It's Pool Time!!

Yes, it is warm enough to swim!! The boys are loving it, and I had to get this picture of Elliott lounging on the new "flip flop" float (try saying that really fast!!) that the boys picked out to play with at the pool this summer. The picture is just so Elliott!

DC Trip

We had the best time in DC! Since I'm not the history fanatic that my husband is, I was just looking forward to spending time with Brian's family and Brian and Katie and then finding some shopping and dining! But, to my surprise, I was really excited about seeing everything once we got there. In fact, I think the monuments and memorials might have been close to my favorite sights just because they provided so many photo opportunities. Never would have guessed!

Thanks to one of Beth's best friends, we got to stay at an awesome hotel that used to be the site for the inaugural balls! I think we hit almost everything we could....the Capitol, the Mall, the Smithsonian museums, the National Cathedral, Georgetown, National Archives, the International Spy Museum (okay, only Rick and Brian for that one), the exteriors of the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court (these were closed on the day we visited). Oh, and we became very familiar with the power lines and tree branches all over the city atop the Open Top Sightseeing Tour - funny at first, annoying later.

Anyway, we had a great time but were glad to get back and see the boys (and find out that we missed out on the 50 degree weather while we were gone....it's June already!!)

Strawberries!!!

Last year there were no strawberries (or peaches or any other fresh homegrown fruit) up here because of a late freeze, so we missed out on strawberry picking. So I was so excited that we got to go this year. This was over in Belleville at Eckert's - if you have the chance to go, it's a really fun place. They take you over to the patch on a tractor-pulled wagon and there's a cute country store filled with fresh fruits, veggies, jams, jellies, and what looked to be very very high calorie high fat baked goods (the boys and I were especially impressed with these). There's a restaurant, too, but we didn't venture in there.

Anyway, we made out with about 5 pounds of freshly picked strawberries, apple butter, blueberry preserves, and a bottle of water (it was hot in the strawberry patch). So we've had strawberries on waffles and strawberry shortcake tonight - which the boys said they didn't want any of (we can't figure out what's WRONG with them!)

I'm working on the pictures from DC, but there are so many of them that it's taking me longer than I thought it would. We had a great time, though!

budding photographer

Elliott has been interested in taking pictures for a couple of years now. After we got our new camera (my baby), I let him take the old one every once in a while and take pictures. Then I got a new smaller camera last year and decided a few months ago that Elliott could have the old old camera. So he takes it places and loves to take pictures. A couple of years ago all his images included half of his thumb, were crooked, blurry, etc. But he's really improved! He took this picture on our way home from Champaign the other day and I was quite impressed with what he captured! It definitely could use some Photoshop, but I think it's really good for a 5 year old!

It' nice outside!

I'm sure I'm going to regret saying this cause it seems like every time I think winter and the nasty part of spring is over, it just all comes back again! But I really think we're done with the yucky weather for a while. Anyway, we've been enjoying it at the zoo, helping Amber move, and canoeing with Jeremy (and that was all in one weekend!) I must say the boys really loved the canoe! The picture of Jeremy looking back was him telling me that Ethan had just said "I almost felled in..that was fun!" Just gotta say that I did my best with the swim lessons for the poor boy!

We have a graduate!!

Elliott and Ethan had their closing program this morning at preschool, and Elliott is officially a graduate now! They had decorated their own graduation caps and did an awesome job at the program. It was fun to finally hear the whole "Genesis, Genesis, verse 1:1 verse 1:1...." song that Ethan had been singing around the house for the past couple of months. And Elliott's class performed a song that they had made up themselves!

During the program, Elliott got to have a special part and be a flag holder. He was so excited and proud of this! I'm not sure what the thing is with Ethan pulling his shirt over his knees - who knows why he does things. For some reason he likes to chew on his shirts, so at least he wasn't doing that. He did speak in his gruffy monster voice a couple of times though, to entertain everyone I'm sure.

Grandma Dee got to come over for the program, so the boys were excited to have a special person there! We had to laugh at Elliott's responses to some question that Ms. Jana had asked him as part of this really really awesome scrapbook she made for each of the kids in her class (she's just a very good teacher and an awesome friend!). Here are the questions and Elliott's answers:

What do your mom and dad do for work: My mom does laundry and plays with me on her day off. My dad works at a pharmacy and doesn't get home until I am in bed.

What do you want to be when you grow up: A Jedi

My favorite food my mom makes is...: Fish. My mom doesn't really cook the fish; my dad does on the grill outside. She makes the things that go with it, like green beans and rice. I don't like rice.

I just had no idea that I got a day off!! We're very proud of the Jedi thing too. The book was full of everyone's responses, examples of their artwork and academic work, handwriting, pictures, a letter from her to Elliott, etc. It is a priceless gift.....just so so nice of her to take the time to put each one together for each child - THANK YOU JANA!!

So we're off to Kindergarten and 3 year old PreK next year - hope it's as fun as this year was!

Family Weekend

This is my sister Erin who is due with her first baby (another boy!) in July. Isn't that a cute baby bump? We're so excited to get a new baby in the family. The boys and I went over to my mom's house to help throw a shower for Erin this weekend and got to see lots of family...... below is a picture of all the "second" cousins on my mom's side. I'm looking at it and realizing how big Elliott is getting. Time really does fly with kids!

And I had to include my Aunt Sharon with the newest addition, Caden. Can you tell how much she loves her grandchildren?!