"Mom, do we have any oil pastels?"

This question strikes fear in the heart of a woman whose highest artistic achievement is a stick figure. But Daniel spent the last two weeks at school in a unit focused on art and has loved the exploration. Yet another benefit of his mornings away from me, since he'd never get any artistic instruction worth a hoot from me! The culmination of these two weeks was an art show this afternoon at the school. We got up from naps a bit early and headed back down to see the "gallery" and have a snack with Daniel's class. The teachers really did a nice job displaying the variety of media they've explored--paint, photography, sculpture, watercolor, crayons, pencil and a mixed-media masterpiece. (The oil pastel is mounted at bottom right, next to the large "masterpiece.)

Of all his efforts, though, the most entertaining to us was the title he gave this piece (I think you'll have to click on it to get an image large enough to read the mounted label):


This was our second afternoon return trip to school this week. On Wednesday we went back so Edward could join his class in sending the five-year-olds off to kindergarten with a small but sweet graduation ceremony. He's already talking about how "next time it's August I'll go to kindergarten." How quickly that will come. Actually though, I found myself a bit melancholy as the first day of school approached. I truly do not dwell on the "what ifs" and "should have beens" on a daily basis, but there are certain milestones that amplify our loss of Will, and this was one of them. We decided to follow the example of another couple we heard speak about their loss a few years back, purchasing a full set of school supplies and donating them to our local elementary school. As friends with whom I'd shared my first pregnancy posted pictures of their beaming kindergartners on Facebook, it gave me some comfort to know that a child who might not have had a backpack, nap rug, reusable water bottle and other items that their classmates brought from home, was outfitted in memory of Will.

The gloom doesn't linger long though. How could it when we're surrounded by this type of exuberance?At some point last week, it was no longer enough simply to jump from the couch. A cape was required for full superhero effect. John pulled out a couple of old shirts and we tied them on with the sleeves. The boys ran and jumped and saved the world. This is partially inspired by Edward's new Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story) fascination, but Buzz is an astronaut not a caped superhero, so there's been some adaptation. However, the catch phrase is in rotation: "To infinity, and beyond!" Edward tries to teach Daniel the proper pronunciation, but we still giggle to hear "Buzz Lightyear. In Buffinity and beyond!"

Another fictional character who is popular in our house right now: Lentil, from the Robert McCloskey book of the same title. It's about a boy who can't sing or whistle so he learns to play the harmonica. We have a plastic harmonica that the boys like to toot around. Daniel recently asked me if I know how to play "the re-monica." On Sunday morning, while I was in the shower and John was patiently trying to help Daniel in the bathroom downstairs, Edward started calling down asking if he could play his harmonica in the bathtub upstairs. (Lentil does this because "the tone is improved 100 percent.) John managed to put him off until the downstairs bathroom business was finished, but eventually, boy, pillow and harmonica were all laid out in the bathtub.


Later that day, we celebrated what would be a brief reprieve from the oppressive humidity with lunch al fresco. We had four lovely warm days/cool nights with no air conditioning, but we're back to swamp now.
Two Saturdays ago we took a trip to Chariton to help John's grandpa celebrate his 90th birthday! We had lunch at a local restaurant where our boys impressed both their great-grandfather and the cook by chowing down on a full dinner-plate-sized pancake each. It was a small enough restaurant that the cook was the one to clear the plates and he actually asked, "Did they eat ALL of that?" Yes, these boys know how to eat. Then we played in the town square gazebo for a few minutes before heading out to the nursing home to share birthday cupcakes with John's grandma. Luckily it was a nice enough day that we could picnic under a shady tree on the grounds, giving the boys plenty of room to run without disturbing the residents. By the time we left, it was two hours past their usual nap time and they were both glassy-eyed with exhaustion. Unfortunately, the only sleep on the way home was the 20 minutes it took to get to the next town where we needed to stop for gas and bathroom. After that they would not settle. It was a long two hours back to Iowa City. My resolve against the car DVD is getting thinner by the road trip.


And finally tonight, a special birthday wish for my mom, who was not home when we called, but has a round of "Happy Birthday" waiting on her voicemail and (we hope) a card in her mailbox. Happy birthday, Mom!

This is where Daniel took his Monday afternoon nap:
This is Daniel climbing in to bed on Monday night:
In between, my parents arrived in a rental truck filled with items they are divesting in their efforts to prepare for one day (soon?) departing our childhood home. Among the items was a full-size mattress and box spring, which we installed in Ed's room (using the back side of the crib as the headboard. (The crib front was supposed to be the footboard, but it didn't fit right and we deemed it unnecessary.)
We then moved the twin bed into Daniel's room and got it set with a guard rail to ensure he stays put. While all this construction was under way, my parents took the boys to their hotel pool for two hours. By the time they got back, we were done and they were exhausted. Perfect combination! They were so tired that they slept without a peep the whole night, even through a very loud thunderstorm.
It just happens that earlier this summer we started having issues with Daniel waking earlier and earlier each day and crying from his crib, demanding to wake up. When the calls edged toward 5:15 a.m. (!) we bought a timer for his lamp and set it to turn on at an acceptable hour. We told him he could not wake up until his light turned on, and after a few days, he got with the program. We hope this training will stick now that he has more freedom of movement. I'm sure we'll eventually have some issues with unauthorized night or early-morning wandering, but for now, he seems pleased with the new arrangement.

Just squeezing in one last July post so as not to suffer the blogger humiliation of only two posts in the whole month. The shame!We've been keeping busy with cool indoor and wet outdoor entertainment, key to surviving the sticky July that has descended upon us. On days when we're just not up to dragging out the whole pool and watching the water meter tick as we fill it, we've had some fun with a simple sprinkler. The first one broke after being stepped on too many times, but was quickly replaced with a cheap, flat model that probably would be useless at actually watering a garden, but is perfect for boys running and leaping.
This week also marked the annual Johnson County Fair, an event we barely even knew existed before we had kids, but now would not miss. The boys got to see one of their favorite firefighters and found out that he'd been promoted since the last visit. So they've had to modify their role playing to "Captain Jason" instead of mere "Firefighter Jason." Good thing they've met plenty of other firefighters in our frequent visits to the station; there are enough names to go around, including finally one for me. I get to be "Battalion Chief Tina." I can't tell you how pleased I am that the first female firefighter they met was the boss!
There was plenty of farm equipment on hand at the fair. Edward was suitably impressed with the size of the tires on this combine. Daniel was more interested in climbing all the way up, which was fine until we had to figure out how to get him down.
But it was not all fun and games at the fair this year. When it came time for the rides, Daniel was determined to follow Edward's lead and bravely got on the tilt-a-whirl with John and Ed. John reported that as soon as it started moving, Daniel said, "Daddy, I'm done!" but he didn't cry and got off saying he liked it. But then he would not be dissuaded from this "roller coaster."
It's not big, but it was definitely scary. On the third time around after seeing this face, we flagged the operator who stopped the ride to let him off.
He was going to keep going for Edward and the other kid, but they decided they'd had enough as well. Beware the crocodile! We tried to persuade him to go back to one of the tame rides like the car he'd already ridden so he would not leave with that fear, but he was done.
So Ed used up the rest of the tickets. He remains adamant that pink is his favorite color and was thrilled to be able to select his motorcycle for his ride. He did ask about the helmet, but we explained that a ride is different from an actual motorcycle, so he didn't have to call out "bad choice" to himself.
Another first for all of us that evening was the "tractor pull." For the city folk out there, this is an event wherein drivers of various vehicles (including tractors) vie to see who can pull a weighted, flat trailer the farthest across a dirt field. The part we saw was pick-up trucks; we didn't stay long enough for the tractor part of the event. Although I've lived in Iowa long enough now that I truly think of myself as an Iowan, my urban roots were showing at my absolute amazement at the crowd gathered to watch this spectacle. I kid you not, there were at least 1,000 people in the bleachers and up the grassy hillside next to the field. It was quite loud, and soon after we sat down, someone behind us offered us ear plugs for the kids (who were clamping their hands over their ears--lots of practice on that this summer!) We thanked him, but explained that we weren't staying long. Two pulls and we were gone.

John took Edward to his first movie in the theater on Friday afternoon--Toy Story 3. They both had a great time, and Daniel was basically none the wiser. He knew Dad and Edward were "out" and we met them for dinner after the movie, but I don't think he realizes that Edward's obsession with Buzz Lightyear was renewed by anything other than the DVDs of the first two movies they've both seen at home. Well, Daniel has seen snippets. He never sits still for more than about 10 minutes, which is perfectly fine. Actually, Ed had never seen an entire movie in one sitting either, but John said he did fine. (For those who have seen the movie, John claims he did not cry at the end, but "it was close.") Edward has temporarily turned his firefighter gear into Buzz Lightyear gear and has added an unsharpened pencil, which serves as his laser. Before it is deployed, a warning is frequently issued: "I'm going to "laze" you!"

Even before the movie theater, "Toy Story" almost complicated my life. Edward's class had earned a prize for good behavior and voted on "costume day" as their treat. A week in advance I started reminding Edward that if he wanted to dress in anything other than his firefighter costume he had to let me know soon so we could figure out another costume. I could just picture a bedtime request the night before! So three days in advance, he timidly said he'd changed his mind and wanted to be "a farmer." I asked what that would entail and he detailed "a hat, boots, and vest with black and white spots." Oh. No. He's describing Woody, the cowboy. Did I want to go shopping for and/or spend money on cowboy boots & hat or try to fashion some sort of acceptable vest??? Not in this lifetime. Think. Think.

"Hey, Edward. What if we tied a rope around your swim ring and you could wear your swimsuit and a visor AND a whistle. You could be a lifeguard!!" Lots of build up here. Breathless. Dramatic. Hook, line and sinker. He totally bought it. The only thing was that he insisted that lifeguards wear red swimsuits and he has a blue one and a brown one with sharks all over it. Hmmm... Well, he figured that one out on his own--he has a pair of mesh athletic shorts that are black and red, and this was deemed acceptable. At the last minute, we realized he could wear them inside out and they'd be all red. A hit! I did buy the shirt for $3 on summer clearance, but even then he almost didn't wear it because it wasn't red.
My summer class ended Wednesday, and I now have four weeks off before the fall semester. Lots of reading to catch up on before I dive back in!

In honor of the hottest day so far this summer, we headed out to one of the areas largest expanses of asphalt yesterday morning. Genius.

Actually, it was our third annual visit to the Crusin' for Kids car show at the Kinnick Stadium parking lot, a benefit for Children's Miracle Network. Grandpa likes to see those from his high-school era, including this BMW, a version of which a friend of his owned back in the day. Must have been quite the thing for tooling around Fort Dodge.

The boys were eager to see a real "monster truck" which we have lately been successful in explaining was not a truck filled with monsters or a monster in the shape of a truck, but only a very large truck--as big as a monster. They were not disappointed--we saw two. Edward also picked up on the term "muscle car" at this event last year and has had that on his vehicle watch list ever since. He sometimes thinks any loud car (e.g. broken muffler) is a muscle car, but may be picking up on the subtleties of a souped up car that is intentionally loud.

The owner of this car suggested that Daniel honk the horn, but did not warn the boys of its old-fashioned "ah-OOO-ga" sound. They were not amused. However, they quickly recovered and Edward decided he needed to take a crack at it as well. He was better prepared for the second one (notice the use of the elbow to engage the horn...probably not in the driver's manual.)

We were glad our own cars stayed in the shadow of the Kinnick Press Box the whole time we were there. We then headed over to the Iowa City Book Festival, a relatively new event that had beefed up its kids programming for its second year. There was shady grass seating for the kids to watch a clown/puppet show that kept them giggling for about 20 minutes. Then on to the art tent to make book marks and a "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" craft. But what we were really waiting for was the appearance by everyone's favorite monkey, Curious George.


Daniel was so enthralled he just could not walk away.

Even when he moved aside to give other kids a turn, he stayed close and even petted George's leg. (Note: we were all surprised at how tall George was. We wondered how tall the Man with the Yellow Hat would have to be to retain the proportion of the book illustrations...)
We finally managed to drag him away and headed home for naps, but it was a very exciting morning all told. After a nice long nap time, we headed over to the splash pad for some cool, wet fun.

Today's afternoon fun was the new pool I found on clearance at K-Mart this morning. Our first kiddie pool was purchased when Edward was 18 months and was just about perfect for that age, but by last summer it was clear it could no longer contain both growing boys. While it was a warm afternoon, it was not humid (what??) and there was a nice cooling breeze, so after a while the boys started to get cold in their wet t-shirts. Since the pool was fully in the shade by then, we had them expose their white bellies and they were able to get in some more splashing before drying off and calling it an afternoon.

Well, I think I've given the "Edward getting lost" story top billing for long enough. Perhaps it's time for a mid-summer update. Appropriately enough, the first few tidbits are agricultural.

Beans! Edward's beans finally were ready to harvest last week. He got six. But quantity was not an issue. He was thrilled to pick them, and, John reports, eager to eat them. (It was Wednesday so I was at class.) There may be more, but probably not ever enough all at the same time for everyone to have a serving. Lesson for next year--not all the seeds will produce stalks.

Blueberries! We'd been reading Robert McCloskey's "Blueberries for Sal" and the boys were eager to go to "blueberry hill." This not being 1940s Maine with open fields of wild berries, we visited a local farm where you can pick your own over the July 4th weekend. Daniel was a bit nervous that there might be a bear, but we reassured him that there are no bears in Iowa. We had a great time, and the boys were surprisingly dexterous, picking only the ripe berries, not the mounds of green ones that are probably ready now. They even waited until we got back to the car to wash some berries before eating any, though we found out that they don't spray them at all, so it probably would have been OK to eat off the bush. A little dirt never hurt anyone, right? I'm hoping we'll go back again sometime this month.

(Note to self: don't dress kid in green shirt and green hat before attempting to take nature pictures.)

Farmer's market! We try to make it to the market each Saturday morning. Edward gets his own dollar (or two as needed) to pick something to purchase. (We also get a sweet treat to share--usually an apple turnover, delicious!) When it comes to the vegetables, he really likes the idea of "something new" and has picked a different one every week--asparagus, broccoli, spinach, onion, summer squash--all of which he has eaten and enjoyed. At first he thought he didn't like the asparagus, which wouldn't have surprised me, but after it sat on his plate a bit he gave it another try, this time actually taking a full bite (rather than touching it with his tongue and rejecting) and he ate it all and asked for more. He keeps asking if we can have it again, and I'm having a hard time explaining the seasonal nature of certain crops. Last night we had grilled summer squash with pesto--tasty! I suggested that we could grow zucchini/summer squash next year, which I may live to regret, as everyone I've ever known who has grown it has ended up with at least three times as much as they could possibly eat! (Note to self: Do not pose for picture two days before desperately-needed haircut after wearing a sun hat all morning in the berry fields.)

Fire station! On the way to the Farmer's Market one morning, the ladder truck drove right by us, and I guessed from its route and direction that it was headed back to the station, which is across from the market. We hurried our pace a bit and got there in time to see it back in, lights flashing. Then the boys wanted to go closer, and we discovered that the crew had just cleaned the truck bay and were all standing around with no immediate task. Our boys were welcomed by about eight firefighters, each one more eager than the next to show them a good time. They sat in the trucks, saw the rescue boat, explored some of the gear (though the ranking firefighter advised against actually trying on the hat since it's so heavy) and got bags full of coloring books, trading cards (with pictures of the trucks and the firefighters we met), stickers and temporary tattoos. They now think they own the place. We were in the area again Friday evening and saw a firefighter getting exercise by walking around the block carrying a radio to hear any potential call. The boys found this fascinating and insisted that we walk up to the truck bay again to see if the doors were open. They were, and the exercising firefighter was just getting back as we walked up. So he gave them the tour all over again. Apparently it never gets old.

Now when the boys play firefighter, they give each other the names of those we've met--Daniel usually is "Firefighter Mark," Edward is "Firefighter Jason or Lance" and John is "Firefighter Will." They tell me I'm the firefighter cook. I have a new goal to introduce them to one of Iowa City's female firefighters, lest they believe only men can do the job. This is their firetruck with Edward driving, Daniel sitting "on the hoses" and John relegated to the rear. In between calls, they "sleep" in the fire station (tent.)

Fireworks! Edward started talking about fireworks a few weeks before the 4th. I said I would take him, but we didn't make concrete plans. I figured if he forgot about it or was too tired, we'd skip it. (I actually love fireworks, so it wasn't an issue of me hoping he'd forget.) We had the most beautiful weather the week leading up to the 4th, but the day of was cloudy with torrential rains in the forecast. Those held off the whole day, until about 7:30 p.m. as we were leaving a cookout with friends. We headed home to put Daniel to bed, trying to prepare Edward for the fact that they couldn't have fireworks in the rain. He insisted that he still wanted to go, and it did stop raining, so at about 9 we set off.

We parked a few blocks south of the viewing point, walked over, and found a spot to set our chair. Waiting was difficult, but it was only about 20 minutes or so. The show in the next town over started a bit before ours and though all we could see was the flashing on the horizon, Ed thought it was the real thing. After a few minutes he said, "Are any of them going to be not white?" Shortly after that, our show started and Ed figured out the difference distance makes. He immediately clapped his hands over his ears and I thought he was going to want to leave, but he settled and was fine, as long as he covered his ears. After about 10 minutes he suddenly sat up, panicked: "Mom! I have an itch!" This was a momentary crisis, because to scratch would mean to remove his hands from his ears. We decided I'd cover his ears while he dealt with the itch. After about 15 minutes he said he was ready to leave. I think this was more about his limited attention span than anything else, because it wasn't during a particularly booming part of the show. It turned out to be for the best because as we were walking away the finale started, with the accompanying increase in decibel level. This was not greeted with enthusiasm. Keeping his hands over his ears, he started running ahead of me. It was a well-lit downtown area so I could keep up and keep track of him. He shouted: "I want to go where I can't hear it!" I told him we'd be able to hear it even back at our house, but that by the time we walked back to the car it would be over. It was, and by the time we were on our way home he declared the outing a success and said he liked fireworks. We'll see how he feels and what he remembers next year. By then I don't think Daniel will be denied. He was absolutely falling asleep this year and couldn't have made it until 10 p.m.

This weekend, the boys enjoyed a sleep-over at Grandma and Grandpa's while John and I went to Des Moines for a 40th birthday party for some dear friends who we do not get to see often enough. We all had a great time. When we called the next morning the boys were not ready to come home, and Grandma and Grandpa were agreeable to having them stay until late afternoon. John and I took the opportunity to out for brunch, but learned that we can't truly shake our parent routines, as we arrived an hour before they opened. No worries--we went to another place and had a delicious breakfast al fresco. By late afternoon though, John was getting antsy, and practically dashed out the door as soon as his mom called to say the boys were up from naps and ready to come home. It's so refreshing to have a break, but we do miss them when they're gone.

I made it through the "ouch" apex of the semester workload curve described here a few weeks ago. It's still busy, but not quite as all-consuming. Would be even better if all five team members were equal contributors to the effort. One in particular has been incredibly frustrating, in that he acknowledges he's not doing the work, but makes no effort to change his behavior. I should let it go, but it's hard. Three weeks to go.

Finally, I keep thinking I should write down some of Daniel's amusing expressions/lexicon, but then the time for blogging gets away from me. Here are some I can think of now, but I may have to come back to this list in the days/weeks ahead as more come to mind:

"muh-quipment"=equipment, usually on the playground
"frcycling"=recycling; can refer to the truck or the act of placing items in the bin
"lock it up"= unlock; yes, the opposite of the standard interpretation. Daniel has figured out how to lock the car door with his foot, which involves pushing down on the button. So when he wants me to unlock it, he knows it has to come back up, hence, lock it "up."

We finally had an afternoon free of storms, so what did we do? Headed out in search of water. Play water that is--Iowa City's first splashpad, which opened a few weeks ago. The kids had an absolute blast, but were torn between the water and the adjacent playground.
(Style note: John does NOT approve of my hat selection. It was $1 at the second hand store and it dries quickly. What can I say.)They resolved the dilemma by migrating freely between the two. It seemed this was a common approach, but it was a bit difficult for me as they didn't always coordinate their shifting attentions. I'm on heightened alert after a missing child scare on Sunday.

Edward got lost in the after-church crowd. It was only about 5 minutes, but very scary for all involved. There was an outdoor reception for our departing priest. Edward knew there would be treats and was making a beeline for the food table. Our friend who sits with us most weeks and is legally blind (though still with some vision) was having trouble in the transition from dark church to bright sunlight and couldn't see where the priest was to say good-bye. I took a moment to guide her and when I was done, Edward was nowhere to be seen.

Keep in mind that our church is crowded so probably 100-150 people were milling about. I looked all over and didn't see him. A friend of mine saw me with just Daniel, and could tell without my saying anything that I was getting frantic. She grabbed Daniel so I could keep looking. She also went back into church to see if he'd gone back. Another friend headed for the church basement. Nothing. I even lifted the tablecloth on the food table to see if he'd decided to hide under there. Nada.

FREAKING OUT!

Then I saw another woman (grandma-ish age) leading him back toward me. I recognized her, but don't know her. She'd found him alone and asked if he was lost. He told her he thought I'd left without him, and she asked my name and what color our car was. Then she took him across to the parking lot to look for me. He later said he thought he had seen me walking toward the parking lot. At some point, he told her he wanted to go back, so they did and that's when we found each other. (I know she had good intentions, but I'm wondering why she thought a parent would simply leave without a four-year-old child? If she'd stayed where she found him, it all would have ended much sooner.)

Of course we both started bawling as I'm squeezing him as hard as I could. I thanked the woman and we ran to find our other friends to let them know the search was over. And it turned out he'd never gotten his treat, so we went back to the food table and had a bite of danish and a glass of juice to calm down. He actually was not as upset as I would have expected. It definitely took me longer to regain composure than it did him!

So we had a lot of short talks the rest of the day about why we always insist on holding hands in crowded places and that the best thing is to stay right where you are when you realize you can't find Mom or Dad. If someone offers to help you ask them to wait with you. (We tried a little practice at home later in the evening, but it wasn't very realistic.)

Needless to say, at this Sunday's departing priest reception (both of our priests have been transferred simultaneously--great management, Archdiocese!) all hands will be held tightly!

We're at the end of a solid week of rain and looking forward to a sunny Wednesday. Today was the most dramatic of this series of rainy days with two inches in an hour this morning (around 11 a.m.) that caused flash flooding. It wasn't near our house, but unfortunately, John got caught out in it. He was leaving a meeting and thought his umbrella would suffice for the two blocks he had to walk to his car. Not so. He reported that water was flowing over every curb and there simply was no way to walk around puddles. He ended up soaked from head to toe and had to come home to change before heading back to work. On his way home he had to detour around a road that was covered in water. It's all gone now, but was an eerie reminder of this time two years ago.

On one of the rainy afternoons, I decided a new distraction was needed and brought out an easel we'd had stashed in the basement. This was one some friends had given us when they packed up the house their kids had grown up in and left town to retire in Colorado. We also have one that was a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa, but that one wasn't assembled yet. Besides, I thought, it has two sides--chalk and whiteboard. Surely they can share, right? Well, theoretically, yes. But it seemed that as soon as one would move to one side the other only wanted that side. Then when I'd do too good a sales job in attempting to convince one to try the other side and they'd both want it. Another complication was that we only had one dry erase marker. Plenty of chalk, but of course once there was only one of something, they both had to have it.

We rectified the situation over the weekend, purchasing more markers and assembling the other easel. Then they started begging to paint. We really tried to deflect, but rain, rain, rain. Inside with dwindling entertainment options, we told them they could paint after naps on Sunday. They had an absolute blast, and it wasn't as messy as I'd feared. Don't get me wrong, it was MESSY, but the paint wiped easily from all surfaces and skin.

As John noted, they are proponents of the "more is best" school and just piled the paint on. He tried to show them how to scrape the brush on the edge of the cup before brushing on the paper to no avail. Daniel's paper actually disintegrated right at eye level, even as we encouraged him to "paint higher" and use the whole sheet. We hung them "to dry" on our back porch, but it was so humid that they were still sopping wet four hours later. With more rain expected overnight, we brought them in and hung on the kitchen wall behind our table. This is certainly not most people's idea of interior decorating, but we're not that particular.

As noted previously, we spent Memorial Day weekend in Evanston with my parents and were also able to see three of my five siblings. Nora lives in Chicago, Ann and family were planning to come down for a day to celebrate her Katherine's 4th bday, but the real surprise was that my brother P.J. was in town for a professional meeting and held over an extra day to go to a Cubs game. It was great to see him, though the boys demanded to know where Sean was. I was bummed that a deadline for my class meant I had to do homework Friday night instead of hanging out with the adults after putting the kids to bed.

Daniel slept in a real bed for the first time--bottom bunk of the ancestral bunk beds that still grace one bedroom of my parents' home. He fell out despite our creation of a blanket berm under the fitted sheet. But it's not far off the floor so he didn't get hurt. As part of my parents' process of cleaning out the house, they're planning to give us a mattress and box spring that will become Edward's bed and we'll move Edward's twin to Daniel's room. I do like being able to confine him, especially as he's taken to having almighty tantrums recently, but I know it's time to say good-bye to the crib (which will convert to the head- and footboards for Edward's bed.)

When my sister's family came down from Milwaukee, her older two girls brought their bikes. Katherine's was brand new from her birthday that week, but she still graciously shared with Edward who was thrilled to race up and down with Maggie. We'd brought our helmets, but didn't have room for the bikes.
Daniel and Abby shared a snack on the picnic blanket. Daniel was highly amused by Abby's preferred method of locomotion and began to imitate her. Even now, he'll sometimes drop to the floor and scoot along saying, "I'm 'cooting like Abby!"
Much to John's dismay, I am currently sharing a childhood favorite, "Mary Poppins" with the boys. Daniel doesn't really pay attention to TV (though he did like the scene with the animated penguins serving tea while they're "in the chalk drawing") but Edward is fascinated. It's so fun to watch his face light up at the magic. No babysitter will ever live up to his new expectations. We also started another "big kid" activity with Edward of reading one chapter a night from a longer story. It's hard to know how much he's gleaning, but he asks a lot of questions and remembers from one night to the next what happened, so I think it's going well. Plus it gives us some relief from reading the SAME favorite books night after night! We're reading Beverly Cleary's "The Mouse and the Motorcycle."

And speaking of motorcycles and other two-wheeled vehicles, our boys have started not only pointing them out while we're driving, but also calling out "bad choice!" if the rider happens not to be wearing a helmet and "good choice!" if the rider is properly protected. Edward even chastised one of the college students who works part time at the daycare after we saw him leaving helmet-less on his moped one afternoon. The next day he said to me, "Edward busted me for not wearing my helmet." He claimed he'd left it at home when dashing out in a rush. Edward bought it, but will be on the look out in the future.

No time for a full post, but here are a couple of pictures to tide you over. During our Memorial Day trip to Evanston, we took an after-dinner trip to the beach. We avoided the crowds and the strongest sun this way. I assumed the water would be icy (childhood memories of leg-numbing waters) but it actually was tolerable to stand in. The air temp was only in the 60s so this may have contributed to the water feeling warmer. Still didn't think I'd want to fully submerge as others were doing. The boys didn't let their lack of swimsuits deter them. Slowly, slowly that waterline crept up their shorts. They had an absolute blast.