Storybook Hike

The Friends of the Fells set up a Storybook Hike last week.  To follow the trail, we looked for pages of the storybook.  It was lots of fun, and a perfect trip for the citizens.  Even better?  Our neighbor joined us!

These two are quite confident in the woods without Mommy and Daddy:

Placemat Prats

I was preparing dinner for the citizens.  I turned around to ask them a question, and saw what was going on.  Truthfully -- I didn't coach them.  They came up with this one on their own:

Wii with Cousins

The best part about hanging out with cousins?  You get to play with toys you don't have at home:

What is going on over there?

Bowling on the Wii!  Wahoo!

My turn next!

Talking 006

Overheard this evening:

Ilya:  Ashley, can you help me take off my socks?
Ashley:  You're a big boy, Daddy.  You don't need my help.  You know how to do it.

Now where have I heard that one before?

Gears and Trains

One weekend we took a family trip to Lowell, MA, birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.  Part of our walk took us into the Lowell National Park.  According to the website, Lowell National Historical Park is unique in that it was the first urban national park of its kind. The park has a distinctive legislative mandate to support the preservation, protection and interpretation of historic buildings and cultural resources throughout the City of Lowell, including areas outside the official Park boundary.

And it has a visitor center which the kids loved visiting:

Homeschooling, Lesson #16

The follow up class:  using the pizza dough to make dinner.

Homeschooling, Lesson #15

Today's lesson:  chemistry!

Mix water, yeast, flour, salt and oil together.  What do you get?

Two happy toddlers and one large batch of pizza dough.

Popcorn!

Instead of singing about popcorn, MLM decided it was high time the kids eat some popcorn. 

Princess Poncho

The other night Ashley discovered a poncho handcrafted by Grandma Carole.  Even though we were getting ready for bed, she insisted upon wearing it.

Just as I stopped recording, she snuggled the poncho around her shoulders and said (and this is a direct quote):  "I love this!"  So I turned the camera back on to see if we could re-create the moment.  Not exactly:

All Dressed Up

Adam was all dressed up and patiently waiting to leave the house.  He did me a favor by chatting with me for a bit:

You Spin Me Round

"You Spin Me Round" was a huge pop hit in 1984.  Thirty years later, the concept continues to be a great hit with all ages:

Ring Crayons

Our friends Heather and Manny gave the kids some very cool triangular ring crayons... the kiddos set to work immediately:

Singapore Math

Adam has started to teach himself math via the Singapore method... and a handful of raspberries.

Photobombed!

I recently thought my computer was hacked.  Why?  I had uploaded a few photos for the blog and something seemed very wrong:

I assure you, David Hasselhoff was not standing in our kitchen for these photos.

Ever the resourceful one, Daddy googled the potential source:  Google!  Turns out the citizens were photobombed as part of Google's 2014 April Fools' Day prank.  Daddy started laughing hysterically. He thought it was great, especially because the citizens have no idea what a photobomb is. And me?  I didn't even realize what date it was.

So congratulations to the citizens!  They unwittingly participated in a massively huge pop culture event which years from now will seem hopelessly quaint to them.

Chocolate

Chocolate and cookies are a common theme when we visit Grandma and Papa.  Although there's no sign of the cookie in this photo, Ashley's face is covered with the evidence of a newly disappeared black and white cookie.

What cookie?  I don't see a cookie.  Can I have a cookie please?

Smoothie Operators

The A-Team hit the kitchen again, this time to help MLM make a smoothie.  What a helpful team!

But that's not all:  they also posed for a post-blending photo shoot!

Hat Heyday

A few weeks ago MLD picked up a new winter hat (for next season, we hope!).  For the toddlers it was love at first sight.  Ashley was so taken with this hat that MLD never has a chance to wear it.  What's a mom to do?  Buy two more hats.  Sigh.  

Good news!  MLD's hat doesn't have the fringes.  Whew!

Giddyap!

First known use of the word "giddyap"?  

1897     (according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary)

How many times was this word used by the Citizen Riders prior to this shot?  

Roughly 1,000,000!     (give or take a few hundred...)

Dessert with Cousins

We took a last minute trip to NY this past weekend to help celebrate an important milestone in the local USY division.  The A-team happily tagged along, knowing that this was waiting for them:

Yup!  Ice cream and cousins!