Strolling Along

Here she comes...

And...there she goes.

Little Bear, Stud Athlete

Nothing happy about this kid. : )

My little slugger, humbly surveying his home runs.

Have You Driven a Ford Lately?

On Saturday afternoon, we went to the tiny little town of Clifton, for the sole reason that Clifton has an old, stationary caboose--"a REAL caboose, Mommy!"--next to the tracks for the kids to play on. A big hit.

Even better, we discovered an amazing playground. With a play train, an awesome car (this one's for you, Wenzel family)...

...and best of all, a gazebo. You know, so we could re-enact the "You Are Sixteen, Going on Seventeen" scene from The Sound of Music.

Cody and I did the whole duet, complete with the part where Rolf whirls Liesl around as she steps lightly over the benches lining the inside of the gazebo. But, per his direction: "Mom. YOU be Rolf. I will be Liesl!"

An Order of Sliders

Cordelia and I had a rare hour to ourselves this afternoon, during which she went up and down the slide, over and over, over and over, until she finally collapsed. She is such a strong little scamp -- she finally stopped trying to go up the slide on her knees and used her feet. Every time she did it, she giggled more, then clapped proudly for herself.

Whee! (After a few tries, she could scale the slide in under 5 seconds. The other day I turned around and she was on top of the table. Clearly, she will be the reason for any future emergency room visits.)

Cody Takes BP

This is longer than most, about 2 minutes, but worth it, I think.

Cody only goes about .300 on the first set, but then he switches to a lighter bat and hits closer to .450.

He has center-field power already. I'm just saying.

Good Hair Day

Jesus, The Tank Engine

Cody's latest thing is singing the Litany of the Saints in bed just before sleep. He starts and finishes (you cannot even imagine how sweet it is to hear him start: "Holy Mary, Mudder of Go-od, pray for us!") and does a few of his favorites (St. Matthew, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Monica, and now-Blessed John Paul). I fill in the middle part, and mix it up each night depending on the day (St. Jude, for example, when it's been a particularly futile-feeling day). Last night I threw in St. Thomas. Cody paused in his singing and said, "Who was St. Thomas?"

Me: I'll tell you all about him tomorrow, buddy. But he was one of Jesus's very good buddies.

Cody: But...isn't Thomas a train?

Me: What do you mean, sweetie?

Cody: Was Jesus best buddies with Thomas the Tank Engine?

Me: Oh. Um. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

To creep you out a little bit, it turns out there's a website for everything. Because when you google "Jesus" and "train" here's a sampling. And these are some of the LESS weird things that come up.

I love Jesus and everything. But come on.

Yes, she's there too. Why? Who could say.

UPDATE: Last night, as we were singing, Cody earnestly rang out, "Saint Thomas the Tra-ain, pray for us!" I now never, ever want to set him straight. It is too precious.

Little Red, Riding

Working for the Weekend

Happy Birthday, JVL! The kids each chose a superhero-themed card, each of which was huge, played music, and cost about $6. : ) JVL only got to open them briefly before they were repurposed as radios. Much dancing ensued (Cordelia really likes to wiggle to the Batman theme).

Other than that, we did a lot of outside work and play. Regarding the below, I said to Cody, "Where are you going with your bat?" (before he was in the backpack). His deadly serious reply: "This is not a bat, Mom. It is an emergency backup hedgetrimmer."

What could possibly go wrong?

Cordelia was not exempt from yard work. But when I turned around for 10 seconds to grab the camera, she had scaled the picnic table.

But see the fruits of our labor!

Reason #467,893,305 Why I Love My Husband

Me: Um, what on earth is he doing?

JVL: He asked if he could run around in the rain. I couldn't think of a reason to say no.

Grandma Robbie! Grandpa Tom! OMG!

This weekend brought the most amazing blessing and surprise: a visit from Grandma Robbie and Grandpa Tom! You can't even IMAGINE how much fun it was. Daddy and Grandpa Tom went to some kind of race. They apparently had a blast, but they missed the real fun: Grandma Robbie. We talked and talked and played and played. We raced wagons and giggled and dug in the sand and found acorn hats in my backyard! We watched The Sound of Music and had lunch at Panera and read books and, oh, it was just the best. We are so lucky to have such kind, patient, generous, and funny surrogate grandparents. I mean, really funny!

We miss you so much...but we are so happy you came for a visit! We love you!