backtrack

Some photos from earlier in the month....

Kayla's 4th birthday party:









A picnic (on a VERY warm day), followed by some splashing:

(Andrew repeatedly dunked his head in a bucket of water)

Annual Meadowview Estates neighborhood yard sale:

hanging out with Aunt Chris -
and sharing his cough/cold with her

Andrew still loves to be IN things. This time -
Pops' truck bed. He didn't want to get out!

first field trip (and more tooth news)

Evyn's class (both morning and afternoon sessions) took a 4-hour field trip to East Lampeter Park. Evyn and I used to go there often.... thumbing back through old posts I realize, we hadn't been there since August 2009!

40 kids, 16 parents, 1 teacher = crazy, chaotic fun. We lucked out with great weather!


pictures aren't the greatest - I was trying to snap them while keeping an eye on the kids! click on any picture to enlarge. look for Evyn in a striped, long-sleeved top :)














There was a large group - 50+ - of Amish having an Ascension Day social while we were there. made for an interesting mix.... the other visitors to this usually serene park must have felt a bit overwhelmed by the gaggles of screaming 6-year-olds, and young Amish! (Julie & Andrew below, on right)









Tooth news..... Evyn lost another tooth this morning! It wasn't very loose a few days ago, but it came out quick after the first one fell out on Monday. No more shark teeth, hurray!

she lost it!

Yesterday when we were getting ready for school I noticed that Evyn's loosest tooth was ready to come out.

before school - shark teeth!

Evyn was very nervous about losing her first tooth, so much so that she started getting a bellyache thinking about it. So, we spent about an hour talking about the joys of growing up, the tooth fairy and whether she would visit our fairy garden, and generally just trying to ease her mind and get her excited.



By the time I dropped her off at school she was feeling much better - though she told me she just hoped it wouldn't come out in school.


Three hours later she happily hopped off the school bus and showed me her new smile:



The tooth popped out about 10 minutes after she got to school! The school nurse gave her this cool tooth-shaped case for her prized tooth:


Last night after Andrew went to bed we had a first-lost-tooth party, complete with mint chocolate chip ice cream and fireworks:



Evyn was feeling a little sentimental about her tooth, so she left a note under her pillow asking if she could keep her tooth for a few more days. When she awoke this morning she found this reply, written on a tiny little piece of fairy parchment paper and tucked under her pillow:

a night in Baltimore

at the zoo - the 100+ year old corrals - no longer in use.
we spied a group of wild deer beyond them.

waiting for the otters (Evyn's favorite) to swim over

otter abode

Andrew cruised around in the stroller.
He points when he wants something.
Guess what he was pointing at.

polar bears!

this ostrich followed Evyn across the whole exhibit

rhinoceros

Andrew's favorite part of the trip - playing
with the mini fridge and wet bar!

he would NOT sleep in the hotel's pack & play.
can't say I blame him - the beds were super comfy!

this is what happens when a restaurant advertises
being "family friendly," but only has one high chair -
currently in use by another child. first (and likely last!)
time I let the kids have the run of any place. perhaps the
restaurant will get the hint and buy a few more high chairs!

hotel pool

Evyn (wearing a glow necklace) watching a thunderstorm

the kids thought this little space between the bed
and the wall made a great "clubhouse." they
played for hours back there! a late night for all.

aquarium

happy in his sling

sharks!

dolphin show - and look, Andrew is pointing again. Such
a Momma's boy when he's tired! To borrow a phrase from
Tara Livesay ~he tries "to climb back inside the womb."

see the dolphin up in the air?