Our new front yard

The boys got a special treat over Memorial Day weekend - Daddy rented a mini excavator and went to work clearing all but the really big trees in our "front yard", formally known as "the woods".  They had lots of turns getting buckled in and sitting on Daddy's lap to help knock trees down, which totaled about 30 in the end.  All they talked about each day up until bedtime (and probably dreamt about too) was their next turn driving the excavator!  It looks really great and is a lot bigger and open than I imagined.  When we eventually get some grass to grow there it'll look even better and be another nice outdoor play space for the boys.  Daddy has already noted that there are a couple of trees perfect for building a tree house...

Our new front yard!

Memorial Weekend Fireworks

Sunday night our friends invited us to meet up at a holiday weekend fireworks show at Wolftrap, saying that it was the best fireworks display in the DC area they've ever seen.  We are so glad that we kept the boys up a little later than usual that night and went because they were right, it was an amazing show held in an outdoor amphitheater and set to lively music.  When Oliver saw that his friends brought their blankies to get cozy in, he suddenly had the cutest little face of longing for his own and hoping they'd share with him!  Of course they did and he was happy as a clam snuggled up next to Joslyn and staring up at the fireworks.  Both he and Spencie LOVED the show and kept asking for more when it was over, talking nonstop about how much they liked it and all their favorite they saw.  Spencie started dancing and bouncing to the music toward the finale and I caught a little bit on video.  Owen was unsure about the whole idea before we even arrived and parked the car.  He said it was too dark out (even though Oliver brought a lantern) and that it was going to be too loud.  He put one ear against my chest the entire time and made me cover the other one with my hand, but was still too curious to take his eyes off all the pretty colors.  When it was over he told me that he didn't think he liked fireworks, but was "just a little bit happy about the blue ones."

Spencer taking in the fireworks

Oliver

Mickey Mouse Road Rally

One of the boys' favorite things to watch when they get some iPad or TV time is an episode from the Mickey Mouse Club House show called Mickey Mouse Road Rally.  It's basically all their favorite characters riding around on bikes, scooters, cars, trucks, trains, etc... you might see why that's an instant hit for them!  Over the last week, they've gotten pretty good on their new bicycles.  Especially Oliver - he took to it like a natural, zooming around the driveway...literally making zooming sounds to himself.  One of the first nights we had the bikes, Ryan put the training wheels on out on the deck, so we moved all the toys and furniture to the middle and let them ride around in a big circle that night and also the next morning.  They did a good job staying in the "bicycle lane", but we quickly moved back outside for more space.  Spencer is probably the 2nd most interested and natural on the bicycle right now.  He is definitely not your average two year old!  Friday morning the boys told me they wanted to have a Mickey Mouse Road Rally in our driveway.  We drew something like a double figure eight in white chalk and they were focused on riding around on that line all morning! 

Summer Craft Skills

Wednesday we spent our morning relaxing on the deck with crafts.  At first I just brought out the work table, some paper and markers.  Then the boys requested laces, beads, pasta, scissors, stickers, glue, and added a little flare to the table with their Flarp buckets and a snake.  They seemed to be really proud of the glued pasta craft of their names they brought home from preschool the day before, so I asked if they wanted to do another one.  Owen wanted to do his name again and Oliver wanted to do the letter H.  I watched in amazement over the next 20-30 minutes as they continued to work diligently and peacefully without my help.  All I did was write the letters on the paper with a marker and they traced them in glue almost perfectly on their own.  Owen was taking such good care handling the bottle of glue, gently dabbing it as needed and remembering to stand the bottle up when not in use, while Oliver took his time and precisely outlined his letter H with glue and beads.  I thought, "Who are these boys?"  It seems like only a few months ago I could barely let them handle a glue stick, much less a bottle of glue, without it being broken, smashed, or squeezed in excess all over the place.  Wow - they really have learned a lot in preschool this year!!  Which reminds me, about a week ago I was at the pool with the boys when another little boy and his mom asked Owen what his name was while I was at the far end of the locker room getting our things ready.  I heard him declare loudly, "My name is Owen.  O - W - E - N!" and thought that was cute.

But as I mentioned, this dream state only lasted about 20-30 minutes.  They finished their projects, attention spans broke and suddenly beads and pasta were being scattered everywhere and I scrambled to pick up their creations before they could apply the usual "destroy what I just created/built" mantra to them.  I am looking forward to doing lots of crafts outdoors this summer; we did some dot painting at the picnic table the next day.  More to come, and hopefully we'll have our DIY outdoor paint easel done soon!

Last Day of Preschool

Tuesday was the boys' last morning of preschool until next September.  As we were running out the door in the morning, I remembered that I took a picture of them on the front step before their first day and thought it would be fun to take a "last day" shot.  It was pure luck that they were almost in the exact same positions and that Owen was on the left and Oliver on the right in both pictures!  Crazy how much they've grown in 9 months!  The excited and unsure faces from last September have turned into cool and confident smiles.  When I pulled up in the pickup line to take them home, they walked out in adorable little graduation caps made out of construction paper.  Owen took on the "school's out for summer!" attitude and immediately threw his to the ground, while Oliver lingered for pictures and hugs with his teacher.  When we arrived home I took a few more out in the yard and then unloaded the bags of artwork and crafts they brought home.  I surprised them with a new Lightning McQueen bicycle with training wheels to go along with the Mickey Mouse one we found over the weekend.  Spencie and I had fun on our last morning out alone, sharing a Starbucks muffin and riding the choo choo train at the mall.  I have a feeling that he's going to be more than ready and confident to start preschool next fall - especially since he's already participated in a few parties in the 2's classroom and will have Owen and Oliver in the room right next door and share playground time together.  He already says, "I want to go preschool!!"