Let there be sand

So the treefort has been done for about a month and we didn't get around to leveling the sandbox and filling it.  Our neighbors asked a couple of times if we wanted to use their pickup to get sand somewhere so we finally took them up on the offer on Saturday.  Unfortunately it was pouring but Patrick went and retrieved 1,500 pounds of soft white sand, drove it home, and filled the sandbox one miserable wheelbarrow full at a time.

With rain all Saturday and soccer practice all Sunday, the kids didn't get a chance to use the sandbox for the first time until today.  They were such good sharers for about five minutes and then the usual infighting started.

And then the moment we've all been waiting for (at least all summer).  The kids got to slide down into the sandbox.  All three got a couple of cycles in but here's Stella and Will giving it a shot and here's Maggie.  Ahh, to be young again.

Back to soccer practice

We switched the girls from their "premiere" league soccer team to Takoma Park soccer for the Fall season.  It's what Will has participated in for a couple of years and we felt it offered the kids as good of training as the crazy expensive other league.  So now we have busy Sunday afternoons with overlapping soccer practices on the same field, and a WHOLE lot of Takoma Park soccer shirts in the house...

No pictures of Maggie and Stella because Patti had her hands full.  No, literally full - of Stella and Maggie's hands...  Maybe next week.

Will had a blast!  He ran into his best friend Quinley on the way to practice, and then he found out that three of his other nursery school classmates are on his team.  For a kid that always worries about not knowing people, it instantly put him at ease.

Here is Will's first ever corner kick!

And later, he even scored a goal!  Scrimmages for Kindergarteners are still kind of a scrum but he got to the far post and tapped in the ball when it squibbed in front of him and the goal.  Then he sprinted all the way down field to high-five Daddy and Mommy.

He was so excited!  The whole (short) drive home he kept saying that it was the best soccer practice ever,

Stella and Maggie go to the 3's class!

The girls just returned to school last week, and just for a few hours a day.  But that's still a few hours per day for Patti to have time to herself for the first time in five years.  Whew!

There were two 2's classes last year so the school mixed up the kids into two different 3's classes this year.  Luckily the girls weren't separated, but many of their little friends are in the other class.  But they get to play together during recess and see each other in the hall before school.  That made the first day harder, though, and neither girl wanted to go into their class.  We had to push them in, both crying and screaming for us, and walk away quickly.  So three out of three had a rough first day.

Maggie and Stella both asked to wear dresses, have barrettes, and wear necklaces so they'd look "pretty Daddy."

Once they got to school, though, they were pretty comfortable until they saw their friends going into the other class....

Both girls did some drawing and coloring to calm down, which they did pretty quickly.  And both girls promised to walk right in the next class, which only one of them did (you can guess which one).  From the third class on, they've both marched right in and had great days.

Will goes to Kindergarten!!!

Will is in Kindergarten!  We can't believe it.

On a positive, he went to school on his first day.  On the other hand, we had to endure an entire summer of him adamantly stating "I am not going to Kindergarten."  Our home school isn't a great one at all so we entered Will in the lottery to get into a partial Spanish immersion Kindergarten, and then spent the entire summer selling that school to Will.  That resulted in a summer of "How many times do I have to tell you that I do not speak Spanish!"  Long story short, we learned that he got in late in the day on the Friday before school began.

Will doesn't adapt to change very well (like his parents in  many ways) so he was against going to  school the first morning.  He graced us with a happy picture or two...

and then his real feelings came flooding out.  It was good that Patrick and Patti both took him the first day (we had to actually - they got him in so late on Friday that they didn't have all his paperwork yet) so that we could both talk to him on the drive to school.

Once we got to school, he was totally fine and he had a pretty good day.  He admitted to Patti on the afternoon drive home that he cried a little in the afternoon because he missed her.  To celebrate his big day, he asked Patti to make him a wheel-shaped potpie, so voila!

Will cried a little each of his first three days and had a total blow-up the fourth day because he was scared about something.  His teacher talked to him, we talked to him, and we all learned that he'd bottled up all his fears and didn't tell anyone.  Once we talked through what he was worried about, he's been a great little Kindergartner.

Tree fort!

When we first showed the kids our new home last summer, we told them our plans to build a tree fort on the tall pine in the backyard.  Patrick found a good resource in terms of another guy's blog, and Patti brought home a steady stream of tree fort/house books from the library.  And in the course of five days (over four weekends) in July and early August, Patrick built a legitimate tree fort for the kids.

July 19/20:  Free standing with a floor

July 27/28:  We have railings and a slide

August 9:  Other than a level sandbox (and sand), it's DONE!

And the kids love it!  And the tree loves dripping sap on it!  So Patrick and Patti have a love/hate relationship with the fort for now but Patrick is pretty proud of it and the kids are proud to show it off to people and tell them that Daddy made it for them which is worth its weight in gold (or sap).

A week at Pop & Mimi's - part 3

On the first and last days in CT, we got the kids in the pool.  78 degrees sounds warm - it's not - but when your kids beg you to get in the pool with them, what are you going to do?  In the end, it was worth it because the kids were SO BRAVE in the pool.  They doggie-paddled around the pool, got in a quick squirt gun fight, and Maggie even broke out her goggles.  Too fun.

The week went too fast and before we knew it we were on the long drive back home.

A week at Pop & Mimi's - part 2

The Quassy Amusement Park was more fun than last year because the kids were big enough to enjoy  more things.  We seriously rode EVERYTHING, and sometimes more than once.  Will grew enough since last summer that he could ride the bumper cars with Daddy and the second time around they even got to run into Pop!

Everyone but Patrick rode the kiddie coaster (it's a back-breaker and someone had to stay behind to take pictures).

Then it was a train ride, a trip or two on the carousel, a paddleboat ride for Patrick and Will, and the drop-rides.

Patti and the girls enjoyed the Frog Hopper while Will had his eyes on the Free Fall to the right.  He begged Patrick to ride it with him so despite his fear of heights, Patrick endured 6 free falls with Will and 10 other screaming/falling people.

A week at Pop & Mimi's - part 1

In late July, we spent a very full and fun week in Connecticut at Bill and Bonnie's house.  In what is becoming an annual tradition, we visited Rocky Neck State Park, enjoyed Pepe's pizza, rode everything imaginable at Quassy, and got the kids in the pool.

Rocky Neck is so cool because it's an ocean beach right next to a railway, so 10 or so trains blew through over the course of the day.

No jellyfish this year thank you very much, and the weather was great.  All the kids got into the water this year, some more carefully than others.  Will liked splashing in the breakers and the girls would only go in if Bonnie or Daddy carried them.

Seaweed was the only catch of the day.  The girls couldn't get enough of it for some reason.

We think they liked it...

Grandma's July visit

Patrick's Mom spent some time with us in early July.  We had a fun and busy five days of visiting and seeing the sights through the eyes of the kids.

We darted off to Annapolis to enjoy some fresh seafood.  It was a HOT sunny day so naturally the kids had to wear their hats and shades.

The next day we had a great picnic on Capital Hill.  After lunch the kids made the most of the open space for some running around and bubbles.

The next morning, Patrick, Mary Ann and the kids took the Metro down to Union Station to enjoy a DC Duck trip around the capital and into the Potomac River.  Will had done this once with Patrick so he wasn't afraid at all, and the girls didn't get that scared either.  Stella was even the first to volunteer to "drive" the duck when we were in the river.

The next morning, we took a leisurely walk in the woods along a path that is quickly becoming a family favorite.

Like all visits, it seemed too short but Patrick and his mom had lots of opportunities to catch up and visit.  We're all hopeful that we can make it out to Wisconsin for the next visit.

Star Wars night in Bowie

June 14th was the annual Star Wars night with the Bowie Baysox (Baltimore Orioles minor league team). After another year of hearing how brave everyone was going to be around the "grown-ups in costumes - not the real characters", only Stella was brave enough to go near the actors.  Finally about 2 hours later, Will warmed up to them.

Sometime in May or June, the girls taught themselves how to strike a pose.

Losing parts and graduating

In June, both Will and Patrick got a little lighter.  Patrick noticed a lump in his wrist so he ended up getting it removed.  Luckily it was noncancerous, but his days as a lucrative wrist model are now over.

On their way to get Daddy from the hospital, Will lost his third tooth (all bottom center).  They're growing in almost as fast as they're coming out.

The night of Patrick's surgery happened to coincide with Will's art exhibit at his nursery school.  With graduation only days away, it was a nice moment at his fantastic school.  Will's self-portrait is the one with the blue background and red frame (duh).  The white spot on his shirt is meant to be the fire-fighter's symbol.

Random May catch-up

Here's the rest of May in a highlight reel.

Our yard had some great color.

Will was back in soccer practice, and...

Maggie and Stella practiced for the first time with a bunch of their classmates.

We pulled nearly 20 bags worth of ivy off of our yard, and we planted a lovely Redbud in the front yard where we'd cut down the rotten Maple nearly a year earlier.