My Neighborly Wildlife

This picture (Toby with 3 cousins) is funny to me on a couple of levels.

1) The boys were playing badminton in the woods.

2) There's a deer about 15 feet behind them that basically watched 10 kids play in the yard all day without moving. (There were many debates among the adults that day: was it just tired? thirsty or dehydrated? going to have a baby? dying?) It eventually walked off around the other side of the house without any drama.

3) I can't seem to find any resemlance among these boys, and isn't my nephew's calico hair awesome?

My Father's Day and 6th Birthday Combo Party

We had a combined Father's Day BBQ and birthday party for Toby on our first day in Colorado. (And my nephew turned 1 a few days earlier, so we had a special cake for him too!)




Toby got an ice cream cake for birthday # 6. The only thing redeeming this ice cream cake's decorations is that there are Reeses Peanut Butter Cup crumbles around half the cake. Someone did raise the question as to why they were only on half the cake. That was prime real estate in our family!







Norah enjoyed the blue-frosted cake (she's saving some for later) and keeping her scooter away from her cousin Kennadie.














Toby had another Star-Wars heavy birthday, but this maze book was really cool, and offered a lot of opportunties for quiet time. We also took a trip (just the 3 of us) to the Lego store in Park Meadows where they each picked out a Lego set (and Toby got a few extra things too).

My Last Days of School

The last few days of school were super busy. Each day was filled with games and activities to keep the kids busy--we had to add a week of school for snow-make-up days. Wednesday was water day so Toby got to wear his swim shirt. Norah accompanied us to the bus stop.






Toby next to his cubby on Thursday, the second-to-last day of kindergarten. (This kid needs a haircut!)














Toby and his teacher, Mrs. Young.
There wasn't a graduation celebration or anything, but each child got a certificate, a round of applause, and a bucket full of activities to do over the summer.

My Little Gymnast

Norah finished up her toddler gym class on the last day of school. She loved going each week and learning new games and songs. Her favorite thing to do--in gym class and everywhere else--is the balance beam.

My Old Backyard

Spending time with Nana and Papa was really fun and included finding a make-shift kiddie pool to play in on hot Colorado afternoons. Toby didn't fit in it very well, but that didn't stop him from monopolizing the tub, until he took breaks for snacks. And then Norah would sneak in, sink down slowly and then jump out saying it was too too cold!

My Best Referee

Toby is playing all day today at his friend's house. This is the first time Toby's gone to someone's house for a whole day without me there. It's a big step for me, but it was a pretty simple choice for Toby: stay with mom and Norah or go play at Elijah's?
Elijah came over to our house to play a week before we left for Colorado (I'm playing major catch up on the blog--sorry) in order to celebrate Toby's birthday. Elijah ended up being a perfect go-between for Toby and Norah, and they all ended up having a blast playing together. I imagine he'll come home after dinner exhausted, but with lots of fun stories from a day away from home.