Chaz.

And just before bed, some Pokemon cards! They're just doing a bit of 'orszanizing' as Charlie puts it! And now we're on to second grade. Wow.