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Unlike last year, the weather for this year’s elementary school Field Day was fantastic - bright and sunny, but not too hot. I was assigned to staff the sack race station, a favorite of many. Unfortunately, that kept me so busy that I didn’t get any pictures of the events. So, you’ll just have to take my word that the kids had lots of fun.

I did manage to get one picture after the events were over. This was taken during the picnic lunch outside. Molly’s sporting her face paint, though it’s a little smudged from all the activity.

On Mother’s Day, both of the girls’ choirs sang in church. Sadly, they did not sing at the same service. So, we got to go to two services.

First up was Molly’s choir. They sang a couple of songs and didn’t make it easy for me to get it on video, but I did my best. She looks so grown up with the music folder in her arms.

Leah’s choir sang at the next service. Their song really pulled at the heartstrings. I teared up a bit (and continued to do so every time I rewatched it to edit the video).

Great job girls. I know your mom (and dad) appreciated it.

Molly’s school held a night where kids could come and build Legos with their dads. Molly and I of course attended. They had 3 rounds with prizes handed out and lots of fun. Each kid got a bag of random Legos and then had to create something with them. Here’s Molly’s spaceship from the flying things round. Note that it includes a pizza oven in the back as well as jet propulsion.

The last round was without a theme, so the kids could build whatever they like. Molly decided to build a giant robot that the operator could ride on. Oh, and it also included a pizza oven.

Leah was so excited to honor her mom at Jen’s last Mother’s Day Celebration at East Columbia Preschool. The kids performed “Over in the Meadow”, sang a number of songs, and showered their mom with gifts. Everyone was then treated to a royal treat of dirt (aka chocolate ice cream with crushed Oreos).

In Leah’s preschool, they honor each kid as the Top Dog for a week. They get to wear a special vest for the week and receive special treatment. At the end of their week, they have a special presentation, which Jen and I got to attend (as we did with Molly 3 years ago).

Leah created a top dog book with details about herself, what she likes to do, what she likes to eat, and what she wants to be when she grows up. What might that be? The President of the United States, of course. I’ve told her that she has to be at least 35 years old to be President, so she’s reluctantly agreed to be on the county council or governor until she is old enough to be President.

After she presented her book, she was presented with Bones. These are notes from her classmates telling her what they like about her. They included such gems as “I like the color of your skin” and “I think you’re cute”.

Here is a video of her presentation in its entirety.

As winter soccer drew to a close, we asked Leah if she wanted to keep doing it. She decided she wanted to try something different instead and chose tennis lessons. She had her first lesson last week, which she and I are both very excited about.

At her age, they spend a lot of time working on skills without their racquets. This drill is designed to help them with hand-eye coordination.

She loved her first lesson, and she can’t wait for the next one (which should be taking place this afternoon :).

After the big zoo trip, the rest of our cousin fun was smaller and more local. Sunday we went to church, then headed home for some lunch. After lunch, the girls showed Emmie how much fun sledding in warm weather can be when you have a steep enough hill.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful, so we headed to one of the many local playgrounds (this one at Centennial Park) to go to the playground.

After playing outside, we opted for to cool down with a sweet treat. Rita’s Italian ice and custard were perfect.

Thanks for coming to visit us! We look forward to seeing you guys this summer.

Cousins came to visit for the weekend, and we decided to show them the fun that is the National Zoo. Emmie was excited to enjoy the beautiful day with her cousins at this fantastic (and free) zoo.

We started checking out the big cats. A bunch of lions were out chilling.

Here are a few of the lions they were watching.

They checked out the turtles, as we have done before.

We took a break for a snack in the sea lion show seats (they had no shows that afternoon, sadly).

JJ, an expert snacker.

Molly helped Emmie cool off.

We walked up to the elephant outpost at the bottom of the hill, which can be an excellent place to see the elephants up close. Sadly, they were hanging out at the top of this hill. But JJ managed to get a view of them from afar. We got to see them closer later, after hiking up the hill.

As we got up to the top side of the zoo, JJ spotted the giant stuffed panda at the Friends of the National Zoo booth. They were nice enough to let him hold it for a second.

We made it all the way to the top to the front entrance on Connecticut Avenue to take a picture in the zoo sign, as we have done before.

On the walk back down, we stopped into the gift shop and the kids each got a souvenir. Leah liked the lions so much, she got one of her own.

All the kids did great with all the walking (between 4 and 5 miles, according to my pedometer), but occasionally got some help. JJ got a ride on Aunt Jen as we headed down hill back to our cars.

As always, the zoo was lots of fun for all involved. We look forward to more visits to come.

Like last year, Leah’s preschool had an art show for us to come and see. Here’s Leah next to her first piece - Self portrait: then and now.

Earthscape/moonscape

This next one is a Native American Tale. The description as written:

Leah and Molly were by the water. A bear chased after us. We ran on the path to our camp. We climbed rocks and built another camp. It was day.

For their bodies in motion section, each kid was photographed showing some sort of motion. Leah decided to do a bridge for gymnastics.

After the show, they had a meeting for the parents. Most of the kids decided the playground was more fun, even if some of the things there were a bit too small for Molly to fit.

Great job, Leah!

With warmer weather arriving, Molly requested shorts with pockets. After almost a month sewing hiatus (due to my machine being in for service) I made sure to honor Molly’s request first thing!

I used Brownie-Goose Summer Sailors, which happens to only include faux pockets, but thanks to this tutorial I turned them into real pockets!

Chad and Leah thought the short were a bit wild, but Molly and I love them!