And that's June

Claire is having fun wearing some fancy new clothes from Aunt Mimi. Claire loves tulle and flowers and very girly things at the moment. She is quite fancy at school these days.

Speaking of fancy, Uncle Jesse's friend designs girls' dance costumes. Claire received a couple and loves playing dance class with them. Perhaps it's time for another class.

Claire wasn't feeling well on Friday and had to stay home. We made a trip to the doc.

And then a trip to frozen yogurt. We got some meds and she made a quick rebound. (I think it was the ice cream:)

Sunday was finally warm enough to set up the pool. Kyle is sneaky and balanced here for a while while we were "checking on the water" in the morning. He was totally drenched.

My parents were in town and watched the kids while Lucian and I went out to brunch for our anniversary (which was last weekend). We like to go to the restaurant where we had our wedding. It was a beautiful day.

And a yummy meal. Check out my creme caramel dessert!

The Trampoline

Nana Kathleen bought a giant trampoline for her back yard. The kids absolutely love it. Since Kyle is with her on Thursdays, he gets some extra jumping time in. Here's a few shots of our handsome guy.

Claire's Weekend

Claire had a great weekend. Her cousin Lydia slept over Sat. night and the two of them attended a birthday party for a classmate of Claire's at an indoor bounce house place. They had a great time together.

They slept on the air mattress in the living room, after a movie and popcorn, of course.

These girls are great friends.

After we ran all our errands on Sun., Claire went with me to get a pedicure at the salon. She went all out this time putting her feet in the water, getting lotion and the salt scrub (she only got polish at our last attempt).

She even agreed to flowers on her big toes.

She told me she is going to come with me every time I go now. Hmm, that sounds expensive and removes all the "me time" from the 1-hour experience. We'll just see about that;)

Welcome to Kindergarten

Claire has done a great job in Pre-K this year. At her parent teacher conference, there was noted improvement in all areas. She has moved beyond the initial social aspects of class and is learning new things every day. She is quite the leader and has made some great friends. 

Her last week in Pre-K was filled with dress up days, including crazy hair day. For that, we put a few sponge rollers in Claire's hair overnight. She loved it.

Her school is also a daycare, so it's year round. Last week was "transition week" where Claire moved over to the kindergarten classroom. She and 3 of her friends made the move together. She was super excited to start and wore a new skirt that Nana Barb made her on the first day.

She was spending full days there by the end of the week and is a full fledged kindergartner now. She will stay there all year, but may attend K4 for a half day at the public school starting in the fall. (There are some logistical busing issues that have yet to be resolved.) We are super proud of our kindergartner!

Father's Day

Claire was very excited about Father's Day this year. She picked out Lucian's card and had been whispering about getting him dark chocolate for weeks, knowing it's his favorite. We hid the wrapped presents under her bed overnight and she immediately got them out when she woke up.

We all went to the Lego movie in the morning, a discounted showing. Kyle started off well, but had little interest in staying in his seat or the theater for that matter. I spent the latter half of the movie running up and down the halls and begging Kyle to let me stand on the side and still watch the film. Good thing it was cheap:)

We went out for Vietnamese food for lunch, another dad favorite, and Claire and I made another strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. It was a pretty good Sunday.

Random Things

Last Friday was a family picnic at Claire's school. Lucian and I were able to join her for lunch outside and a few minutes of play time on the playground.

Saturday my sister and I ran a 5k. We are signed up for a 10k in Sept. so it's time to get started! This wasn't my best feeling run, as I was still recovering from a stomach bug the kids passed on to Lucian and I. Ironically, it didn't seem to affect our running time. No sure what that says about my regular pace.

We went to a park Sunday morning for some kid focused play time. It was a little chilly, but we were prepared.

And lastly, my parents brought us some rhubarb so I made a strawberry rhubarb pie. I think there is enough to make a second one this week!

Baby Birds

We have two robin's nests on the house this year. It's been fun to keep an eye on them and see the eggs hatch. The nests are too high to look into, so I'm always holding my phone up to snap photos. I think there are 7 babies total.

Kyle

Just a little video of Kyle being Kyle.

Summer Is Here

It may not be summer on the calendar yet, but it sure feels like it outside.

Claire likes to watch cooking shows. She is often acting one out as she plays in the bath tub or outside. Here she was making a salad in her wheelbarrow with dandelion leaves and grass. One of her regular ingredients is an "oil sauce."

Lucian and I rode in a bike ride on Sunday; the UPAF Ride for the Arts. This year we chose the 40-mile route. I had a great time and could still walk afterward (an improvement from last year;). It was a beautiful morning ride along the lake with my hubby and friends. A much needed break. And thanks to Spen and my parents for watching the littles so we could enjoy it.

Some afternoon showers/sun left us with this cool double rainbow. Very cool.

Memorial Weekend

I'd like to say that we had a relaxing long weekend sipping drinks and sitting by a pool, but most of my weekend was spent working on our deck. Stripping stain is a tedious job and we have a good sized area. It took me 2 days to strip and clean and another to apply new stain. Lucian was feeding me cocktails at the end to keep me going. Luckily stain is forgiving in application:)

We had a to replace a few boards (that was Lucian's job). Claire got out the power tools to help as well.

I am happy the project is complete... at least until next year:(

The kids played in the yard to keep me company. We couldn't complain about the weather at least.

Monday we went to a park and walked on the beach. Our fearless son Kyle found a number of fish lying around. Yum yum. This kid will touch anything.

We even got Spencer to join us.

Sibling Love

Claire woke us up in the middle of the night asking to have a light turned on because she couldn't tell what something was in her bed. I grabbed a flashlight and turned it on to discover Kyle had climbed into bed with her and was sleeping next to her under the covers. She and I both laughed as I moved him back to his bed. Too cute!