5 Years + 4 Months! (July 2018)

This month started off with the 4th of July festivities.  We went to the Rockport parade and bonfire and the fireworks in Gloucester.  As usual, Ryder was very excited at the parade, since the floats throw so much candy to the kids.  The bonfire is one of Ryder's favorite events of the year.  He is completely enthralled by it and loves watching the structure go up in flames and the firefighters keep it under control.

Since Ryder has been obsessed with the Revolutionary War, we spent the summer going to battlefields and re-enactments.  In July we went to Hubbardton Battleground in VT, Fort Ticonderoga in NY and Minuteman National Historical Site in Concord, MA.

Hubbardton was our first re-enactment ever and it was great.  We drove up in the morning and arrived just as things were getting started.  There was a whole schedule of events for the day, so we were plenty busy.  Ryder bought his redcoat uniform, but was a little too shy to wear it at first, but then when he saw everyone dressed up, he decided to change after lunch.  All the re-enactors loved seeing the kids dressed up, especially Ryder!  We saw some cannon demonstrations and toured the British encampment, and then after lunch we watched the re-enactment.  Ryder was super excited to see the battle happening and was talking about who was who and what they were doing.   He even got in on the action and pretended to shoot down on the colonists.

Our next re-enactment was at Fort Ticonderoga, which was considerably bigger than the previous one.  It was probably 10 times more bigger, with more re-enactors, a more involved battle, horses and multiple demonstrations.  Ryder loved exploring the fort, which has been restored.  Inside the fort, each room had a different living history exhibit/demonstration in it, plus we could walk all over the ramparts.  Then after lunch, we joined the march of soldiers out to the battlefield, which was in the forest.  We sat along the edge of the battlefield and watched the action unfold in the forest.  Ryder had my camera for this and he took about 250 photos of the action, especially the British soldiers and the ones who were pretending to be dead!

Enjoying the 4th of July fireworks

So excited for the Rockport bonfire on the 3rd

Ryder the Redcoat

                                     
                                 Posing in the British camp at the Hubbardton Battleground

He's gonna get those rebels (colonists)!

Taking aim at Hubbardton Battleground

Down at the river

Standing guard at Fort Ticonderoga

43 Months! (July 2018)

We started out July with the 4th of July festivities.  We went to the fireworks in Gloucester and the parade and bonfire in Rockport.  Vivien loved the parade, since they throw so much candy to the kids, although I think that the loud firetrucks are a bit much for her.  She really liked the bonfire too; she and Ryder ran around like crazy watching the fire fighters keep the bonfire under control.  She also enjoyed the fireworks, which we watched from Pavillion Beach this year.  I think that the major draw to the fireworks is staying up and out so late!  She fell right to sleep after all that excitement.

At the beginning of the Summer I got the kids a few different activities, books and art supplies to help them entertain themselves.  I bought some playsand from the dollar spot in Target on a whim and gave it to them this month.  Vivien absolutely loved it and has been playing with it constantly.  I was worried that it was going to be a huge mess, but it is actually pretty easy to contain.  It is very moldable and Vivi loved making shapes out it.  It came with little molds, but Vivi would also use other things she found in the kitchen to mold them.

This month we did a Revolutionary War tour because Ryder is so obsessed and Vivi seemed to enjoy it a lot too.  If anything, she might even have dressed up more than him!  Even though she was not as excited about the Revolutionary War as Ryder, she never complained about going to the battles.  At both of the big ones, she took a little nap in my arms, but they were both long days, so that's not surprising. 

We had a few big rainstorms this month and Vivi had a great time playing in them.  A couple of them featured thunder and lightning, which frightened her, but that was ok because we were watching those safely from the porch.  During the downpours, Vivi was out playing in the puddles with her raincoat and boots.

Vivi as a rebel at Hubbardton Battleground

Walking across the field at Hubbardton

Taking a break at Hubbardton

Cuddling with her baby doll

Vivi's new dress

Down at the river

Playing in the sand

Playing in the rain

Checking out the cannon at Fort Ticonderoga

A little snack makes everything better

5 Years + 3 Months! (June 2018)

Preschool ended early in June, so summer started early for the kids!  On what would have been the last day of school, Ryder had a graduation ceremony.  The whole school came and the kids played games and sang some songs before the graduation.  Next there was a ceremony where Ryder got his diploma and a nice picture of himself in graduation garb.  That was followed by a brunch and then we took the kids to the beach, because it was a really nice day.  

All Spring since the weather got nice again, Ryder has been out riding his pedal bike.  He was able to ride it last year, but didn't feel really comfortable but this year, he was on it the first day we took the bikes out.  This month, though, he and Vivi have been getting out the drift bike/trike.  It's really Vivi that love it, but she isn't big enough to pedal it, so she and Ryder get on it together.  He's pretty good at it, especially considering he's hauling two people around.  It's a special trike made so that you can spin out at the end, which Ryder is able to do now and Vivi loves.  

Over Father's Day weekend, we went to Thomasland at Edaville Railroad again.  This year Ryder was big enough to go on the roller coaster.  He and I went together and he seemed like he liked it, but he didn't want to try again.   There were a bunch of other rides that he went on a few times, especially the one that lifts you up and then drops you back down again.  This year we also made it to Dinoland (just another part of the park) and Ryder really enjoyed finding the dinosaurs in the forest.

Ryder loved the Fiesta boat races and greasy pole again this year.  We didn't go on any rides because we had just gone to Thomasland, but we went to the boat races and Ryder went crazy cheering on Janda.  he was yelling so loud that they could hear him way out on the boat.  Even though Janda's boat lost a close race, Ryder was very proud! 

We have a graduate!

Down at the river

So silly!

What a handsome boy!

And so cute

And crazy!

Ryder was so excited by the dinosaurs at Dinoland in Edaville

42 Months! (June 2018)

Preschool ended the first week of June, so Summer started early for Vivien.  On the last day of school the school had a graduation ceremony for the kids going to Kindergarten and games for all the kids.  We all went to that and then since the weather was so nice, we got to go to the beach afterwards with the kids' new Riverview beach towels.

Vivien loves adventure and she usually jumps right into fun activities.  The drift bike/trike is one of those sort of activities.  It's a little too big for Vivi to ride by herself, but she gets Janda and Ryder to pedal it for her and she rides with them.  She goes bombing down the street with them and then since the wheels are a special material, when you turn the handlebars hard, the back drifts out and you do a bit of a spin.  She also loves to jump on the motorcycles and kayaks with Janda.

Over Father's Day weekend, we took the kids to Thomasland at Edaville. The last time we went, Vivi was in a carriage, so she couldn't really do much.  This time she could do almost all of the rides.  She had a lot of fun on all of them, but her favorite might have been the huge bouncy house jungle gym that they have.

We went to Fiesta at the end of the month.  We skipped the rides this year because we had just gone to Thomasland, but we watched the boat races and greasy pole and went out to eat. Vivi did a great job cheering on Janda and watched the races very closely from shore!

On the drift bike

Taking a little walk

Being a silly girl

So cute

So sweet

So silly!

Watching Daddy's boat race

5 Years + 2 Months! (May 2018)

Ryder is still fully in the British phase, and by British phase, I of course mean Redcoats.  He has all the accoutrements to dress up as a Revolutionary era redcoat and does so often.  He has even gotten the other neighborhood kids into playing British with him.  All he wants to watch are clips of battles from movies about the Revolutionary War, the Liberty's Kids' episodes about the major battles and songs of the British Empire.  I realized after a while that we had been listening to God Save the Queen on repeat!  It is a quite cute obsession and I'm impressed by the level of knowledge that he has about the events of the Revolutionary War at this moment.  All in all, not a bad obsession to have!

We had the first beach day of the year this month.  It was not a "go swimming" beach day, but Ryder definitely was wading around pretty deep.  Much deeper than I would want to go.  After a long Winter of not being able to go to the beach, even this small taste of Summer was more than enough to get the kids excited!

At school there was a Mother's Day breakfast, which I happened to be able to go to because of my prep period.  It was very sweet!  The kids helped make muffins all week and then that morning, they served the muffins and juice to their mothers.  I felt very lucky to be able to attend!  It was nice to see the kids in their own environment at school.

Ryder also had his Kindergarten orientation this month, which I was also able to attend by moving a prep block.  When it was time to go to the classroom for screening, Ryder wanted me to walk him there.  The closer we got to the classroom, the more upset he got, but I explained to him that I would be waiting for him and he went in, albeit upset.  After the screening was done, Ryder and I had to jet out of there so I could make it to school in time.  On the ride home he told me that, among other things, he counted so high that the teacher who screened him told him that there were some 1st graders who couldn't count that high.  That made him feel very good.  It made me feel good that he was able to compose himself after being upset and get right into the swing of things in the classroom!

An early beach day!

Admiring his cake

Oh yes, he likes it

He wanted us to buy him something at the store ;)

41 months! (May 2018)

Vivien has always loved activities; she honestly asks for them all the time!  Her favorite current activity is painting, and it has been for a while.  She likes all kinds of painting activities.  She'll do the just add water painting books, she'll paint coloring book pages with watercolors, she'll paint her own design on blank paper; frankly, she'll paint anything you give her.  She goes through paint almost as quickly as I get it for her!

We had our first beach day of the year this month.  Although it was not real swimming weather, the kids did a lot of deep wading.  The water is still quite cold, so they didn't do much more than that, but after a long Winter of no beach time, they were thrilled to get out their bathing suits and head down.

It's no surprise that Vivi was ready to go to the beach on first warm day as she loves to play outside.  She got her own push bike in the fall and she loves riding it up and down the street.  Almost every time we go outside, Vivi begs to be pushed on the swing in the yard, sometimes she even gets Ryder to push her, by some miracle!  If we suggest a trip to the park, the beach, the woods, anything outside, she says yes and immediately starts getting ready to go.

There was a Mother's Day breakfast at school this month which I was able to attend due to fortunate timing of my prep period.  The kids made muffins at school and then served them, along with juice, to us that morning.  It was really cute and fun to see the kids in their own environment at school.

  

Proud of her train

A beach day in May

Happy girl at the river

Working on something important

Having some cake!

Examining the cake

5 Years + 1 Month! (April 2018)

This month Ryder's interest changed from pirates to British soldiers.  He noticed the British soldiers in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and then started looking for other videos with them.  By the end of the month he had turned his pirate costume into a redcoat costume, including asking me to make him some white uniform pants and rustling up some soldier boots.  He has actually made quite an impressive costume between all the parts!

He is still into archery and likes to practice in the basement, but also out in the yard now that it is warmer.  Janda built a big freestanding target that they can set up in the yard and practice with.  When Ryder starts practicing, any other kids around usually hurry on over to try it out too!

As Spring has arrived, Ryder really likes the garden.  We go out an check on the flowers to see if they are blooming yet, as well as the other plants that we have out there.  He loves to help in the flower garden and the vegetable garden, and has all kinds of ideas for what we should do and plant!

Easter came this month, so that was a lot of excitement.  Now both kids understand the Easter egg hunt, so the Easter bunny assigned them each certain colors of eggs so that it would be more of a fair hunt!  Each kid got some treats and little toys and they both got some gardening tools and seeds, which Ryder wanted to plant right away.  He was very diligent about watering his seeds and checking on them!

Organizing the Sharpies that the Easter bunny brought him

Playing Risk and dressed for battle

In his full uniform

Having a battle with Vivi and Emma

40 Months! (April 2018)

This is the first year that Vivien has really gotten Easter, so it was extra fun on Easter morning.  To make sure that it was fair, the Easter bunny put each kids treats in certain color eggs, so that each kid was only collecting certain colors.  This year Vivi was running around looking for eggs just as much as Ryder, although she did still want to stop and see what was in them.  She got treats and toys in her eggs and then the Easter bunny brought her gardening tools and some seeds, which we planted later that day and she took care of until they bloomed.

Vivi has to get her curls brushed out before school because her hair gets so tangled at night.  She doesn't like it that much, but she lets me do it, so I guess it's not that bad.  This month she has been asking me to braid her hair, which is a change since she never wanted it pulled up at all.  She looks cute with her two tiny braids!

Vivi likes to change her clothes a lot and she has just started getting into the dress-up stuff with Ryder this past Winter.  She has a firefighter costume, a pirate costume and several princess costumes that are hand-me-downs from Emma.  She loves to go through multiple costumes or outfits in a day.  Lately she has also been very into wearing dresses.  Vivi asked for a new dress, so I pulled out some Little Mermaid fabric that I had bought years ago before I even had kids just because the Little Mermaid is my favorite.  I got out my patterns and let her choose one and whipped her up a twirly Little Mermaid dress that she has worn constantly! 

Vivi still loves to do art and craft type activities, even though Ryder doesn't always want to join us.  Over April vacation we did a couple of small projects that went with books that we were reading, which Vivi was very excited about.  To go along with The Day the Crayons Left, we melted a bunch of old crayons into a skull mold to make skull shaped crayons.  She carried around those crayons for the rest of vacation.

Playing with her favorite toy- Play-doh!

Watching TV with her baby

Proud of her project

Winking

Look at those curls!