On Saturday we had a birthday party for Aunt Katie. It was fun. Yummy food and funny family! Mema brought a birthday hat and balloons and the kids worked very hard not to play with them.

Happy birthday Katie!

A birthday party

Lex went to bed that night saying he wanted to make birthday hats in the morning, so at 6:30am on Sunday we were sitting at the table making birthday hats :) Maybe we’ll save them for his birthday!

Lex making party hats. He was very specific about how he wanted to make them and went right to work when he woke up.

Party girl Eve

Funny Lex

We played hard today, but the kids had an adorable snuggle break with daddy midway through.

Cuddling with daddy

On Friday we took a day trip with our neighbors to York Beach in Maine. It was fun. We got a late start and ended up eating our picnic lunch in the car, but it worked out ok anyway because it was cold and windy at the beach!!! This was Lex’s first trip to the Atlantic and Eve’s second, but she was young and probably doesn’t remember her first. They were both eager to get there and feel the water. They discovered pretty quickly that it was COLD!!! Parrish managed to boogie-board twice, but Lex and Eve just barely got their feet wet. Actually, Lex got his feet wet and then stumbled and fell, getting his clothes all wet, so he spent quite awhile cuddled on the blanket with Mema. We spent awhile on the beach with Eve digging in the sand and burying everything she found and Lex cuddling on the blanket and then Parrish showed the kids a nearby playground and we spent a lot more time there. I was laughing that I drove 2+ hours to get to a beach and spent most of the time at the playground. It was a pretty cool playground though!

When we were all cold and ready to move on we headed up the beach aways to check out a lighthouse. The kids were mildly interested in the lighthouse (once they realized we couldn’t go in it), but they had fun on the rocks. Eve and I were in sandals and couldn’t do much climbing, but Robina took Lex pretty far and he had a blast.

On the way home we were going to stop for dinner with the group, but Eve fell asleep about five minutes after we got in the car so we just headed home. Lex was out pretty quickly after that. They napped the whole way home, bounced around the house for a bit while we ate dinner, and then passed out nicely in bed. Overall a good day was had by all!

Lex and Eve eagerly heading to the Atlantic

Lex in the ocean

Chilly Lex and cuddly Mema

Happy Eve burying something in the sand

The beach

Eve was the first one down the big slide. It was a great playground, but packed with kids because the beach was so chilly!

This picture amuses me because they were sitting patiently waiting for me to get sunscreen. It was necessary, but looking at the picture it seems silly to be thinking of sunscreen.

Lex and Robina exploring the rocks

Looking out over the ocean

The lighthouse on an island

I should also add that before our lovely day at the beach we had a quick visit with the midwives. Nothing too exciting. I was bummed that she couldn’t find a heartbeat, but I know it’s still early. We will hear baby next time. Next time may be with different midwives at a different hospital, but more on that later.

We’ve had an influx of monsters in the house lately. I made a rule awhile ago that we only allow friendly monsters in the house, so when the kids encounter a monster they immediately ask if it’s friendly. If so they invite the monster to have breakfast with us and play games. I found Lex in the living room one day playing chess with a monster and another morning I played a game of Trouble with Lex, a stuffed kitty, and a monster. The monster almost won! A few days ago Lex decided to draw a picture of his monster for me. I appreciate it! Later I asked how the monster ate his Kixx (a favorite of monsters) and Lex said, “oh no, I forgot to draw his arms!” :)

Lex's monster friend. Eve tried to draw her monster friend too, but it mostly looked like a blob.

My mom was here this week. That was great! We went to the playground one day. Sometime I might go back through the years and post a series of pictures of the kids each summer at the same playground. That would be fun. I know I have similar pictures of them each year.

Eve on a slide

Upside down Lex

A camp of kids took over the playground so we took a little break to eat snacks and watch the bigger kids.

Feels like rain

Funny face Lex did not want his picture taken.

Funny face Eve always wants her picture taken!

Part of the dandelion removal crew

Daffodils!

Pink flowers

Swinging

Eve loves swings

Eve got her first splinter today at the playground. It’s a long story, but we eventually got it out. She is so sweet. Lex got his first splinter last year at the same playground!

I forgot to add to my last post that Alan and I had an fun date night last night! His company had “Family Movie Night” and they bought tickets and concessions for all employees and family at a local theater. We got to choose the film and time. Alan and I decided to get a babysitter and have a date instead of a family movie (nothing kid friendly playing!) Anyway, we saw Date Night, which was hilarious!! Especially for an old married couple! There were a few lines by Tina Fey that cracked up just the women in the room. Such as her yelling to a bunch of men holding guns, “My kids are going to have me up in 90 minutes! This ends now!!” Anyway, it was fun.

Today was the first day of school vacation. We spent the morning doing what we used to do, playing, relaxing and exercising. We all napped and then Lex woke up ready to play Sorry. He beat me twice and then let me win (seriously!) the third time. By the end he was complaining that he’s too tired to move his pieces, and then too tired to get down from the table. I carried him to the couch where he promptly threw up! Ugh! So we spent the afternoon on the couch, watching Wall-E and throwing up. Fun, fun. I just emailed the mother of tomorrow’s playdate to cancel that. Hopefully he wakes up feeling top-notch tomorrow! More importantly, hopefully he makes it through tonight vomit free!!

I have been thinking that there isn’t much blog-worthy stuff going on around here lately, but this morning I took a look at the camera and found lots to talk about! Guess there is plenty of blog-worthy stuff, just not enough blogging!

Artwork
Lex has been on a drawing frenzy lately and I love watching how his artwork and his stories improve with each one. He came home with half a drawing the other day and said it was for his teacher. He finished it in the afternoon, told me the whole story behind it, and then brought it to school the next day. Here are two that he made for us.

A drawing of Alan's office. The word says Mascoma, which is the name on the building. Lex made the picture for Alan to take to work with him.

This is a drawing Lex made for me. There is a mom and kid playing outside while the dad is inside making lunch. The light blue windows are rooms with lights on, the dark blue window is a room with no light on. The green things are the roof are fallen leaves. I love the detail! The back says, TO TESSA :)

Eve
Beautiful Eve, drawing on a sunny day.

She wrote her name really well, but scribbled it out before I could take the picture.

Pedaling!
The past few days have been cold and rainy, so it’s funny to look at the camera and remember that just a few days ago it was 70’s and sunny! The bike helmets we ordered through school finally came in and the kids were thrilled to go out riding! Yay! Lex refused to wear a helmet last summer and therefore did no bike riding. I was hoping it would be different this year. The first thing he says to me, “I’m a little nervous to go down that big hill,” meaning a VERY big hill with a busy road at the bottom that our 5yr old neighbor rides down, completely out of control and usually crashing at the bottom. It makes my heart stop. I told Lex that he had no need to worry because he would not be riding down that hill for a very long time!! We will be sticking to our safe little street until he is a much more confident bike rider. (and until I am a braver mommy!)

Aren't they cute!?! Eve's helmet is a little big, but I'm not too worried since her bike is pretty small :)

Lex and Parrish

Eve

Dressed Doggie
Eve’s doggie made a rare appearance downstairs after she insisted on dressing it to the nines. Undies, skirt, shirt and sweater. I let her bring doggie downstairs to show daddy, and so I could take a picture! She is so proud. :)

Silly girls. (see where Eve gets her crazy hair from?!)