Back from vacation

Yes, we are back from vacation. One day early.

We left on Wednesday after Natalie's 5 year-old doctor's appointment. She did great at the appointment (43 1/2" tall, 42 pounds) and had three shots :-( which she (understandably) did not like at all. Then we headed north. It took us 2 hours to get to Baltimore. :-( So we pulled in to my parents' house at 3:15 am Thursday morning.

Thursday we went to the Whaling Museum and to Seamen's Bethel. Apparently some sort of "police incident" occured either Wednesday or Thursday as the volunteers were talking about it and lots of police cruisers/officers were right outside the Whaling Museum. Thankfully we saw nothing else about it.

I have to say that I am glad that we no longer live in New Bedford. The city has taken a dramatic downturn.

Later that afternoon we celebrated DH's mom's birthday (age 21 -- because Kenny Curtis says that all moms are 21 years old) at Uncle D's house.

On Friday the weather was quite rainy and we decided to go on the Cape Cod Railroad -- what a great time we had! Really, it was far better than I expected and the two Thomas fans in our household really loved it. HIGHLY recommended!

On Saturday was The Wedding -- so we got the kids all cleaned up and lookng nice for that. Nicholas managed to walk 20 feet down the aisle before running to me. :-) Natalie did great, though -- she was the "leader" and had great listening ears.

Sunday we spent a good part of the day at Uncle D's house and then went out to dinner to celebrate my mother's 21st (ahem!) birthday.

On Monday we left Massachusetts at 6:15 am -- we did a stopover in Philadelphia so we could visit the Please Touch Museum, our favorite museum anywhere. Thanks to traffic and a requisite stop to Campo's Deli for a cheesesteak, we decided to visit the museum on Tuesday morning. This was a great idea as we spent close to 3 hours at the museum instead of their suggested" allow" time of 90 minutes.

So we got back home to Virginia yesterday around 4 p.m., which let us get the car unpacked in time for Natalie's soccer practice at 5:30 pm.

Oh, the one day early part? DH has a 2nd interview for a job this afternoon. "Hire Him" vibes are most appreciated.

Will post pictures soon -- we're off to the dr's for Natalie to get a TB test and then we are off to Train Day at a local toy store.

9/10/2006 ETA: Here's the one picture from H's wedding where Natalie is not frowning and Nicholas is actually in the picture:

Police helicopters

Yes, the fascination of the weekend was police helicopters.

We went to the local police station open house on Saturday and the "coolest" thing, per Natalie and Nicholas, was the police helicopter. They got to see inside and -- while we were waiting in line for a pony ride -- they got to see it take off, with siren blaring. "Very very cool", said Nicholas.

We spent three hours at the open house. Compared to last year's open house (where we spent a short time AND had an injury on the moon bouce) it was amazing. Both kids had a ball. Thank you, Fairfax County Police Department!

Graduation party

Today we had a party for all the soon-to-be-Kindergarteners at Natalie's pre-school. Natalie had a great time. I left early so I could pick up Nicholas and get out of there. This week has been "challenging" and I was just tired and bordering on a migraine.

So it's done. How bad is it that I went to my daughter's graduation party and all I feel is that it's great to have something checked off the To Do list?

I need a vacation. And some sleep. And a day of nothing to do with no watches and clocks to live by.

*sigh*

Getting ready for Kindergarten

We are slowly but surely getting ready for Kindergarten.

We have all the school supplies. The school supply lists for the school say that it is expected to last half the year. So we bought more than double of everything -- just in case. (And how a Kindergartener can go though 18 glue sticks in half a year is beyond me!)

We have two backpacks -- because Mom wasn't happy with the size of the "junior backpack" recommended by the online retailers, especially when other parents said the backpacks have to hold all the "winter gear" inside. So now we have two monogrammed lime green backpacks -- one junior size and one regular size. And a lunch box to match.

We have clothes. Oh, do we have clothes! All have been "approved" by Natalie. And none look "trashy". (Have you SEEN some of the clothes they have for FIVE year olds? Sheesh!)

We have four pairs of shoes -- one pair of dress shoes, one pair of tennis shoes, and two pair of "every day" shoes.

We have been to the dentist. Great teeth, no cavities, and Natalie did a great job at the cleaning appointment. And so did Nicholas, since he went at the same time for his first dentist visit. He even had his teeth flossed!

Next up is the "good-bye to pre-school" party on Friday. I'm helping with that. Natalie's official last day in Tuesday, one week from today.

Then next week is the five-year-old check-up at the doctor (and shots! :-( ) and getting the form filled out for school.

I can't believe she is going to Kindergarten!

Happy 5th Birthday, my angel!

Happy birthday Natalie!

5 years ago today you turned my entire world upside down. Thank you for being here, my angel!

We survived the 5th birthday party

Yes, we survived! 20 children and 20 adults in the heat at Lake Accotink.

I managed to get there early enough (10:15 am) to get a "close" parking spot and got most everything setup by myself while watching two children. In the meantime, DH picked up the balloon order and the cake. The pizzas arrived on time (12:15 pm) , the candles would not light with the matches (or the slight breeze) but we sang Happy Birthday anyway. Then it was time for some miniature golf and a ride on the carousel. The kids loved the pinata (a pull-type pinata -- no "whacking" Curious George!) and I tossed a lot of candy around for the little ones who don't like the "squish effect" of kids diving for candy from the pinata. At 2 pm it was time for our boat ride on Lake Accotink, where Natalie got to drive the boat! It was really hot (95+ degrees) so we shortened the boat ride to 30 minutes and head back to our picnic spot (under tents) to give out goody bags and say "thanks for coming".

DH and I cleaned up quickly and we were all home by 3:45 pm. Nicholas fell asleep on the (short) ride home and napped until 5:15 pm. Natalie had no nap and was a wreck by the early evening -- she was SO tired and just outright wired.

As she said early on in the party, "No more outside birthday parties for me!"

9/10/06 ETA: Proof that Nicholas got into the cake early on in the party: