Goodbye Soccer!

The kids both had fun playing soccer this season.  But it was really Owen who lived and breathed soccer during every waking moment and dreamed about it when not awake.  Chloe liked dressing up like a soccer player and occasionally chasing and kicking the ball, but was equally entertained playing in the dirt.  She also liked getting her soccer trophy after the last soccer game.

She also got this little, plastic, gold star trophy which is now in a treasured spot on her bedroom shelves.

During Owen's trophy ceremony (of which, I got absolutely no pics partially due to disorganized distribution and partially for this-->) I saw Chloe giggling on the stairs with friends as they poked at something.  I had to walk over to see what was being tortured.  I thought it was going to be a grasshopper, but it ended up being this little hoppy toad.

Look at his skinny little frog legs and bumpy little toes! 

I rescued the toad and released him far, far away from pesky five year olds.  Then it was time to stand in line for food.  They were grilling hot dogs and burgers.  Owen didn't want to stand with us and sat on the railing with a grumpy face.  Not sure what that was about.

Fortunately, he was able to pull it together and entertain himself with sitting and "Look Mom, no hands!"

Uncle Mike's Birthday

Uncle Mike was in town for a few days and it coincided with his 61st birthday.  Before dinner, Grandma Suzanney tickled the Bean mercilessly.  That girl twitched and kicked and giggled and not once tried to run!

Uncle Mike and Grandma Eloise sat on the other sofa, watching quietly.  I think Chloe made enough noise with her giggles for the rest of the household. :)

May we all appear so young when we reach sixty one.

After a dinner of barbecue ribs, we sang happy birthday and the kids helped Uncle Mike blow out the candles.

I love how Uncle Mike is looking at Chloe in this pic as she continues to blow out the candles.  I love how her lips are puckered and she's almost cross-eyed in concentration.

This.  Was a good day.

Todd's Birthday and Chloe's pre-Kindergarten Graduation

I think this is the first birthday of Todd's in several years that we didn't take the day off from work to celebrate or go out for lunch.  We were both slammed with work.  We picked up the kids and headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant and met the Grandmas and Aunt Kiki for dinner before Chloe's graduation ceremony.  She fell at school the day before and had this wonderful scrape on her face. :(

Happy Birthday my Honeys.  I love you so much and am thankful that I have been able to celebrate your last 11 birthdays with you.  Wow!  You were really young 11 years ago!!  I don't care if 45 gets you in the tennis seniors leagues, you're still young and handsome and smart to me.  And you make me laugh.  Still.  I couldn't ask for more.

Owensk, you look just like your Daddy!  I can't wait to see how much you look like him as you get older.

Love this pic of Chloe looking at her Grandma Eloise!

Before Chloe walked into school to get ready for the ceremony with her class, she hammed it up outside with Megan and Catherine (Pauly and Janice's twins).  I had fun asking them to make their silly faces, their sad faces, their scared faces and the faces of Kindergarteners.  They had fun making faces and I had fun with the interactions, although I gave up as other parents stood behind me asking them to smile and I lost eye contact.

When it was time to go inside, we saw balloons galore and then a hanging fabric filled with diplomas for the kids.  I don't remember anything like this for me until I graduated from high school!

Here is Ms. Maggie holding Chloe back until it was time to walk out for her diploma.

Aaaaaand the walk....

Look at that cute blue hat!  With a tassel!

The kids performed a little song and dance for us.  Chloe stood next to her good friend Bridget.

After the ceremony, cake and punch were served.  Chloe got at least one slice of cake, if not two.  Little sneak!

Aunt Kiki was gone before I could get pics of her with the kids.  Owen was all over the place with his friends and likely sneaking cake.  But I did manage to get this shot of the Grandmas.

Another Visitor

Yesterday morning while I was working, I noticed a small movement outside out of the corner of my eye.  But then I didn't see anything.  I went back to working and noticed another small movement, but saw nothing that could have caused the leaves to move.  I wondered if the chipmunks were back.  It went on like this for close to five minutes before I saw the source.

He was a little guy, but with beautiful orange markings.

Look at this ridge down the back of his shell!  It's like it leads directly to his tail.

He was a shy guy.  As soon as I touched his shell, he pulled in his head, legs and tail.  Then he closed up his shell.

Tight!

Not at all like the last turtle who probably hunts deer and wild coyotes.

I removed him from the backyard so he wouldn't be harassed by the cats or dogs.  I released him in the side yard and within an hour he was gone.  I just loved those orange spots on his front legs!

Stair Games

The kids had fun pulling out their blankets, pillows and sleeping bags and sliding down the stairs.

Owen would pull everything back up to the top of the stairs.

And then he would slide back down and land on top of his sister, which would send her into fits of giggles.

Such silly kids.

I love when they play so nicely together and have so much fun.

A Backyard Visitor

This morning I noticed we had a new visitor in the back yard. 

This guy was as big and as heavy as the cats!  He posed nicely for me to take pics and didn't even blink or move.  But the moment I put my hands on his shell, he raised himself four inches off the ground and spun a 180 to try and bite me.  He even hissed!

 
I gave it a second attempt of trying to grab his shell gently in the middle on each side, but I learned his legs and toes were long.  Long enough to push away my fingers.  I was worried he was going to turn into Kung Fu Turtle and pull some jujitsu on me.  I kept watch on him throughout the day and he shuffled around the backyard.  I think he probably fell off the retaining wall in our backyard and landed with a surprise to be face-to-face with our cats and dogs.  Look at those spikes on his tail!

Owen rides the bus home on Wednesdays for his weekly tennis lesson.  Since Todd was away on business, I walked down to the bus stop to pick him up and enlist the help of two of the stay-at-home dads.  Steve was much more successful with the shovel and getting the turtle into the wheelbarrow.

And off we went on an adventure to the nature trail at the bottom of our street with the turtle in the wheelbarrow.

Steve took the wheelbarrow down the steps while Bruce stood behind to supervise.

The kids gathered around and said their goodbyes to the turtle.  They each had their own name for him.  Owen called him Cliff because he is still missing the bullfrog from our backyard.  Another called him Twist.  That made me smile because Twist is a little nickname we have used for our kids ever since they were old enough to cause trouble.

There he is safely down by the creek.  He should be much happier now that he is away from nosy cats and little horses.

As we walked home, the kids discussed the fact that by saving this turtle we were helping the environment....major Earth Day topics and Reduce/Reuse/Recycle songs being pounded into their heads at school.  And then there was concern that this turtle might be missing his Mom or Dad.