March and April 2011

We celebrated Carson's fourth birthday last month! Grandad joined us for the birthday party which was a treat for Carson (the more men the better). The party featured Batman on the birthday cake and Star Wars on the table setup, does it get any better for a 4-year old? Carson's gifts were mainly Legos, specifically the new Ninja Legos. Carson has been asking for Ninja Legos for several months and was thrilled to see them in person (instead of in the Lego catalog). I don't know what it is about Ninja's that attracts little boys, but Carson is hooked. He even got a Ninja costume and his very own Ninja sword (on his back in picture below).

Grandad realizes how complicated Legos have become since his children played with them. This instruction manual looks more like Raytheon's technical documentation!

Carson in his Ninja costume and Rachel in a princess dress and blanket (her shawl).

Rachel was very happy to receive a gift of Polly Pocket dolls at Carson's birthday party - here she is showing them off.

The Batman cake did not last long once it was in front of Carson. He hardly finished blowing out the candles before picking up each piece on the cake and licking the frosting off of it. First the Batman motorcycle, then the Batcave, then the candles.

Other happenings in April - the kids are both playing tee ball this spring! Here they are on opening day with Daddy.

Shining Star Preschool hosted their annual art show last weekend where we got to see some great artwork done by the kids. Below is Rachel next to her self-portrait! And Carson is standing below one of his paintings.

We started our garden last weekend since we finally had a reprieve from the rain. Rachel and Carson were a big help clearing out old weeds and planting the lettuce.

And finally, had to share this adorable mask that Carson made at preschool.

Spring 2011

Rachel and Carson had a winter break from preschool in February and we went to a Winter Carnival held at the navy base nearby. The highlight of the day was the 'bouncies'. This was the first time Carson was interested in jumping in. He started out very cautious but soon discovered how high he could jump and was having lots of fun. We also did some crafts and had a chance to pet some bunnies.










Each year there is a March Into Reading program for kids at a nearby college and this year we tried it out. The kids really enjoyed the crafts - there were two rooms full of different crafts they could jump into and try out. Here they are creating a compost bin craft and the cotton balls in the second picture are for a sheep. Below that are pictures of the small petting zoo that was set up outside. There were a handful of baby goats in the petting zoo and the kids loved petting and feeding the adorable goats.
















Things are finally starting to thaw here after a very cold winter. We have even had a few days warm enough to visit our favorite park!

Last weekend we ventured into Boston for a visit to the Children's Museum. The kids had fun climbing on the rock wall and Rachel made some mammoth bubbles in the bubble room! Carson loved the tools section and spent almost an hour trying every single tool. Definitely a fun day.

Winter 2011

It has been a snowy winter here on the east coast - we certainly have had our fair share of blizzards and cold weather. This feels like the first year that both Rachel and Carson are old enough to get out and play in the snow without being overwhelmed by it (its only up to their knees instead of their thighs). We found a great sledding place nearby which the kids just love.

In January we attended the annual Princess & Pirates Brunch at the navy base nearby. This is the second year we have been and Rachel was just as excited to see all the princesses. She was even more brave this year and wanted to have her picture taken with each princess. Carson hardly remembers last year, but this year he was very excited to dress like a pirate and to see all the pirates at the brunch. He even got to 'shake hooks' with Captain Hook!

Christmas 2010

This year the whole family managed to gather in New England so we could spend the holiday together. Not an easy feat for a family as spread out as ours - all parties had at least a full day of travel, some had two days of travel (with a baby!). But it proved to be a wonderful week and a great time to visit with relatives we haven't seen for a long time.

Rachel and Carson were very excited for Christmas morning and had lots of fun opening all their toys.






The kids were very eager to play with their aunts, uncles, grandparents and their new cousin Alexis!

What a happy baby (and she even smiles for the camera)!

The whole gang.

November 2010

Here in New England the month of November brought crisp, cool days and plenty of sunshine - great leaf jumping weather!

A friend gave me the idea to take photos of the kids artwork so I am including two paintings. The first is Rachel's painting of a turkey and the second is Carson's red painting. His artwork tends to be more abstract and he likes to stick to one color. Rachel pressed him to tell her what he painted, "What is it Carson? Is it a house, a firetruck...". Carson replied, "Its a firetruck!" Rachel's response was, "Yesterday you told me it was a tree!".

We decided to have Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant this year since we had a small crowd and a good restaurant nearby. It was delicious and so nice to have no dishes to clean up afterward! The first picture below was taken by Rachel, the second picture was taken by Carson. Not bad!

The kids each made a Thanksgiving hat at preschool. Rachel's is a pilgrim hat and Carson has a turkey on his head!

The Sunday after Thanksgiving Grandma and I took Rachel to see her first ballet, The Nutcracker. Hopefully it will provide some inspiration for her in her own ballet class. And it was fun for the girls to get all dressed up ("fancy", as Rachel would say).

More recently we took a trip to the Providence Children's Museum which the kids really enjoyed. The highlight for Carson was the construction section - he even got to ride his own steam roller! Rachel loves to play house and shop at the kids grocery store. And they both loved the water table.