Last day of preschool

Josie's last day of preschool was very eventful. We wanted to make the day special for her. We started with a favorite breakfast of Daddy's homemade waffles, that she promptly filled with blackberries.

 Once we had all sufficiently overindulged on waffles, we headed to the front yard for the annual last day of school photo shoot. These photos really capture just how much she has grown.

On the porch:

With "the peace tree:"

Sidebar: Oh no! I literally just realized as I was typing that once we move we won't have the peace tree as our metric for growth anymore. Ugh, there's the sinking feeling. Well, here's to establishing new traditions! (I should mention we still have no idea where we are moving and the whole process has been an important lesson in who we are and what we value. But I digress...)

Bea was SO excited to be romping around outside so early in the morning!

And both girls spent lots of timing just prancing through the yard celebrating the approach of summer vacation!

A little celebratory round of "Ring Around the Rosie" was in order.

Bea is still working on the right timing for "all fall down." And sweet Josie, who is so patient with her, helps her up every time - even if that means 10 "all fall downs" in a row.

One more random thought to share.  This was a bit of an out-take, but it really struck me as I was going back through the photos. This is pretty much my view from my seat at our kitchen table. Our New Year's Resolution this year was to eat our meals at the table together. Out of convenience, we had been eating at our island since we moved into this house. It seems ridiculous now. Josie, Louie and I all lined up and Bea in her high-chair. There really is something simple and powerful about sharing meals around the family table. And, mid-June I am ready to call this the first New Year's Eve resolution that has actually stuck!

SCHOOL'S OUT Zoo Trip

Part of our celebration of the end of the school year was a Sunday afternoon trip to the zoo. We love our zoo, and we love popping in and out of there with our passes and weaving through the crowds to hit our favorite spots.

We hit the carousel first. The interesting thing about this particular trip was that Josie, instead of wanting me to pick the animal to ride beside her, asked me to either stand several feet away from her or behind her so she could be by herself. I guess that whole "I'm a kindergartener now" has really sunken in. We are proud of her new independence, but it is definitely a bittersweet transition.

Oh, speaking of that independence, this same weekend we went to Lunken Playground and Josie asked Lou to let her swing by herself. She swings by herself all the time, so he was confused, but she explained. She had met a new friend at the park and she wanted to join her friend across the playground alone instead of having one of us even near her. We obliged, but kept a close eye as we talked about how insanely fast she has grown up before our eyes.

(Cue "David's Mandolin by Elizabeth Mitchell & Family.)

 A little peacock posturing:

A lucky snap that captured her stealing a smooch from a seal statue:

Zoo Snooze:

Three little birds that joined us for lunch:

And when I say "lunch" I mean a giant chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream cone complete with (peanut-free-yay!) sprinkles that Josie picked to celebrate her Pre-School Graduation:

The sweetest little baby Zebra, just a few weeks old. We will enjoy watching Miss Savannah grow:

 Sisters:

Those sweet, sweet sisters:

The obligatory stop at the Children's Zoo playground:

Sweet Bea watching Josie on the balance beam, longing for the day...

Another exercise in independence:

 

Bea standing still just long enough for a quick photo:

The new Galapagos Turtle exhibit (which is great):

Time to feed the goats. Even Bea got in on the action this time:

Moments like these make me long for a farmhouse somewhere. Truly.

First Day / Last Day

Our summer is in full swing and already we have knocked out some of the seasonal "musts" around here. Photos of all of that coming soon, but I had to get this one posted.

Remember the photos last year that compared Josie on her first day of pre-school to her last day of pre-school as a three-year old? We were all AMAZED at how much she had changed from the first to last day.

This year was no different! Check out the difference of Josie on her first day of pre-school to her last day of pre-school as a four-year old.

On top of the obvious physical changes, Josie learned so much this year!  Academically, she is reading & writing and also proficient with basic addition and subtraction (mental math up to 10 and there's no stopping her with bigger numbers if she has manipulatives).  She also can do basic multiplication and division, when thinking of them in terms of forming and dividing groups of things.

She really hit her stride on reading in the spring and is now shouting out things she reads along the highway.  (Just yesterday when driving to her first day of CCM Young Actor's Camp. She said as I pulled off the exit "We're here!" I said "Oh, do you remember this exit?" And she says, so matter-of-factly, "Um, no mom, I read that sign that says Blue Ash.") Josie also learned some important skills this year like tying her own shoes! It's true...she is ready for Kindergarten!

Morning with Mama: Aquarium

This summer I have a total win-win situation. Since the group I am working with is based in Seattle and I have a flexible schedule, I am going to work on Pacific Time on Wednesdays. We're calling it "West Coast Wednesday" around here. What that amounts to is that instead of working 9-4:30 on Wednesdays, I'm working 12-7. SO, I have every Wednesday morning this summer with my girls and I'm available later into my West Coast compadres' working days. How cool is that?

This week we headed together to the Newport Aquarium. Josie was beyond-sweet walking Bea around and pointing out things. Bea was just as inquisitive and independent as ever. The photos above are some snaps from my phone.

Here's the photo from the door that we couldn't help to purchase to add to to our Aquarium photo collection. (Note: the Aqu pass is totally worth the money and the top secret tip is to go first thing at 10am, run past the first couple exhibits to get past the crowd and then have the place to yourself. Mid-day gets packed with fieldtrips! The hour before it closes is also lovely. Enjoy!)

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Me on TFB!

Hello friends, Here's an exciting development.  When I had some time for personal writing between work client contracts, I submitted this article to one of my favorite Parenting Blogs and it was just published!

If you click on The Feminist Breeder Resource Guide then my article (and photo of me with Bea moments after she was born) is at the top since it is the newest article. I don't expect this to last forever, so you can also use this direct link to my article "Pineapples, Prostaglandins and Pitocin: Planning an Unmediated Birth in The Face of a Medical Induction."

Birth empowerment is an important topic for me, and I truly admire Gina Crosley-Corcoran for her tireless commitment to The Feminist Breeder website. It is a huge honor for me to be a part of this important service to women and families!

Baby Bea's First "Quick Quote"

Those of you who have been here for awhile are familiar with the little "Quick Quote" series I started with Josie years ago in an attempt to capture those little gems that come out of the mouths of babes.  Well, sweet Bea had her first couple of quick quotes.  She's experimenting with more and more words, so I expect that the verbal flood gates are about to open.

A little context: Josie loves The Fresh Beat Band. Bea loves music, so Bea loves The Fresh Beat Band. It's the only show they both enjoy equally. Bea is so enamored with the show that it inspired her first quick quote. When the tell-tale starting notes of the closing theme music came on, Bea pointed to the TV, looked at me and said "UH-OH!"  

(She has since done this several times, saying Uh-Oh whenever her favorite songs end. Uh-oh is a pretty frequent phrase all around - like the classic baby game of throwing stuff on the ground then looking up innocently to say Uh-Oh like it was all just a huge accident.)

Bea's second quick quote came when we were on the swings the other day in the backyard. Bea is now big enough to stand on the 2-person "viking ship" with Josie if you hold on to her.  We were very impressed by Bea's big-girl-ness and kept saying "Wow Bea".  Well, that's all it took. "WOW!" is a new favorite word. She says "WOW" when she swings, slides, etc.  Sweet sweet girl.

Three Days of Summer's Start: Part Three

MONDAY

You would think with all of the fun we packed into Saturday and Sunday that we would be totally out of steam by Memorial Day Monday.  We decided to push everyone's limits a little and let the good times roll on.  Monday morning started with a bike ride through Camp Dennison on the bike trail. It was kind of one of those ideas that was better in theory than in practice. With a little later start than we planned, we hit the trail in the middle of Bea's naptime and had to wake her up in the car to plop her in the trailer. It was a zillion degrees so both girls were dying in their helmets.  All told, it was only an hour long trip, which was shorter than we had planned, but we still had a great time.

Getting ready to roll:

Bea points to the bike, because she wants to ride that instead of the trailer (silly goose):

A stop at the Schoolhouse General Store:

After a very "American" trip to Frisch's Big Boy for lunch (where the girls ate their weight in soup & salad bar fruit), we headed back home and back into the sprinklers. Lou found this totally 1950s sprinkler in our basement and we decided to kick it old school.  Fearless Bea went face-first and Josie jumped through it dozens of times!

(The child eats, trust me, she's just all ribs here because she was holding her breath from the cold water)

Even Lou got in on the action. His grimace in some of these pictures is more from the insanely strong squirts of water! We all had a blast.

(Truth told, I had more than a few passes through it myself but the camera was safely secured on the dry porch by then. I gotta say, Lou and I really do make it a priority to act like kids as often as we possibly can.  It's a summer priority! And it's these silly, soggy, everyday giggly moments with the girls that have come to be the ones we cherish most of all!)

Three Days of Summer's Start: Part Two

SUNDAY 

One of the biggest highlights of our long weekend was our Lemonade Stand.  Josie has been begging and begging (and begging!) to set one up for months on end. We really do live on the perfect corner for it, and we had a feeling neighbors would cooperate.  On Sunday we had the time to devote a few hours to creating the stand, perfecting our fresh-squeezed recipe and selling the goods. Priced at just 25 cents (now that's a bargain for fresh & organic), Josie earned about $5.  Most of her profits came in the form of tips!   Josie decided to re-invest her money back into her "ice cream truck" fund. 

Here are some photos from "Josephine's Lovely Lemonade Stand."

First, she juiced. And the sweet little thing did all of the lemons all by herself. (Tip: Soaking the lemons in hot water first makes the juicing part really easy & makes the most juice.)

Bea had her own important filling & spilling work while Josie was busy. (Note: Get used to seeing Bea in nothing but a diaper. 'Tis summer my friends!)

Next, we painted. This is the big Amazon box we get every couple of months that holds all of our diapers, wipes, toilet paper & paper towels. It moonlights as a tunnel when it's not being a Lemonade Stand. It was Josie's idea to use this as the stand weeks ago, and her little vision finally became a reality.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS!  Josie was hysterical yelling "Le-mon-ADE!" to all the passers-by.  It worked. We even offered drive-thru service.

Oh, notice above a few of the little details. Josie asked me to write "Fresh-Squeezed Super Duper Uper" at the top to describe her lemonade. She also insisted on "setting the table" with a cup of flowers and a placemat to decorate.  The pitcher is a montessori-style one so she was able to pour the lemonade to customers herself. 

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Bea got in on the action, when she wasn't busy stealing the cups to dip into the water table.  She spent most of the day in her swimming diaper. Funny thing is, while she's definitely not talking all the way now (mostly just animal noises and the common baby words), she was totally trying to yell "Le-mon-ADE" with Josie. It kept coming out in these adorable little unintelligible three-syllable bursts: "Di-bud-AME," "wi-la-BAY," "bi-da-LAPE".  Lou swears she got really close at least once.

The rest of Saturday was spent celebrating and sweating. We made it to only ONE of the THREE barbecues we had on the calendar. It was SO hot and the girls ran out of steam really early after being outside all day and all afternoon. They were both in bed by 7!  Ahhh...Summer!