Early May - Clara & Simone

One of the (many) wonderful things about Clara's daycare is the lovely photos she takes. The with Clara in stripes are hers. The ones with Simone are from Simone's mom. (photos from early may, posted june 26)

Friday evening

Friday was the longest Friday night of the year. We enjoyed the lovely weather, and luscious back yard.

Photos: Our peas; Pile 'o Girls (Clara on Molly on Sofi); more pile; Hanging out the laundry; Clara & Laundry; Molly; Molly; Molly; Molly.

Lego Sculpture

Molly makes some awesome lego sculptures. Here's one she made in May - if I recall correctly it's an ice cream truck. Each one has a great story to go with it. Sometimes she presents them as gifts to a specific parent. Sometimes she wants them displayed in a specific spot. Recently there's been a lot of symmetry - both in the pieces she chooses and the colors.

Interestingly, she hasn't been as inclined to do "sculptures" with the little (big kid) legos. I'm not sure if it's because we still keep them up on the table (away from Clara), or because they came with instructions on how to build specific things and she wants to follow the instructions (she's one for following instructions, that girl).

Clara & Nana

Harvest

Fun in the garden this evening: We pulled up some beets (Molly's been keeping an eye on them and determined that these three were "HUGE"! and ready to harvest); Jane (the hen) gave us an egg; we got picked lots of yummy snap-peas (that's Clara's hand reaching in to grab one - she couldn't stand to wait!); shared a strawberry (not pictured); and picked some flowers to put on the breakfast table. Not bad for some very distracted gardening.

Preschool Campout

We just got back from a fabulous camping trip with the preschool. This year we were lucky enough to go for two days. The setup is fantastic: a big field surrounded by the preschool families. This was Clara's first time camping since she became a little kid/toddler. She seemed to enjoy herself.

The only tough time was the first night when we had some, um, difficulties going to sleep. Clara would fall asleep, only to be awoken by Molly who was way too antsy to settle in. So Clara would scream, Molly would shout, and it then Clara wouldn't go back to sleep unless we were right there with her. We all finally went to sleep together at about 10:30. Phew!

The second night went much smoother. Zach lay down with Clara and I went for a nice walk with Molly. Then Molly & I made tea and watched the stars. She fell asleep rocking on my lap in the Crazy Creek chair. It was incredibly sweet.

The other wonderful thing about the preschool campout is that all the kids know eachother. It's like a huge playdate for them. I loved watching the roaming packs of kids having awesome adventures with whatever they found. There was also a little playground, but after a few minutes climbing and sliding the kids gravitated towards the sand and back to the field.

Pictures: (all of these can be seen in "slideshow" mode at the Picassa website) Molly & Clara help set up the tent with Sofi; Molly & Clara have fun in the tent; Zach & Clara - awake; Zach & Clara - asleep the next morning; Molly asleep; Molly & Clara at the slide; Clara; Clara, Rylyn, & Molly picnic; Sofi & Clara; Clara with a "hat"; Clara on the "phone" ("Daddy Hi!"); Clara & the bread; Clara, bread, & Tegan; Clara, bread, Tegan, & Arthur; Molly; Molly; Molly; Clara; Molly; Molly & her feet; Clara eats dinner; Sofi & Clara eat dinner; Clara cleans up; Molly.

Middle of May

some pictures I found that I had meant to post a while back. These were mostly taken in the middle of May, before and after the big summer hair chop of '09.

Pictures: Molly, Clara, & Sofi eat breakfast; Clara; Zach; Clara; Clara; Molly, Clara, & Clucky with the girls who live behind us; Clara sits on the potty (for fun) and nurses her "baby"; Uncle Seth reads with Molly.