Friday Funday

The day after Sean's graduation, daycare was closed for a teacher in-service so the teachers could change over from school-mode to camp-mode.  Mommy took the kids out for a fancy breakfast of bagels and chocolate milk.

Clare was feeling much better after a quick visit to the doctor after Seany's graduation ceremony :-)

After breakfast, we took Seanybear to his five-year well visit.

Poor Sean got two shots and he was NOT happy about it.  Luckily, the prospect of a picnic perked him up a bit.  We drove to Fairmount Park in Philadelphia to have a picnic lunch. The kids enjoyed eating their sandwiches and fruit outside, and taking pictures of course!

"Cheese!"

"Take a picture of my ear!"

After the picnic, we went to Smith Memorial Playground.  This little nook of Fairmount Park has been a destination for Philadelphia-area families for over 100 years. Our first stop was the giant playhouse which was built specifically for kids five years old and under.

Inside the mansion was room after room of toys, toys, and more toys.  

The basement of the playhouse housed a driving track with tricycles and riding toys, plus a real working stoplight:

After the kids were done playing inside, we went outside to the grounds:

Sean got a kick out of this giant, tangly spiderweb jungle gym with a trampoline in the middle!

Both kids loved this spinning, cone-shaped jungle gym thing - thankfully there was a school field trip with lots of eager young chaperones to spin this thing so that I could continue to act as Mom-arazzi:

After a good long time on the spinning cone, the kids ran over to this see-saw:

And the kids' number-one favorite feature of the whole playground was the giant wooden slide!

Sean preferred going down on his belly:

Clare liked going on her bottom but after a couple of turns, she tried going on her belly and loved it!

I got a couple of videos of the kids going down the slide:

On the way out, the kids fed this little elephant coins to thank the playground for a wonderful day :-)

Class of 2014

Seanybear graduated from Pre-Kindergarten last Thursday! The warm, rainy weather didn't deter Sean's grandparents, great-grandparents, and Auntie Mary from coming out to watch him end his pre-school career.  And despite feeling all-around rotten (she had been sent home with a fever that day), Clare watched too. Wisely, the school rented a huge tent so we could enjoy the ceremony without getting soaked.

Before the children came out, the school's owner and principal, Mr. John, gave a speech recalling the "exit interviews" that he had with each of the students.  Here's the clip about the conversation he had with Sean:

He asked Sean what he wants to be when he grows up and Sean said he wants to be a baseball player, specifically a pitcher but he likes to hit, too.  Sean said that Mommy loves flowers and that her favorites are daffodils and clover (Yes, this is why we let clover take over our lawn).  Sean also said that he thinks Mr. John is about 100 years old (yikes!).

After the speech, Sean's class filed out of the building:

After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, Sean's class sang several songs...

...and then it was time to give out the diplomas!  Here's Sean receiving his diploma and shaking hands with Mr. John:

After returning to his seat, Sean immediately used his diploma as a spy glass, of course :-)

After the ceremony, it was time for the school picnic.  There was a lot of yummy food and of course, a cake!

Sean ran around with his buddies for most of the picnic.

Clare perked up a little when we brought her a plate with a hotdog and fruit... and cake, of course :-)

We tried to pin down the graduate for photos, but by this time it was sunny and warm again and he just didn't want to sit still.  At least we got a snap with Mom-Mom Jackie and Pop Pop Pop!

Congratulations, Sean!  Here's to a fun summer with our soon-to-be-Kindergartener!

Five

Seanybear, how are you FIVE years old already? Sometimes it feels like we just brought you home from the hospital but here you are, about to graduate from Pre-Kindergarten next week!

At five years old, you are a marvel.  You are funny, silly, sensitive, and smart as a whip.
-You are still our little storyteller and when you're not spinning tales, you are narrating every single thing you are doing.
-You are really into Legos, Star Wars, Star Wars Legos, Super Mario Brothers, reading, movies, and singing.
-You could look at books for hours and you can read dozens of "sight words" and can piece together simple phrases - you are well on your way to reading on your own!
-You like to practice writing and work in workbooks - you especially like maze books!
-You like to do arts and crafts at home and at school - you're always bringing home really neat projects from school and you go along with whatever craft Mommy whips up for you.
-You're an active little guy - when we play in the backyard, you want to play soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, hide-and-go-seek, and sidewalk chalk - all in rapid succession.
-You love Clare so much but she can really push your buttons! You are so patient with her but sometimes you need reminding that she's younger than you.  But it's really neat to listen to you chat to her after you've both been tucked in for the night.
-Your appetite is very simple. Besides, water ice, fruit, cereal, grilled cheese sandwiches, yogurt, hot dogs, french fries, and plain rice cakes are among your favorite foods.  Although you've recently developed a preference for plain almond milk, so we'll keep trying new foods with you, if you want to try them, of course :-)
-You have a very strict "no kissing" policy!!  You are okay with hugs but kisses are out of the question!  But that doesn't stop me from giving you tons of kisses after you're sleeping! hehehe
-We love you Seanybear and can't wait to see what this summer will bring!

Weekend

Weekend pictures - Farmer's El:

Short hair!

Good sharing!

Play-doh:

Water table:

Cooking clams:

Hide-and-seek:

Lunch with Pa-Pa:

Seany napped and Clare did not (it's usually the other way around):

Water table (again):

Shaving cream:

Movie time ("Turbo"):

Pretty pirate:

Happy Father's Day!