Weekend

The Sooy kids had FOUR late nights in a row, starting off with Thursday - a screening of "Big Hero 6" outdoors at a local farm:

Friday after camp, we spent some time playing Pokemon and baking before watching "Night at the Museum" 3 for our traditional Friday night movie night...

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Delsea Drive-In to see a double-feature: "The Minion Movie" and "Inside Out"!  Coloring in the trunk to pass the time before the first movie starts:

The kids even made a friend and threw a football and played games under the screen before the sun went down...

Finally, the movie started!  Both kids stayed awake for both movies and we got home super-late.  Sean slept in the next morning but Clare was up pretty early because she was very excited...

...to go to a birthday party for two of her best friends.  The party was at a tumbling party at a gym - Clare had a blast tumbling, balancing, jumping, and swinging!

 

The highlight of the party was when Elsa came for cake and cookies!

As Clare and I drove back to the boys, we kept spotting these signs (for a family reunion?) around town:

Which was a perfect segue to our next activity - watching the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final at the Linc in Philly:

"Boo Eagles!"

"Go Jamaica!"  "Go Mexico!"

 Even Miss Picklehead Bun-Bun was getting into the game:

Ending the night with Rita's before heading out to the car.

Six years old

Well, Sean Sooy - you are six years old!  How did we get here?  How did it happen so quickly?  

At six:

-You can read - and quite well!  At bedtime, you prefer to be read to but sometimes I can get you to read a short book to me and Clare.

-You can write pretty well, too.  You brought home a collection of journals that you've written over the past school year and they are so neat to read through and see your progress.

-You are such a sweet boy.  I know I'm biased but your teacher has said so and so have your friends' mothers. 

-It's so neat to sit and talk with you - you come up with the most clever explanations for things and tell the best stories.

-You're wrapping up Kindergarten in three weeks and tomorrow you're going to visit a first-grade classroom for the morning to learn about being a first-grader.

-You're looking forward to going to camp this summer - swimming, playing outside, and going on field trips.

-You are desperate to lose a tooth!  Your teacher keeps a chart in her classroom of who has lost teeth and you keep me regularly updated on any new additions to the chart :-) Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any of your teeth are going anywhere anytime soon but we'll see...

-Not much has changed with your food preferences - your favorite dinner is a quesadilla and fruit (preferrably blueberries, strawberries, or cantaloupe), washed down with some almond milk.

-You love to play Legos, Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, and playing outside.  You also are getting into videogames.

-You are so good to your sister - I know she presses your buttons and can get under your skin but you are always up for playing with Clare and hanging out with Clare.

We'll go to your six year well visit in June, so we'll get your stats then.  For now, here is your picture with Winnie the Pooh:

Four Years Old

Baby Clare, you are FOUR years old!  You are so happy that you've turned four and you can't wait until you turn five already...

At four:

-you've learned to identify and sound out the letters of the alphabet

-you can write your own name by yourself (with you left hand, of course)

-you can count up to at least thirty and you can do simple math

-your moods change quickly and the highs are high and the lows are very low

-you have too many favorite foods to list but I'll try:  any fruit (not pears), pizza, clams, pancakes, ice cream, cupcakes, and spaghetti with meatballs 

-you are a very brave girl - you love to run fast, climb high, and aren't afraid to stumble

-you are always trying so hard to "catch up" to Sean - you often talk about what you'll do when you grow up and "become bigger than Sean"

-you love to go to swimming lessons and are looking forward to playing "town soccer" in the fall

-your favorite colors are pink and purple

-you love to go to the library and pick out books about Pinkalicious, Dora the Explorer, Fancy Nancy, and non-fiction such as the life cycle of an apple seed

-you always look forward to movie night and like to watch the "Despicable Me" movies, anything Disney or Pixar, "How to Train Your Dragon," and lately, "Guardians of the Galaxy"

-you love to dress up and have painted nails, dresses, and ruffles but then you'll jump into a muddy puddle without a second thought to all those things :-)

At your four year well visit, you measured at 42 inches tall and weighed in at 43 pounds - that puts you well into the 90+ percentile for your age... I still get compliments on my "cute twins" when strangers see you and your brother together.

And here is your photo with Pooh bear, you silly, sweet, strong girl:

Birthday BBQ

We had our annual birthday barbecue for the kids' birthdays last Saturday.  Clare was up bright and early Saturday morning to help me make Sean's birthday cake.  Once the cake was baked and the boys went to Sean's baseball game, we went to the Farmer's El to get a special element to the BBQ menu.  Clare was so giddy over the fact that it was "just the girls" at the Farmer's El!

We had a morning snack while admiring the pretty centerpiece:

The party got started at about 3 and kicked off with some baseball in the backyard:

 

I made sure to get photos with the birthday kids, even though I couldn't get them together:

And then it was time to eat!  First course was - clams!  This is what Clare made sure we went to the Farmer's El to get for the party :-)

After dinner, we played pinata - thanks to Aunt Alice!

And after the pinata, it was time for presents and cake!

This year, Sean requested a Ninja Turtles cake...

...and Clare wanted a Frozen cake!

The weather stayed nice for the whole party and I think everyone had a good time - celebrating our SIX and FOUR year old!

Birthday BBQ

We had a birthday BBQ with the families this weekend to celebrate the kids' birthdays. It's so nice now that the kids are older and they are such good little helpers. Their favorite party task was to help make rainbow fruit skewers:

We used strawberries, pineapples, green grapes, and blueberries to make the rainbows and marshmallows to make the clouds.  Sean was eager to sample the blueberries - California blueberries - and his immediate reaction was, "SOUR!"

After more food prep, cleaning, lunch, and naps, it was party time!

The birthday kids:

The kids had a great time, playing outside with each other, our neighbors' kids, and their baby toddler cousin...

Sean requested a cookie cake from Shoprite for his birthday cake (easy-peasy - I love him!)

And Clare requested this cake, which she saw on the label of the can of pink frosting we used for her school cupcakes.

I tried my best and Clare was pleased :-)

After "Happy Birthday" and cake and fruit, the kids were ready to open presents!  Afterwards, they played some more and then just as the last set of guests left, it started to rain - what good luck we had that the weather held off!

Happy Birthday!!