First day of school!

There is a home-based montessori program just a few miles from our home. We've been interested in getting Caroline into it for awhile now and we took the plunge in April. She's going one day a week until June and starting in June, she'll go three days a week 8:30-3:30. Despite a mishap on her second day of school (ever) (as will be recounted in another post yet), she LOVES it. We only have a vague idea what she does when she's there. Mostly... she plays.... We know she plays outdoors a lot while she's there because she comes home utterly filthy (and content). We hope she's making friends, but we really have no idea. She's started talking a fair bit about Zoe, and there is a little girl named Zoe there... so... perhaps a friend. The first day we tried all sorts of strategies to get her to talk about her day... every strategy resulted in "I dunno." Sigh. Anyhow... she's happy. And we're happy she's happy.

I braided her hair for the special day. Just two half braids... really liked the results.



Looking coy shortly before leaving.


The requisite front porch pics. Twas a rainy day. She was ready. Blanket draped across her backpack for nap time after lunch.





So sweet... walking the beam before departing...



And here's the best shot of the school that I could get with the cell from the car...


And here she is minutes after being dropped off... I didn't even say goodbye. She was too absorbed and I didn't want to upset her. I was worried that that would create some sort of abandonment issues, but Kev assured me that he had said "See ya later," before she ran off. The teacher shared that it dawned on her at some point that we had left and she looked concerned for a moment, but quickly shrugged it off.



Wow. School.

A Visit from Aunt Khaki!

We were blessed to have a weekend visit from Aunt Khaki early in April. Perhaps you've seen some of the pics from this visit on facebook. Here are a few more.

Khaki arrived on Saturday afternoon, just before our pastor's wedding. So Aunt Khaki and Caroline had some quality reconnection time, coloring with chalk on the front porch, and I'm sure plenty of other things... including looking at pictures on Khaki's phone, that was a favorite pass time while she was here! I had no idea Caroline knew how to work a touch screen until she took Khaki's iPhone and starting sliding pics around like a champ! Caroline took maybe 5 minutes to warm up to Khaki, max, in the car on the way home from the airport.

We went to the zoo Sunday morning before church. Caroline was especially colorful that day. Aunt Khaki inspires such brilliant color!









At church on Sunday, the guest preacher invited all married couples present to renew our wedding vows. Aunt Khaki posted a pic of that.

We had a bonfire Sunday night with some friends. No pics taken. Twas lovely.

Monday Aunt Khaki, Caroline, and I went to Monkey's Treehouse and the Loveless Cafe.
Aunt Khaki was great help with climbing.




And Caroline also did a fair bit of playing on her own....



Aunt Khaki and Caroline really enjoyed the biscuits at the Loveless Cafe.




We didn't take enough pics. My favorite pic from the visit is one I think I need permission before I post, so this will suffice for now. WE LOVE AUNT KHAKI! We're SO grateful you came!

Gardening Fun

We put in a garden for the second time ever this year. We're working with good friends Sam, Ethan, and Fiona on this. Here are just a few shots from the work thus far this spring. The plot was a MESS when we first began... you should see it now! Must. take. more. pics.

Daddy's Birthday

Most of these pics don't have daddy in them because we gave him the day to himself for his birthday. We met up for dinner before he went to the symphony (and hence the last pic), but C and I spent most of the day at the zoo with Klem-Mari who took several of these pics. Klem is a colleague of mine and it was the day after her birthday. She had never been to the zoo and was absolutely delighted with it!







We spent a fair bit of time in the play area of the zoo and on this day Caroline decided she wanted to run around the raised seats in the toddler area, and she would actually ask mommies and daddies to move when they were in her way... yeah... we worked to redirect that pretty quickly.




Unfortunately the cake pictures from the night before aren't worth sharing, but this cozy moment at dinner is fabulous!


We love daddy!

So much to catch up on...

Hello? Anyone out there? Please forgive the long silence. I have now completed my coursework! Woohoo! And we're taking a brief break as a family before I begin my intense exam prep. Why don't I start with some very recent pics from this mini-vacation and then I'll put up many more photos over the next week from the last few months?

So, we are VERY grateful to Debbie, Mamie's best friend, who is hosting us on her houseboat for a long weekend. This is the houseboat on which Kevin and I honeymooned nearly 9 years ago! We didn't make use of the playground near the marina 9 years ago, but then and now we found and find this to be a relaxing place. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU DEBBIE!

Just arriving on the dock... not sure where she is or what she thinks...

Wearing the jacket she must wear while outside the boat and coloring with crayons and paper from Debbie!

Sliding fun...




Swinging fun...










A few more days... more pics sure to follow from this weekend... more pics and text definitely to follow from the last two months... something is better than nothing, right?