Baseball Birthday

The baby turned two today. When I ask him if he is a "baby or a big boy," he consistently answers "big boy." Mike has told me that D is not a baby anymore. It's so weird how they are both totally wrong!

We celebrated the big birthday yesterday with a baseball birthday party. We decided to throw it on the hottest, most humid day of the summer so far. With three (four if you count me) summer birthdays, we've been known to throw a hot party or two. Luckily our friends and family are good sports and are willing to sweat it out in the yard with us.

Happy Birthday side-eye

In addition to the baseball game in the yard, we had an epic water balloon fight and the sprinkler ball was a huge hit with the younger crowd. We had many friends go home in their dry swimming suits - because their regular clothes got soaked (we did it backwards!). There were plenty of friends, balls, and water options ... all Declan's favorite things!

His favorite part of the day ... besides having plenty of accomplices to help him sneak candy ... was when he and Grayson were in the wagon and Eli was pulling them. Eli would pull them right into the sprinkler spray, stop, and all three little boys would shriek and giggle. Too much fun!

Our favorite part of the day was when everyone sang Happy Birthday to Dec. He totally did NOT know what to think of that experience. He looked terrified for the first half of the song and totally side-eyed the gang for the rest of it. He looked quite relieved when it was over and he could eat his baseball cupcake!

His sisters have been so sweet and happy to celebrate him and his big day. They've also been very encouraging of him sharing this new toys with them. They've only needed a few reminders to let him see his new toys. He's pretty willing to share - as long as they don't even look at his new water bottle!

The party was so fun and they were sweaty, dirty messes when we finally came inside for bed. A quick shower rinse later and I put the almost birthday boy to bed and could hear him singing "happy birthday" as I got his sisters ready to join him.  It seemed to be the best way to end a birthday celebration!

Leftover water balloon water

They didn't know I was behind them!

Sprinkler run

Preschool Graduate

First day (L) and Last day (R)

Fiona graduated from preschool today! Mike and I were invited to attend a very sweet little ceremony at her school this afternoon and watched as she got her diploma from Principal Mike. Then we got cookies and had the opportunity to do a class photo and some pictures with her teachers and friends.

She had a great school year, made some good friends, learned a lot, and most importantly, gained a lot of confidence in herself. We had the sweetest talk with Nurse Sheri as we left school today. Ms. Sheri and Fiona spent a lot of time together during the times she needed to cath and they will miss each other greatly! We are so thankful for the wonderful teachers that made Fiona's first school experience so great. And we are excited that we will see many of them again next school year when Quinn joins the preschool ranks.

For now, Bugs is excited to spend tomorrow with Gma and Gpa N. And then on Monday, she will join her siblings at day care for the summer. They are very excited to all be together and we are very excited for the single drop off and pick up location. It will be a nice couple months before the Year of the Three Drop Offs begins!

Getting her diploma

Proud mom and dad

Life Lesson

Massive eye patch

Buggy learned a life lesson the hard way yesterday. When I picked her up from school, she had the world's largest band-aid over her left eye. Some of her friends had decided to throw wood chips out of the playground tunnel and she ended up getting wood chip dust (or sand) in her eye. It was really bothering her, so they made a makeshift patch. We checked her eye out when we got home and it looked really irritated, but not scratched.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, their buddy Levi (my friend Deanna's son) was coming over to visit for the evening. Deanna works for Emerson too and they live in Texas - but are up here for the week. We do our best to steal some of their precious time whenever they come up because they are the best! Levi was such a sweet and understanding friend as Buggy navigated her evening. He even held her hand while I put in some eye drops - and tried to cheer her up by telling funny stories. The evening was a mix of smiles and tears, though I suspect without Levi, it would have been a bit tearier! 

Silly faces with Levi

By the time she got ready for bed, her sore eye was REALLY sore and her good eye was really tired. Another round of eye drops and some antibiotic eye cream later, she willingly chose to forego book and just went straight to bed so she could close her eyes. The eye was still red this morning, but she said it felt better. By tonight, it was looking great. 

And now she knows why the teachers (and parents) constantly tell people not to throw sand!

Three Things

I saw this idea on another blog I read and I liked it. So I thought I'd give it a try as well. Here are three things about each of the kids right now:

Fiona
1. She's started biting her nails. I don't know why. At first I think it was a nervous habit, but now I'm constantly catching her with her fingers in her mouth.

2. She's doing so well with her daily "flush." She has to sit on the toilet every morning for an hour and her attitude is fantastic (the fact that she gets the iPad during this time helps immensely). She is also so generous with her siblings - inviting them to join her on weekend mornings and even sharing her iPad apps with her sis.

3. She had her first school friend (Makai) come over this weekend. His dad dropped him off and they had a great time playing. She happily included her sister and stood at the end of the driving, in the pouring rain, waving when he left.

Quinn
1. She is super attached to a specific baby doll (baby Quinn) right now. The baby goes to Ms. A's every day and comes home every night. We forgot it there on Friday. Mike made an emergency run at bedtime on Friday.

2. She has been doing a much better job with new people. She still gets nervous, but she's warming up more quickly. In fact, this morning, she marched right into church while the rest of us were stuck in the greeter line.

3. We've seen some regression in behavior and suspect that some of it stems from the fact that she is by far the oldest at day care. She is very excited for the school-agers to start next week. And preschool will be really good for her!

Declan
1. He's still obsessed with sports. When Makai was here, D would watch him and then try to replicate whatever move Makai was doing - including throwing a ball in the air and hitting it with a bat.

2. He's his father's son. Yesterday, he said "Yucky." I said, "What's yucky?" and he said "Mama face." And then burst out laughing. As did his dad. Where did my sweet innocent baby go!?!?

3. We took the crib out of our room. And the baby gate is down. The wall attachments are still there, but we are solidly in a "no gate" probationary period. Little (or kinda big) changes like these remind me how big he is getting and how we are almost officially out of the baby stage. Forever. It's a mostly happy dance feeling and just a couple tears (from me. Mike is all happy dance). He's becoming such a fun kid that it's hard for me to wish him back to baby. Except babies didn't tell me I had a yucky face!

Annual Boat Ride

We started a tradition on Memorial Day. Although we don't go North (oh, the traffic!!!!), we still have the inherent need of Northern kids to be at the lake. For the last three years, we've satisfied this need by taking Mike's boat out - even if it's just for a couple hours! We need our kids to be Northern kids at heart ... and to feel the pull of the lake!

This year was no different. After we got ready for the day, I packed  up a picnic lunch, Mike hooked up the boat, everyone slathered on sunscreen, and we were off. It was a bit of a line to get launched, but we did get the last parking spot at the landing. The kids were super excited to get out, but were also interested in watching all the other boats go out or come in.

Mike and I quickly got the boat launched. Then while I was getting the kids out of the car, Mike made a quick circle and the boat was working fine. As soon as the kids and I got in, the motor refused to work. We had the trolling motor, so just used that. However, Mike was disappointed/frustrated that the motor was up to its usual annoying tricks. We anchored out by a small island and the kids dropped their fishing lines in the water. Each of the girls caught a fish - all by themselves! And Declan got to touch the fish [gently] before Mike released them back into the water. 

It was a pretty hot day and the sun was at its peak. So we only stayed out for 90 minutes or so. But we had a great time fishing, eating our lunch, and trolling around the lake. Fiona thoroughly enjoyed lounging in the front of the boat when we drove around, Dec was all over watching Dad drive and tinker with the motor, and Quinn enjoyed watching the other boats. We also had a few lessons on wakes - and enjoying riding out the waves from passing boats. We saw a few tubers and can't wait to test out Grandpa's new tube over the 4th of July.

We all look forward to this annual "kick off the summer" tradition. It's the best way to bring a little of the North to us.