Preschool graduation

 When we moved to our new ward, we were invited to join in with a small preschool co-op that was in place. We participated for about a month and a half, but it was the best thing that Graham has ever done. He looked forward to going to preschool each week. On Thursday they had a little graduation ceremony.
Graham was so proud of his diploma, and still takes it places.

 Olivia loved that it was something that she was included in as well.

Next year Graham will be attending the same preschool that we put Nate into several years ago, so I don't know if our schedule will permit us to join in the co-op again. But we enjoyed getting to know people from the ward, and Graham and Olivia enjoyed having a place to go each week.

Don't forget me!

 Someone did not want to be forgotten when it comes to having their baby picture up on the book shelf. Can you see who it is?

Twinners

So as it turns out I did have a few pictures from our Memorial Day/ Cammi's birthday party. When Seth and Heather first got there, I glanced toward the door, and thought that someone had gotten Olivia out of her bed, because all I noticed was the little green dress. Not so much. Rowan was wearing the same dress that Olivia was wearing that day! What cute twins! (Rowan is about 9 months older than Olivia.)

Happy Birthday Nate!

Well, it's hard to believe, but my baby is 7. My very first baby that is. I have now been a mom for 7 years, and I have to say, I think I have it just about mastered! Nate had a little party on Saturday. As it turns out, most of his friends lead busy lives, so only a few people could come, but it was a good time none the less. We had a super hero themed party. We played pin the shield on Captain America. That was a big hit.

 

 They also decorated their own super hero costume. (Or put puffy paint on t-shirts.)
They went outside and had to complete an obstacle course to prove their super agility.

 And of course, you cannot be a super hero without super eating powers. They loved this game the most- having to eat a donut without using your hands. Of course, it didn't help that Ms Colleen kept on moving the stick! :)

 They loved it so much, that after they got their 5 bites done, and were able to take the donut off of the stick, they kept trying to eat it dangling from the string.

 And they had to demonstrate their super singing skills, and super cake eating skills. Nate had to demonstrate his super blowing skills.

 And mini-chocolate chips make great words by the way.

 After cake, they needed to demonstrate their super throwing and dodging skills. I made some of those cut up sponge balls, and the kids had a great time throwing them at each other and trying not to get wet!

 An unofficial game of pin the shield on the daddy popped up.

 Not pictured was the memory game. I printed out a bunch of super hero pictures or their symbols (2 of each) and they had to match them. It was a good time had by all. At the end, they were all ready to be super heros- go forth and save everyone!
It was a lego birthday for Nate. He got a few lego super hero sets, as well as his new love- Ninjago. They played quietly all afternoon with the new legos.

 At dinner Grammy and Aunt Cammi came up. We had pizza, cake and more presents.

 It was supposed to be a joint June birthday, for Nate, Olivia and cousin Meckenzie, but at the last minute the other Markhams realized that they had been double booked, and so they were not able to come. But Olivia still got a few presents from Grammy, like this Minnie Mouse costume. Interestingly enough, she has a similar one upstairs wrapped up from mommy and daddy. But it's a little different, and since she has no other dress up clothes, I guess this will be her start!

So, happy birthday to Nate. He has turned into a smart little cookie as he is about to finish 1st grade. He can read most things now, and loves math. He loves to draw pictures, and I love to see the things that his little brain comes up with. Some of his favorites include:
His favorite TV show is Ninjago. His favorite color is red. His favorite book is (He would have a favorite book if he had a ninjago book.) His best friend is Jackson. His favorite thing to do is to draw pictures, he means, to watch Ninjago. And he just informed me that he likes to play soccer. His favorite song is Party Rock. His favorite food is roast beef. He also likes to climb. He likes to play his new Ninjago game on his DS. He likes to have birthday parties. He likes to play, and he likes going on small roller coasters and the Avalanche ride at Kings Dominion. We sure love having him around!

Memorial Day

So at one point during our Memorial Day festivities I thought that I should take some photos, but then I didn't. So no pictures.
This year Memorial day fell on Aunt Cammi's birthday. As luck would have it, Cammi was actually in town this year for her birthday weekend, when usually she isn't. So we decided to have a little cook out at our new house. Seth and Heather had not seen it yet, so it was fun to have them up to see it. We just had normal cook out food, and a good time hanging out. We set up the slip and slide for the kids, and they loved that. Olivia even eventually got into things. She is very ready to keep up with the boys this year.
We actually started out the day on the canal with Grandad. It's nice to have Grandad come up sometimes, and we run/walk/ride in the stroller/bike/scooter, just whatever you want to do. With 3 adults it's enough to have someone take care of the kids at all times, and when I get more in shape and spend more time running than walking (read, once I no longer have the allergies/cold that never ever ever goes away!) then it will be nice to have Grandad there so that both Jesse and I can get our runs in at the same time. We also got to see Cammi start her birthday kayak run with a few friends, and the kids played at the boat ramp into the river for a little while too.
So it was a fun little day for us. This week is a super busy week for me with teaching preschool, and then Nate having a birthday on Saturday. Saturday- that is 2 days away. I have not bought a single present. Not one. I'm in a bit of denial about the whole thing I guess. Lots of work for the party still left to do too. Oh well, it'll come whether I'm ready or not, and it'll probably turn out just fine either way too!

Kings Dominion

This past weekend my brother came to town with his oldest daughter. We decided that it would be lots of fun to take the whole family to Kings Dominion. So, with the exception of my pregnant sister in law, everyone here in MD went to the amusement park for the day.

The drive getting down there was an adventure in and of itself. Our kids are notorious for getting motion sickness when you get them up early and put them right in the car for a long drive. Keeping that in mind, I had packed 2 changes of clothes for each kid, as well as a whole roll of paper towel and a whole package of wipes. As it turns out, the only thing that I forgot was trash bags. Also, thinking about how gross it is to clean up chocolate milk puke, something I have done many, many times in my life, we skipped their normal morning drink, and opted for orange juice. Better, but probably apple juice would have been easier on their little tummies. So after about half an hour driving, Graham was the first to go. He threw up when we were nowhere close to a convenient place to pull over to clean him up. But we found a place, and got stop one out of our way. After that, we drove by this:

 It's like a tractor supply store or something, and we drove by before any of the fire trucks even got there. If we had been about 5 minutes later, we may not have been able to get by.

Then it was Olivia's turn to throw up. After we got her cleaned up, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. And like I said, it's all about motion sickness, and really, only when they are in the car right after waking up. So they were fine the rest of the day.

We got to the park, and eventually found my mom and brothers and niece. The first ride of the day was the Ghoster Coaster. Or, as others know it as, the Scooby Doo. This was my favorite ride as a child, and it was Nate and Graham's first ride on an official roller coaster. Graham rode with Jesse, and after an initial bout of nervousness on the first hill, he got over it and was all smiles when he got off. I rode with Nate, and after the first hill, he looked nervous and started to hold his stomach, and I started to think that he would make our record 3 for 3 if you know what I mean. He did not throw up, but he was very upset after we got off of the ride. So no more Scooby Doo roller coaster for him.

Instead he rode rides like this:

 We did get him on this little "roller coaster", which is more like what you would find at a fair or carnival.

 Can you see Graham's tiny head?

 They both loved the bumper cars, and that is how we ended our day later on.

 This was I think Olivia's favorite ride. Their second time back on the ride Olivia saw that is where they were headed, and pretty much pushed everyone out of the way to get herself on.

 It was nice for Olivia to be able to ride a bunch of rides, and I'm glad that the boys like her so much to take her with them.

 I like this little girl who just jumped in with Graham, and appears to be blowing him a kiss.

 We spent the day split between spending time in the Kid zone, and the rest of the park. Jesse and I rode a few rides, but none of the big new ones. I didn't want to just leave my mom with the kids the whole day, plus, it is fun to see them having fun.
One new thing that we did do was to go to the Dinosaur park. They have animatronic dinosaurs along this little path, that you do a walking tour of. The boys loved it. (And by the boys, I mean Jesse, Nate and Graham.) There were a few places where you could push certain buttons and control the dinosaur movements.

 They were all life size, so some of them were, well, big.

 And it would not be complete without the T Rex family. Most of them did growl and move and such, but the kids were not scared, so that was good.

 Olivia was the champ of the day. She only sometimes got to ride on things, and mostly was just pushed around in her stroller. But she didn't cry or complain, and just was happy to be included in things. What a little angel she was. (if only all days could be like that!)

We did get both of the boys on the Avalanche ride, which is a bobsled ride, and since there were no up and down hills, they both loved it, and proclaimed it to be their favorite ride of the day.
The ride home was uneventful, just the way we like it, and the boys are now asking to go back, and have reverted to their other favorite request- Disney World.

Lately

Lately life has been, well, boring. Nate goes to school, Nate comes home, I have gotten into a little bit of a routine. Jesse goes to work, Jesse comes home. We just have been not doing much lately. I had my first social event at our new house, I hosted my book group, and I have been spending time putting the finishing touches on the house. I have pictures up, and curtains up. I need to change out a few more curtain rods, and then change the valances in the kitchen. But then there's just the amount of time it takes to keep the place not a total mess. Which is a lot. In the next month things will probably pick up a bit. My brother and niece are coming into town this week, so we'll spend some time with them. And then we will start to have birthdays and school will let out. Just stuff like that. In the mean time, there are few things cuter than Olivia sitting on that bench at the island in the kitchen.