Earth Day, Construction Watching, Child Labor, and the 1st Ice Cream Cones

Mighty Mouse

The kids enjoyed last weekend in Council Bluffs, especially playing with their grandparents and cousins. They spent a lot of time running up and down the sidewalk, which with Owen dressed as Mighty Mouse I could have watched for days. That costume did not come off all weekend. I think every 3-yr old boy should wear mini-shorts and a tail.

Outer Space and Evelyn's Bedtime Routine

I arrived home in the midst of Ken's usual bedtime routine with Evelyn last night. And since I'm not always home for this, I was enlightened to see how it works. I guess I was under the assumption he put her pajamas on quietly to calm her down...but no, there is instead a tickle fest and then a fascinating book about bugs.





Nora has been learning about outer space at preschool. I guess when I became a parent I never thought of how to explain outer space to a 2 and 4 year old. Any suggestions?
Ken flew on a small plane for work the other day and was excited to tell Nora about it. She kept asking how high he went and was painfully unimpressed with the trip when she learned he didn't make it to outer space. It was almost as disappointing for Ken as when he couldn't get the kite in the air at the park.

Rocks, trees, and millipedes

Spring has sprung complete with a pink tree in our yard! We love it! And Owen is in the background putting rocks, chalk, leaves, and any other (hopefully) nonliving object down the gutter. The joys. And don't think that Nora doesn't play too.

Later on in the day...a picnic in the woods. Lots of running, hide and seek while in direct line of vision, and leaf eating(for Evelyn). Ken says it's what babies should do. Our friend Chris says its how babies learn their tree species. I say pick her up.


On our second picnic of the weekend, just as we were just finishing supper Nora screamed "I SEE BUGS!!!! She and Owen then proceeded to overturn at least 15 logs to see what they could see. Nora especially enjoyed holding the millipedes.

Easter

Easter morning is no exception to the baby's arm being almost pulled out of socket. And from the look on her face, well, she's used to it! It was a beautiful morning.
Nora thought she and Evelyn looked like fairies. Magic fairies, that is.





The Easter Bunny found us at the Kath's house and scandalous as it may be...it was the night before Easter! It was quite the hunt, and we hope there are no eggs left in the gutters for the animals.

Pictures we should put on a blog

Maybe the first picture on our blog shoudn't be a nude one of our son...but, oh well. Here it is. This is a picture from a few months ago that I thought would be fun to put on a blog (but we didn't have one. So I'm adding it to the "pictures we should put on a blog" location to get us a bit caught up. This is coloring at its best.







Here is where I found Evelyn one afternoon, baking bread with Ken. This is a couple of months ago as well, so maybe it is safe? If she falls off the counter, at least she's had some wheat germ beforehand.










Do people in other states ride bikes in the snow? Builds character if you ask me. I guess Nora thinks if her dad can do it...why can't she? Let's hope she doesn't remember that when it comes to dead animals and team sports.

Here we go...

Okay, so I've been thinking about doing this for awhile....so here goes! I have no idea what I'm doing, but I thought it would be fun to create a little spot for pictures and stories of the kids and what they are up to for friends and family that are close in our hearts-but not by the map. And since my little brother Dave was always the cutest in our family, the best finder in the house (great trick for the youngest to have everything found for you), and the best writer, I thought I'd ask him for a title. Everyone seems to like it, so welcome to 'Riding the Graeve Train'....