Baltimore with cousins

We were very excited to have our cousins come to MD to visit. They came and stayed at Grandma's house but we still got to see them quite a bit during their visit. On Monday we headed down to Baltimore's Inner Harbor to see the Sailabration. It is the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, which was the war that the National Antham came from, written right out there in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. It's kind of a big deal around here. Anyway, they had all of these tall ships sail in, as well as some grey hulled (?) ships. Right as we were entering they had some sand art on display.

 Most of the cousins in front of the sand art.

 It was a dreary, rainy, chilly day that day. But we had coats and umbrellas, so we survived.

 The lines for the most part were not too bad to get onto the ships, and the kids really loved being able to walk around and look, and touch things.

 All of the masts and riggings were quite impressive.

We had a picnic lunch, and right as we were finishing up, it started to drizzle again. This one has all of the cousins.

 After lunch we headed over to a Canadian War Ship. Yeah, I know, it's kind of weird that there is such a thing! We waited for like an hour and a half in line to get on. I don't know why we waited so long, but it kind of gave us the chance to let the kids run around and explore while others stood in line. It was pretty cool once we got onto it though. The kids got to sit in the Captain's chair.

In addition to the ships that were docked that you could go on, there were some ships that were sailing around in the harbor that all looked pretty cool too.

It was a fun little outing, although we were pretty exhausted by the time we got home.

Olivia Turns 2!

 OK, so I'm realizing that no one is going to come along and record the recent events of our lives for me, so I'd better get to it! On June 16th Olivia turned two. That morning she opened one of her presents, and then she and I went over to Grandma's house to do a baby shower for Aunt Melissa. Of course, she had to wear her party dress from Aunt Heather.

 When we got home that night she was able to open the rest of her presnts. This year her main present was a doll house. She enjoys playing with it, that is, when the boys let her!

That night I had some cupcakes for her, and she was even able to blow out the candles herself. It was a pretty low key evening. I was pretty worn out from the baby shower prep work.
At two years old, Olivia is still very sweet and loving. (And awfully cute!) She is starting to get that little independent streak in her that 2 year olds are so well know to have. She says "mine," and "no wanit" quite a bit. This morning though as we were getting dressed she said "pink" when asking for her shirt. She sure loves pink and all things girly. I often get asked if she is a tomboy having 2 older brothers, and that is really not the case. She can hold her own against her rough and tumble older brothers, and she loves to wrestle, but underneath it all, she's all girl. She loves to do puzzles, and color. Those are probably her two favorite past times. This summer we go swimming quite a bit, and she is my little fish. She has her vest on, and she just owns the baby pool. It's deep enough that she can put her little feet back and swim a bit. She doesn't like the bigger pool, because she likes to be able to walk around still. It's the quickest form of transportation for her.
We sure love having this little girl in our family, and I think that both boys like her more than each other! We hope that she stays sweet as she enters 2 and 3. It's what makes up for the busyness that is a toddler!

School's out!

 Today is Nate's last day of first grade. This morning he was one of the students to get a Character Counts award at his school. I think that there were only 3 kids in his class that got the award.

 Then I hung out with the kids for a little bit, and helped his teacher with a few things while waiting for their end of the year celebration. Each child got a little certificate saying that they were allowed to go to 2nd grade.

 Nate and his teacher Miss Monn.

 Graham and Olivia got a little bored, and were more interested in watching what went on in the classroom next door.

So now it's summer, and I'll need to figure out a way to not go crazy this summer. I think it will involve a lot of going to the pool!

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!