Hawaii! Pictures - part 1

Just some pictures from Hawaii - more later...

Kindergarten Graduation

Kindergarten has officially ended! It's so bittersweet...I cannot believe how quickly this year passed by...all the things I was worried about at the beginning of the year - how Henry would do as the little fish in the big pond, a new school, new rules, eating lunch in the cafeteria, etc., etc. And now, on the other side of it, I am so proud of him and how well he adjusted to elementary school and adapted to all the new challenges and how he thrived!

His class had a very nice ceremony - they didn't go overboard making a huge deal about it, but did mark the occasion with a cute, symbolic walk from one side of the classroom (representing kindergarten) to the other side (representing 1st grade). One of the moms made them all the cutest paper graduation caps which delighted Henry since he had just seen Geoff's graduation hat and was so pleased that he got one of his own.

 After the classroom ceremony all three kindergarten classes met out on the playground for some ice cream sundaes and playtime. What a wonderful way to end the school year - and now we have a first grader!

Nora made herself right at home in the classroom and was clearly unimpressed that she was not part of the festivities.

Field Day

Henry had his very first elementary school field day last week! Gigi, Nora and I stopped by to cheer him on for most of it (I think I missed the first two activities, out of maybe a dozen or so). The P.E. teacher did an amazing job setting up games and activities that were a blast for the kids. The weather was a little chilly, but at least it didn't rain which is pretty much all you can ask for in early June in Portland!

 They had practiced some of the games in P.E. class prior to field day, so Henry was familiar with what was going to happen. He knew there were going to be some activities with water and he was a bit apprehensive about participating in them - he was worried he'd get wet and cold even though they were instructed to bring a change of clothes. So, in preparation, he requested that he wear water repellent pants and his rain jacket (even though it wasn't really that cold). Turns out he made the right call, as half his classmates were shivering by the end when they handed out the popsicles!

 This game was his favorite - the kids scooted around on these wheelie things, pushing themselves with "oars" while parents sprayed them with water guns.


In the parachute picture, he's at the far side next to his teacher.

Start of Summer

Even though it's not officially summer yet...or even summer break...it sure feels like it already is!  The weather has been so beautiful lately - Nora and I go bike riding on the waterfront a couple times a week and we all eat dinner outside just about every night. Speaking of bike riding, I had what I consider to be my first real, back and forth conversation with Nora the other night. I was trying to get her to sleep and I said to her something along the lines of you need to get to sleep so we can have fun tomorrow and she said "bike ride!" I said "ok, we can go on a bike ride tomorrow," she said, "Mommy's bike!" (meaning she wanted to ride with me on my bike) and I said "ok" then she said "water! boats! geese!" So I said "oh, you want to ride down by the river?" and she said "yes! river - bike ride, river!" So there we go - she very effectively communicated exactly what she wanted to do...I was kind of surprised that she wanted to go to the river because the other route we regularly take is to the park, but apparently she likes the river route better.

 We've also been doing lots of fun things around the house...like making popcorn. :) While making popcorn might not seem like the most exciting thing to you or me, to Nora and Henry it is a huge event. 

 We've been playing camping a lot as well...sometimes inside and sometimes outside. Nora usually refuses to play with us for some reason, but as soon as we're done she crawls into the sleeping bag. I can't figure out why she won't play with us and instead waits until we're done...but I'm sure she'll join in one day.

The nice weather is also allowing us to dip our toes in the potty training waters. Since Nora screams "no diaper! no diaper!" whenever I try to put a diaper on her, I figured she might be ready to give potty training a try. She runs around diaper-less and occasionally goes and sits on the potty, but hasn't yet successfully gone on the potty.  She definitely understands the concept and what she's supposed to do I just don't think she has the control yet. With all our impending summer travels, I'm not to keen to really get it going just yet anyway.

This is Henry's last week of kindergarten. I cannot believe the year has flown by so quickly and soon he'll be a FIRST grader! He had field day this week and had a blast - I have pictures from that I will post soon.

Tomorrow Henry and I are heading to the Grand Floral Parade - Brett and Nora are staying home given Nora's aversion to loud noises. Should be a fun time!

Laughing Goofballs

Ack! I had been doing so well catching up and trying to keep the blog updated, but then I dropped the ball and now I'm behind again!

Here is a cute compilation video of the kids making each other laugh...and two pictures of the goofballs joking around. They aren't really yelling at each other - wait, actually Nora is yelling, but Henry isn't...anyway, they were goofing around joking that the other one was yelling so they had to cover their ears. I love watching them interact with each other and watching their sibling relationship develop.

Easter!

We had a great Easter - pretty laid back, nothing too exciting. Our giant backyard made Nora's first real egg hunt extra special and fun. She had gotten some practice the day before at the country club's annual egg hunt. She picked up the idea very quickly and was helping find eggs as quickly as she could. Of course Henry was the main finder of the eggs as he raced around the yard and found all the Easter bunny's bounty.

 Unfortunately the day before Easter was a rainy one so I didn't get too many pictures of the kids at the country club, but they had a great time and Henry even found a golden egg this year! He was so excited - he won a gift certificate to Jamba Juice (which, coincidentally, he used today!).

 The kids baskets were filled with candy and a few little gifts - gardening gloves and spades for both of them and little plastic greenhouses to grow basil. We planted the basil and the sprouts are already a couple inches tall and ready to be transplanted.

 Henry has been asking for a suit for a while now so we finally got him one (it's a little big, but that way it will fit him for longer). He couldn't be happier or prouder of himself when he wears it. I wish these pictures of them on Easter had turned out better because they looked so cute all dressed up. My camera lens has some terrible scratches on it, but luckily I just got a hand-me-down camera so from now on my pictures should be a lot better.

 After breakfast at our house, we all reconvened at Gigi's house for dinner...and of course more egg hunting there as well. The weather had changed for the better and we were able to be outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Happy Easter!

Playing Catch-Up: Henry's Birthday Party with Friends

It was a Star Wars fest! We invited all the boys from Henry's class plus his good friend from preschool who now goes to a different school. All I can say is thank goodness it was a beautiful sunny day because all that little boy energy in the house would have been crazy! The first activity the boys did upon arrival was to make their own lightsabers out of pool noodles and different colored duct tape. I made a couple dozen balloon stormtroopers that Brett hung from branches all around the yard and the boys tried to pop. Of course, they quickly decided it was more fun to fight each other...they were good little Jedis and no one was injured.

 They had a quick snack and drink break and then it was right back to the battle.

 Then they decided they were Ewoks (or maybe they were fighting alongside the Ewoks? I can't quite remember) and climbed around in the trees.

 Cake was up next - we took refuge in the house for a few minutes as it was getting pretty hot outside!

 And then it was time for the Death Star pinata... look at how patient they all were waiting in line for their turn!

 They each got to take a turn using their lightsabers to try and destroy the pinata - I was worried that if they used the bat from the beginning they might not all get a turn. I shouldn't have worried as it took a little help from Bumpa to finally get the thing to crack!

I think all the boys had a great time - I know Henry did for sure. He has a great class of boys (and girls!) and has made some wonderful friends this year. And now we have a SIX year old!