National Zoo

We took the kids to Washington DC for a mini-break in May. We stayed in an apartment in Uncle Peter and Aunt Andrea's apartment building - it was nice to have so much space to stretch out. We had a "pizza party" on our first night in town and relaxed in our new home-away-from-home...

Sean told me that this was the "most beeee-youtiful" clock he'd ever seen!

The next morning we had bagels and fruit while we got ready to go to the ZOO!

Oh boy, the kids were really excited to take a train and get to the zoo to see all sorts of animals! BUT by the time we got to the zoo's gates...

...both kids were asleep!

After a little while, the babies woke up and after eating a little lunch, it was time to see the animals!

 

Panda bears! Clare was so excited to show the pandas her new lunch bag - decorated with a panda! 

The kids were excited to see elephants - since the Philly zoo does not have elephants, we missed out on watching these guys last year.  Sean thought seeing the elephants pooping was hilarious and yet slightly horrifying - oh, to be a four-year-old boy!

Sean had so much fun running around the meerkats' glass - literally!  It was hard to tell if Sean was running after the meerkat or if it was the other way around.

Sill kids!

And a family shot with a sleeping Clare :-)

Thanks for the pictures, Uncle Peter!

Four Year Well Visit

We took Seanybear for his four year well visit on Tuesday!  Not only did he get his annual physical, but he got a hearing and vision test, as well.  He passed those with flying colors and was cool and calm while getting his blood pressure taken, despite the "pinchy" feeling the cuff gave him.

Sean did great during the exam and the doctor declared him to be in good health and hitting all his milestones.  The doctor was especially impressed with Sean's ability to stand on one foot. 
One of the most peculiar things about the exam was that Sean had to put on a gown. He fussed with it a lot at first, but then he seemed to get used to it.

Poor Seany got two shots - his last MMR shot and his last dose of the chickenpox vaccine.  At least he got a couple of cool Bugs Bunny bandages!

Sean's stats at four:
Height:  41 inches (61st percentile) (3 inches more than last year)
Weight: 40lbs 2 oz (80th percentile) (5lbs more than last year)

Even his feet look healthy :-)

Summer's here

Yay summer! We've had a couple of hot weekends so far and we've been keeping cool by playing in the sprinklers...

 

... and at the water table:

We've visited the Farmer's El a couple times and taken time to enjoy some snacks while listening to music and shopping for veggies:

The kids have really enjoyed playing at the brand new playground that opened up near our house:



Seanybear's been playing Kiddie Soccer on Sunday afternoons and this past Sunday was his last day.  He spent the season running in races and playing skill games while learning how to use his listening ears and play games closely with other kids.

Since it was the last day, the coach called up each kid individually for a chance to score a spectacular goal and receive a shiny medal!

 

Afterwards, we went out for a special treat - water ice!

Stormy Morning

Seany was sent home with a fever yesterday - he has strep throat! So he stayed home today and we kept Clare home, too.  The morning started out pretty normal - chores, toys, a little Disney Junior, and breakfast:

Then at about 10am, Sean asked me if it was going to be bedtime soon.  I looked out the window and saw what prompted his question - a big storm was coming our way and it was quickly getting dark outside.

We stayed at the windows watching the storm pass over our house while chatting about thunder, lightning and rain. 

And here's the rain!  This was my view of the rain ...

... and here is what the kids could see:

So the kids went back to playing - Sean played with his trucks:

And Clare played with VHS tapes:

After the rain ended, it turned out to be a pretty nice day.  We took it easy, though since Sean was still a little tired and Clare seems to be catching a cold, too.  We kept busy until lunchtime baking a batch of cookies, playing with play dough, coloring, and playing "peeky-boo!" under the kitchen table.

Seanybear seemed much better this evening and hopefully both kids will have a good day at  school tomorrow :-)

Pudding Faces

Sean made the pudding himself - Mommy only had to measure the milk.  The kids really enjoyed it:

Bedtime in summer

The kids never believe me these days when I say it's time for bed - even after an extra-long bath and reading 3 or 4 books- if the sun is up, it can't possibly be bedtime! Sean almost always says, "but the sun's still awake!"(he's right) and he takes about 6 or 7 trips to the potty before he settles down just after sunset at about 9pm. 

Clare is starting to catch on - she sees these potty breaks as a way to delay bedtime and she's ready to take full advantage.  And it's not like we can refuse her - now that she's starting get into potty training, she'll call out from her crib, "Mommy! Mommmmmy! Mommmeeeeeee! I go potty!" And Sean, the very helpful brother, will call out, "Mommy! Clare has to go potty!  She has to go NOW! Mommy!" And then we hear Clare chime in, "I go potty, too!" 

So everybody gets an extra trip to the potty and of course their sippy cups are refilled and sometime after sunset - 9pm - it gets quiet. :-)

Dry-bing

Sean had soccer practice yesterday morning - it was a very hot and very sunny morning! While Seany was on the field, Clare wandered around on the sidelines and cheered him on. But the breeze kept blowing off her hat! Even though we'd rubbed sunscreen on her from head to toe, I was nervous about Clare getting sunburn so I asked if she wanted to sit in the car for a little while to read books ... she said, "No - I do dry-bing!" So, into the driver's seat she went:

Locking the doors

Seatbelt? I do seatbelt!

I read this book? (She picked a good one - it's the mini car manual)

 

 

Yay! Seany all done? Yay Seany!