Church picnic, getting used to each other and going to the beach

It’s been almost a month since our “little” family has started living together full-time. By little, I mean me, Adam and four kids. Things appear to be going well.

We’re aware that there’s a honeymoon period at the beginning of every relationship. We’re hoping, of course, that it lasts indefinitely. Although, perhaps when the kids all start acting like siblings towards each other, that’ll be a good sign in it’s own way.

Last Sunday (the one before last, I guess), we went to the church picnic where Berry and Emma got their faces painted. Duncan didn’t want his face painted–until after he saw the girls’ faces and we were on our way home…

Duncan made this at summer school. Can you guess which cartoon character he is?

(I couldn’t. It’s Super Why.)

Here the monkeys are involved on one of their favorite activities: playing on the computer. They were playing a lemonade stand game and Berry decided to sit on Emma’s lap while they were waiting for the day to pass in the game to see how much lemonade they sold.

It’s much less mess than an actual lemonade stand.

On Sunday, we decided to go to the beach before summer was officially over, at Duncan’s behest. First, though, the kids had to form a rock band–well, the girls did, while the boys played on the computer.

I joined in on the mic and got Duncan going to at one point. It was fun. There is video proof on Adam’s website and YouTube.

Finally, we were ready to go and everyone climbed aboard the flowered minivan.

As soon as we got there, everyone leaped out and ran down to the ocean.

And I thought we were going to eat lunch first.

Instead, waves were jumped, caves were explored and cities were built on the shores of a trickle of water running down the beach. And my phone battery went dead so no more pictures were taken.

This week is back to school freak out week, where I learn about all the school supplies I haven’t yet purchased and scramble to get everything ready.

Photo-laden update (but not up-to-date)

We went to the beach yesterday and I had the apparently unrealistic fantasy of blogging from my phone during the drive. I didn’t get to it.

I did, however, manage to finish listening to the audio book I started in early August when I went to get the kids from Rochester. Jennifer Weiner’s Little Earthquakes. It’s the first complete book I’ve “read” in a long time.

I’d hoped to catch up on tale-telling for the past few weeks. Duncan’s 5-year well check up where he knew all about the blood pressure cuff from visiting an ambulance with Kevin…

…and how he didn’t make a squeak when he got 2 shots (containing about 8 vaccines, I think).

Then there was the mending of Berry’s princess dress…

…which she has taken to wearing at every possible moment. We quickly learned that you can’t wear dress up clothes to Montessori school.

The library, however, is fine.

Then there was their friend’s birthday party at a roller rink.
Berry loved it.

Duncan didn’t.

The first trip with everyone in the minivan…

(we went to a nearby park).

The kids enjoy going over to Nanny’s house most days after school for a little TV watching (we haven’t shown her how to turn on shows on the computer – we no longer have cable)…

…and the princess dress is fine to wear to Nanny’s.

Last weekend, Adam resurrected my old Toshiba laptop that died after I spilled pumped breast milk on it. I’d heard he was a genius. Turns out it’s true. Duncan helped too, standing by in case his tiny fingers were needed to reconnect little wires.

Or perhaps he was standing guard. As he and Berry now get to use that computer, much to their delight.

I’m seemingly obsessed with taking photos of Berry while she’s sleeping (or refusing to wake up in this case).

But she’s too adorable not to.

On Saturday mornings, we commonly take a trip to the library. Duncan and Berry love this globe.

And finding Dora books. And puppets. And anything else that appeals. It’s a great library.

Last Saturday we went to Adam’s nephew’s birthday party. They have a pool. Will really cold water. This is as far as the kids got into it.

Then we all went in the hot tub (which we cooled down to a kid-appropriate temperature).

And that breathless update brings you up-to-date with half of last weekend. More to come. You know, sometime.

Blogging silence

Yes, yes, it’s been a while. The kids went to Rochester for 3 weeks at the end of July and…well, I didn’t have any pictures of kids to post. And I wasn’t sure what else to say. I feel a bit inhibited in being able to say much of anything lately.

While the kids were away, I moved. And unpacked. I’m almost totally unpacked, the boxes in my bedroom/office being the last.

And I got away for an entire 24 hours (before returning to rent another U-Haul to move all the rest of our belongings we didn’t get the first time).

I flew to Rochester 2 weeks ago to pick up the kids and fly back home. I’ll have the pleasure of that 3 times a year. It was OK. Not my favorite way to spend a few days, but all went well with no delays, so there’s certainly no reason to complain.

I put together a photobook with the photos Kevin’s posted on his blog.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Duncan and Berry started a new summer school and seem to be settling into the new routine really well. Adam and I realized that taking everyone places in 2 cars wasn’t going to be OK for long. So we bought a previously enjoyed mini-van.

This is from our first family outing to a nearby park. All went well.

More to come later. Time for bed now.

Sweet cousin love

There’s something about cousins that makes them even better than siblings. Perhaps because they don’t live with you all of the time.

It’s been a week since Christopher and Arthur left. I got an e-mail asking for my new address, so I presume they got home safely. It was a treat having them here. The kids demonstrably loved each other and Christopher cooked dinner every night.

Here’s a pictorial post of the fun and trouble cousins can get into together.

Our Country Fair adventure

Since I moved to Eugene last summer, I’d heard about the Oregon Country Fair. And that I had to go.

I missed it last year. We weren’t quite yet in Eugene. So I was committed to going this year. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone to go with me.

Not one to ever let going on my own stop me from doing anything, I dressed everyone in their tie-dyed best and hopped over to Safeway on Sunday morning to buy my ticket. Then off to downtown Eugene with Duncan and Berry to catch the bus.

I didn’t have high hopes of seeing much of the fair. I just wanted to *go* and see what it was like.

It was hot. And a bit dusty. I’d been warned about that. But it was also shady, with winding paths between booths and trees. Of all the random fairs I’ve been to, this appeared to be the best organized and most pleasant.

I’d been warned about the naked body-painted people running about. But didn’t run into any. Probably because we spend almost all our time in the children’s area. Where we made sun hats. Like these:

And checked out a cool, giant kaleidoscope:

And a jungle gym in the kiddie playground:

Finally, when the heat was too much (mostly for me), we wandered over to the bus stop and caught a blissfully air-conditioned LTD bus back into town. Duncan amused himself taking endless narrated videos of the trip and Berry fell asleep on my lap.

Duncan’s birthday party #1

Duncan had his first 5th birthday party last Saturday. It was a hit — a loud, chaotic, hot hit.

It was also the first time I attempted to do some organized party games. That went mostly OK – with most guests participating, at least to some extent. Given that the birthday party theme was officially Dora (and pirate Dora at that), we did a Pin the Tail on Swiper game and then a Treasure Hunt game.

The great treasure at the end was a Dora birthday cake and ice cream.

I looked into cake pans shaped like Dora, but ultimately decided on a 2-layer round chocolate cake with strawberry jam filling. Drawing and filling in Dora’s head was about the most I could manage. Coming up with natural food colorings for her entire outfit seemed beyond my current capabilities. So I made a Dora cake. And then she was devoured, much like the Minnie Mouse cake last year.

Duncan made out like Swiper with all the Dora presents he got. There was a Dora mermaid (that you wind up so she swims around the bath), a little princess Dora, Dora clothes, a Dora bubble wand, a Dora ball and bat, a Dora keychain for his Dora backpack for school…

I hope he keeps liking Dora for a while. He’ll be bereft of clothing and toys if he ever breaks up with her.

The kids leave for Rochester on Monday for 3 weeks and Christopher and Arthur leave on Tuesday. Last Sunday we went to the Oregon Country Fair (pictures from that will be forthcoming soon). And I’m moving the chickens over to their new home at Adam’s today. Wish us luck with all of that.

Berry visits the doctor

Yesterday I took Berry for her follow-up doctor visit for her fractured arm. With a photographer in tow.

The Foundation is always in need of good caregiver and patient photos and it’s hard to get them when people are in the hospital, sick and in need of care. It’s hardly the time you want to put a camera in someone’s face.

So, our wonderful photographer, Deborah, came along to capture some moments of visiting the pediatrician and getting xrays. Here are some of the out takes.

Waiting in the doctor’s office:

Poor baby in a splint:

Waiting for her x-ray:

Getting the x-ray:

And the prognosis? Her bone is healing well, but she still declares she has some pain when it’s touched, so we keep the splint on for another week. Then it comes off and we observe, while not letting her do crazy arm-related things, like batting practice and handstands. Wish us luck on that one.

Random weekly update: market, rainbows, birthday party

Another weekend is almost upon us.

Last weekend we went to the Saturday market with Christopher and Arthur. I find getting disparate groups of people together at the same place and the same time to be challenging. But we managed to meet up at the library then walked over to the market for a bit.

Mostly we ate lunch, then bought a few veggies. The bag of snap peas was obliterated by munching small children by the time we got back to the car. (Darn, raw, organic, freshly-picked, local green vegetables. I MUST get them to stop eating those. I, on the other hand, was magnetically drawn into a gluten-free bakery where I found chewy chocolate cookies.)

This photo contains the most people looking in the right direction at one time:

At some point during the week (back when it still rained in Eugene), there was a lovely double rainbow which I captured through the car window:

Just thought I’d share.

Since then, it’s been consistently hot and sunny. Which, really, is fine. A few days of 90+ is fine, especially when I spend most of it in an over-air-conditioned office.

This weekend proves to be a busy one. It’s Duncan’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon. It’s supposed to be a Pirate Dora themed party, although we may only be able to pull off the Dora part. We will have a treasure hunt, at least, leading to the greatest booty of all — the Dora birthday cake. Which I have to make tonight.

On Sunday, we’re heading off to the Oregon Country Fair. I will try not to sell the kids to any gypsies.

And that’s my random update for the week.

Smacking into the first day of summer

I’d planned for the first weeks of summer to be filled with fun and shrieks of laughter. Lots of running around the yard, making crafts, climbing around like monkeys. For the kids, anyway.

One of the monkeys will have to learn to clime one-handed.

Yesterday afternoon, we got home and Duncan got on the computer to skype Kevin. Berry decided she wanted a rest in my bed, so she climbed on in. Apparently she then wanted to blow her nose, so she reached for the tissue box on the bedside table. And reached. And reached. And fell off the bed, bumping her arm on the way down.

From the wails, I knew something was wrong. I calmed her down and found out what happened and put ice on the swelling bump. She kept the ice on for a long time and didn’t move her arm much that night. I was worried. My mummy senses had perked up. Something didn’t feel right.

We showed the arm to EMT Daddy on the webcam for his diagnosis. He gave me some things to watch for and I kept an eye on her until bed time. She seemed mostly OK, but was reluctant to do certain things – like pull down her undies to go to the bathroom.

This morning she seemed fine, but still had less of a grip in her left hand when squeezing my fingers. She was using her hand and seemed in no pain. But I called the nurse line anyway. And one of my favorite pediatricians was free at 9 a.m. So off we went.

On the way, she handled her snack and drink as if nothing was wrong. I felt a bit foolish bringing her to the doctor. But I just had a hunch.

In the doctor’s office, she played with a wire and bead toy with no problem. No sign of distress or soreness. The swelling had gone and there was no bruising. It was tender in one spot.

We got sent for an x-ray. It involved quite a bit of waiting:

And revealed the cutest bones ever:

In this second one (taken from the side) you can see a bulge near her wrist. That’s a greenstick fracture. Apparently her bone bent, but didn’t break.

It showed more on the computer monitor (this is a pic from my cell phone).

This is the result:

It stays on for 3 weeks. Hopefully. And then we go back for another x-ray to make sure it’s healed OK.

That was our exciting foray into the first day of summer. Hope yours is better.

Last weekend

Yes, I know it’s Friday. I had grand plans to do this on Monday morning but I must have done something crazy like worked hard all day instead.

But another weekend is upon us. So here’s the recap from last weekend.

On Friday, I was greeted with these two loves looking out for me from the play structure:

We were going to go swimming, but I had a horrible migraine, so we kept it low-key.

Well, other than the new way to climb into the car:

On Saturday, there was jumping in the basement (when isn’t there?)

There was also a lot of fun with with a water slide in the front lawn:

On Sunday, for some reason, we became obsessed with hunting for snails in the garden. We found a lot of them. I seem to have an eagle eye for spotting snails.

The kids were excited (especially when I found two attached snails who were mating). And so was I. Snails = chicken protein source. Duncan didn’t like the idea at all, however, and protested my plan to put them in a container to take home and feed to the chickens. Putting them in a container was fine, though. So we did that part.

Later, we went home, and had dinner on the back porch. There was watermelon eating:

And then there was singing:

I presume they learned the first song — along with alternate lyrics — at school.

It turns out that Duncan was right about feeding the snails to the chickens. Mostly because the chickens ignored them. They munched a couple, but didn’t go after them with the hearty gusto I expected. It was disappointing. I never thought I’d watch a snail escape:

This weekend looks to be a quiet one. I’d like to make it to the library, but everyone is coming down with colds, so it’ll probably involve movie-marathons and lying around moaning (the kids, not me). No promises on when you’ll end up hearing about it, though.