Okay, so it has been 2 years, but here is a pic of the family

Not bad for a family selfie.  This is at Tinker's Creek Nature Preserve where we took a little hike here on Father's Day.  Sara is indeed enormous at the age of 8, and Abby is no slouch at 5 and already to start Kindergarten.  As usual, all three girls out shine the Dad ;)/

Busy day

Girls had a busy day today.... Farmer's Market (mini donuts), local arts and music festival, library (5 books for Sara). Then a nap (thank goodness), and since Dad was hot and tired after working in the garden he suggested a movie (in an air conditioned theater).

In the picture they are proudly showing off their free swag from the festival this morning.

1st place in mini-marathon

Today was mini-marathon day at Sara's school.  It has been pretty warm today and was in the upper 80's by the time the Kindergarten classes got their turn.  They staggered the boys and girls starts and some parents ran around the block with them.  I had the pleasure to catch the kids coming across the finish line and taking all of those pictures, including the cute kid in the picture above.  And, she came in 1st place for the girls (and only about 4 seconds behind the fastest boy if our ears were working).  All the kids did a great job, every one of them ran responsibly and had a great time.

Way to go kindergartners!

Spring has sprung

Well, if it is the middle of April it must be nearly 80 degrees here in Cleveland. (?)

Girls are doing well, healthy and growing with their own firm opinions on any possible topic. Sara will be done with Kindergarten in two months time and that's when Abby will move up to the preschool room. Sara is already signed up for a range of summer camps from swimming to science to regular daycamp.

The are both having a great time in swimming lessons and dance/gymnastics classes. Tends to make weekends a bit crazy, but we will probably let the organized sports slide for the summer.

We've finally admitted that there are benefits to the old living room on wheels, and should pick up our new minivan this week...

Anyway, warm day... Here is a nice picture.

Happy 3rd Birthday

This girl has her birthday game face ON!

Abby is clear about who the princess in the house is...

The first time Sara has bought a gift of her own choosing, with her own money... her little sister loves it!

Cake!

Abby had a great birthday. We had a small party with some friends on Saturday and today schools were closed for President's day, so we were all home. We hit the Science museum and because it was also the 50th Anniversary of another Ohio citizen's first orbit around the Earth (John Glenn) there was an astronaut (Gregory Johnson) there to meet people and talk about that historic event. Abby is clearly a growing girl, 37.5 lbs and 38 inches. Still shorter than Sara at this point, but she is slowly and steadily catching up... Abby is having a lot of fun and school and especially in her swimming and dance/gymnastics classes. She is a very well coordinated monkey, through and through. Abby loves her sister incredibly strongly and they usually get along - when they don't well Abby is probably helping mix it up.

Hard to believe that she is three already... she can't wait for elementary school with her sister in 2.5 years, but I think we'll try to hold on to this for a while.

xmas cheer

Sara and Santa


Abby, after warming up to the guy in the red suit



Girls in more natural poses



On our way to a concert at Severance Hall

Note, see here for an interesting comparison

First day of Kindergarten!

Well, today was the day. Over the past couple of weeks we have visited the school for various kick-off programs. Tuesday afternoon was Kindergarten orientation. But TODAY IS THE DAY. Sara started school. She couldn't wait to go. Almost no trepidation other than a little "I'm nervous Daddy." at breakfast. She had already met some of the kids, and skipped off to the bathroom hand-in-hand with one of her new friends before being led from the auditorium by her teacher. This girl is so ready it is unbelievable (Mom and Dad might be another story).

A couple of pics of the girls from today(!).

Soon it will be off to pick her up from a half-day (and one tomorrow). Next week it is full day all the way.

A few endings and new beginnings..

A busy week (honestly, what week isn't busy for anyone, but it is true nonetheless) here as there were several notable events this week.

First, of course was Sara's delivery to Ronald McDonald House on Tuesday.

Grandma and Grandpa D. arrived Thursday afternoon, and any grandparent related activity is notable in its own right around here.


Abby and Grandpa D. Picnic'ing

Fortunately, their arrival coincided with.... preschool graduation. Admittedly, an event I don't quite recall being common in my youth, but hey graduation is fun. Sara did the cap and gown thing, lead her buddies (er, fellow graduates) in, and they all proudly represented their school. Each kid received an award that exemplified some memorable attribute of that child in school. Sara received the Isaac Newton Award for "her great love of and skill in science." Each kid also, with the help of their teachers had a picture taken in front of their favorite thing at the preschool... for Sara it was in front of the display of model dinosaurs (dinosaurs were a relatively recent subject in Tuesday Science class). There was of course the diploma, and the ritual snacks. They all did a great job, a really great group of kids. Fortunately, for Sara she will have two of them going to the same school as her next year... relatively unheard of given the diverse communities that feed this preschool. Friday was her last day of preschool. On Monday she moves to the Summer Camp Program room until school starts in August...

In fact, Abby moves up to the pre-preschool room (Leap Frogs) the following week.


Sara and her Isaac Newton award

Today was also the end of gymnastics for Abby (for the summer at least) and soccer for Sara (possibly for more than just the summer). They both played hard today, and were very excited to receive their medal for a season well-done.

Abby has made amazing progress in the last 6 months. She is as fearless as ever (last week she did the high balance beam by herself for the first time!), but she is doing somersaults all over the place, monkey jumps (pre-roundoffs), jumping in general and as since day one, she is all about the uneven bars, especially the high one. She is also far more independent (always was, but more so), doing the group activities without my help as much and paying following the teacher's lead rather than looking to me first.

Sara had a good season of soccer, even got some excellent shots on goal earlier in the season. She did a good job of showing some aggressiveness (in a good way at times). This was all balanced by chasing butterflies while the game raged around her at others. She loves being with the other kids (and the snacks), but the action seems a little outside her at times. All perfectly appropriate for her age... we give a lot of credit to her Coach (the father of one of her preschool buddies) who has made the last two season a lot of fun for them.

We are taking a summer off of scheduled Saturday morning activities... we are hoping to travel a little, and maybe just saunter through the Farmer's market sometimes.



The all important reminder of the rules #1 Have Fun, #2 No Hands




Taking a break from the tall uneven bars, to just monkey out for a minute or five

One of those moments

So, Sara turned 5 a week ago. Had the big party, dinosaur cake carved and decorated by Mom, the she-bang. There are lots of those pictures, and I should probably post some soon. But these are my favorites, not because I didn't look at my settings and completely over-exposed them, but for what they represent.

Before we planned Sara's party we asked her if she would like to help other people (or animals) rather than receive gifts for herself. Sara's birthday is at the end of a very long and dense cycle of birthdays in her group of classmates, and a couple of other friends and their families decided to pay-it-forward. To Sara's credit, we barely had raised the question, and she said yes. A few hours later, as I was putting her to bed, Sara looked up at me and asked "Could we donate my presents to the Ronald McDonald House?" We had not even discussed and detailed possibilities yet, we were just proud she entertained the idea so easily, not that we were surprised, just proud. So, Sara came up with Ronald McDonald House on her own. She had asked questions about the place after leaving some money in the donation boxes at McDonald's and it clearly stuck with her.

For her birthday, rather than accept gifts from her friends, we merely let it be known that Sara would be making donations of books, toys, snacks to RMCD. And her friends and their families helped her out on her birthday. (lest you worry about the joy of being a 5-yr old, her type A parents, grandparents, and godparents took very good care of her, as usual) So, this afternoon, we picked Sara up from preschool early and went down to the local RMCD to make her donation. Two large boxes and a little extra to boot. While we were there they asked if she would like a tour (Yes), and the short or long one (Long). She (and her parents tag along parents) got to see the various rooms for activities, outdoor gardens (apparently among all the RMCD's the local one is referred to as the Garden House, and with very good reason), the double kitchens, a guest room, and even a handicap accessible treehouse. She was very curious and excited to see everything.

We aren't quite ready for her to be growing up so fast like this, but watching her be herself and trying to take care of others (and have fun at the same time) makes it easier to handle. As an aside: at her birthday party, a couple of her buddies had post-nap shyness/grumpiness and didn't feel up to participating that much, but Sara did her best (unprompted) to try to make them comfortable and to get them involved...

Anyway, here are a couple of pics from today.

Some spring pics...

Doing the Macarena at the pre-school spring concert... yes, the Macarena



Spring Soccer!



Abby's Approach to her sister's Spring Soccer

Dynamic Duo

A couple of pics...



A rare sunny day the end of April.



Hanging out on the train.. as in Thomas! last weekend

Abby Turns Two

Hard as it is to believe, the time has come for Miss Abby to turn two.  She knows she is turning two.  She smiles when we talk about her birthday, and then she says that Sara is going to be one.  Abby is a funny girl, she just might know she is telling a joke, just maybe.

So, life has caught us full in the diaphragm the past year and posting has plummeted the value of so many homes... so what is Abby like.

(1) Abby is full of love: She always has a hug for you, and maybe even a kiss, and unless it is too early in the morning or she's hungry, Abby has a smile for you too.

(2) Abby lives life loud:  Abigail came into this world a screamin' (2 hours straight!), and she hasn't quite calmed down.  She likes things her way, or no way.  Unfortunately for Abby, her parents have that latter tendency a big too, and so does her big sister.  So whether it is in excitement, or rather to educate her surroundings of her desires, she is not shy in letting the world know what she is feeling.  Of course, she is turning two, and all of this is as it should be.

(3) Abby adores her big sister:  Often her first question of the morning, after getting out of bed, is "Where's duuuduu?"  Not sure how Sara got that nickname, best I can figure is that it is a 1-yr old interpretation of "sister", but who knows.  Anything Sara does, Abby wants to do too.  Well, except learn how to say Sara.

(4) Abby loves cheese:  We thought Sara's love affair with parmesan cheese was something, but Abby would eat cheese, and nothing but if we let her, with one exception:

(5) Abby loves sauces: This could be applesauce, or it could be pasta sauce, but it is also gravy, and ketchup.  Just a spoon please, don't bother with the other stuff....

(6) Abby likes books: Not a surprise in this house.... but she warmed to them pretty slowly, only the last 4-5 months has she really started to take much of an interest.  So much so that she prefers to take one to bed with her, where it occupies a place that is often held by a stuffed animal.

(7) Abby is turning two: We have potty training, and trantrums.  We are learning to talk clearly, and keep our hands to our self.  We love gymnastics, and legos, and drawing, and games with our family.

(8) Abby is a snuggler: We really, really like this trait, though would prefer it not at 1 am anymore.

Abby is growing up so very fast.  Yesterday we went out and bought her a big girl bed, big girl sheets, and a big girl pillow.... Today she will open big girl presents and have a little party.  Our little girl is growing up.

Pony too

Sara enjoyed all four of her rides.

Swimming

Here are the girls having a swim in the pool at the campground. They were a couple of fish today.

At the lake 1

Sara getting her toes in Potato Lake.

Treats for the 4th

Hot weekend here for the 4th.  Today we went to the kids garden at the Botanical gardens so that girls could water flowers, play with the water pumps and fountains.  Still it was a bit hot at 90+, so we decide desert first was in order on the way home.

Bicycle ride

Sara is having fun learning to ride her bicycle.   She did super awesome the first three times with basically no fear.   Then she had two minor falls on the same ride and has needed some coaxing to try again.   Riding a bit more cautiously but definitely enjoying it.

Coming up all 4's

So today was regular check-up day.  Sara's 4-yr appointment and Abby's 15 month appointment.

Both are happy and healthy according to the Doc.

Sara is still topping the charts in the 97th-99th percentile on weight and height... and she is rather square too. 44" and 44lbs!  This appt was interesting because they started a bunch of new things for us: Vision test (20/20), hearing screening (no problemo), and even blood pressure.

Abby is healthy too, her stats are typically a bit different.  25 lbs 12 oz and 30+ inches she is 85th percentile in weight, 50th percentile in height, and 90the percentile in head circumference... we're thinking we are due for a growth spurt... though she seems focused on growing teeth at the moment.  The Doc also found out that Abby is quite strong too during immunizations today... that's my girl, strong of will and body and not afraid to show it.

She's 4!

Well, I think that picture pretty sums up the day.  Our girl has turned 4 of all things.  She had a birthday party with her buddies last weekend.  This weekend, Grandma (newly retired, that is) and Grandpa D arrived for a visit and we had some festivities on her actual birthday... Among those festivities were a trip to the Memorial Day Parade near our house, this time we saw it from the driveway of one of Sara's friends who's family happens to live on the route.

Four, it turns out seems to be the age for bikes, and dolls, and bracelets... though I think the biggest hit is, of course, the 3-buck "microphone" toy.  Gotta love the joy kids find in the simplest things.

Both kids are doing well.  Growing like... well, like they usually do - a lot.  Sara has a lot going on in the "pre-reading" and beginning reading area.  Abby has more and more words, some are even recognizable.  Magnetic boots to keep her on the floor might be a good thing... but alas, none of those here.  Sara is continuing in swimming lessons and Abby had her first one on Saturday.  Abby is not too sure about water in her ears, but otherwise it was good.  Sara is getting awesome at going under water and is starting to move arms in legs in the generally correct direction.



Candles



Seeing the start of my first parade!




The future is so bright...






Why yes, this parade-watching party was so hip it had a bubble machine.





I guess this will do...





Nursery Rhyme Idol


P.S. The links to the side have been updated...

Spring park time

So the weather has been pretty nice this week..over 60 today even.  Nice enough to take a detour on the way home to a park we hadn't visited before.  Here is some evidence below.  Abby enjoyed the swing and slide and Sara sampled it all.  We even got some backyard time after dinner and noticed an over winter leap in Sara's coordination as she could kick the soccer ball while running without stopping, something she wasn't doing at the end of the soccer season... anyway here is a video