Playroom Concerts

Tate often will bang around on the piano and sing and I finally caught him on camera, so I had to share. Rowan, of course, wanted in on the action when she saw I was taking a video!

First Strawberry of the Season

On Monday, I was cashing in on a Mother's Day gift from Lance (a design consult with a friend of a friend) and Lance took the kids outside to play. When the consult was done, Rowan said "We have a big surprise for you. It's the first of something." Sure enough, it was the first strawberry of the season in our side yard. Lance adorably split it into four pieces and we all shared it, but not before the kids drew a picture of the occasion. Since then we've gathered quite a few more berries and love being able to pluck some ripe berries, rinse them off and eat them immediately.

Loveness

A recent conversation between Rowan and Lance:

Lance: What kinds of things will our plants need to grow?

Rowan: Water and sunshine.

Lance: Great, Rowan. Is there anything else they need?

Rowan: Loveness.

Warm, sunny afternoons

The rain has stopped, the sun is shining, it's feeling a lot more like May (finally!) and a lot less like March. So yesterday, Lance took advantage of the forecast, went to work at 6:30am so he could leave early and we headed to Tunnel Park. Of course I forgot my camera on our first beach visit of the season. But it was wonderful. Pretty cold with the wind, but the kids loved every minute of it. I stood with my feet in the warm sand and pictured many, many summer days spent at the beach. I packed a picnic and fully planned on our inaugural trip to Captain Sundae, but, alas, the kids didn't eat their dinner (surprise!)so we didn't stop for dessert. There's always next time...and the time after that...

Meijer Gardens

While May has been nothing but cold and rain, April in Michigan was gorgeous. So we took in a few days at Meijer Gardens. On one visit Susan took a few pictures of the kids--sort of a 2-year and 4-year mini-shoot. I love them for two reasons. One, the kids are getting so big and I love comparing their pictures each year to the ones the year before. Two, we are outside. Wearing shorts. In April.

Mother's Day Tea

Lemondae Stand

It can't get much cuter than this. We had a garage sale last week. And while we were excited to unload a bunch of stuff, the most fun thing was Rowan's lemonade stand. We made some lemonade and Rice Krispie treats together and set up a little stand. I didn't really think about telling her what to say or do, so she sat in her little chair. Then people started coming and she started yelling "Lemonade! Lemonade for sale!" She was a bit relentless. I had to help her tone it down a bit. When people would buy something, she would say "Thank you for your business." I couldn't get enough.

Cloud 9

Last week, Rowan started ballet. She has been asking to take lessons for a while now, but we decided to hold off until her birthday, mainly so that my mom could buy her lessons and shoes (instead of some toy with small pieces that seem to collect everywhere but the actual toybox). To say she loved it is an understatement. She is thrilled. I'm thinking we'll be sticking with this for quite a while.

Like Father, Like Son

I couldn't get a great picture of it, but Tate likes to "shave" with Lance in the mornings. It doesn't get a whole lot cuter than that.

Kalamazoo Air Zoo

This past fall, my mom took us all to Kalamazoo Air Zoo. I must admit, my hopes were less than high. Why on earth would 2 small children want to walk around looking at old planes? And, let's be honest here, why would I want to? But, as the pictures show, we had a great time. And we've been back a few times. The biggest hits are the hot air balloon ride, the biplanes ride and the Zero Gravity ride. The kids love it!