Residency Graduation

I hate that summer is half over!  I don't know where the time has gone.  We haven't gone on any trips or anything, we've just enjoyed hanging out together.  The most significant thing that has happened this summer is definitely Dan's graduation at the end of June.  It was very bittersweet for him because he loved working at the hospital and he loves his fellow residents.  He's worked incredibly hard for the last 3 years, and I'm so very proud.  We had a wonderful time at his graduation dinner.  You gotta love pediatrics - even though it was a semi-formal event, everyone's kids were invited. :)

It was such a beautiful night, I made the kids pose for pictures on the bridge to the restaurant while Dan was parking the car.

 

 It was so nice to have my parents there too.

  Jonah played under the table for a bit.

Kevin put his head down when he got tired.  He didn't actually sleep, but he stayed relaxed and calm.  The alternatives could have been: throw a big tantrum, run around like a crazy person, or start a fight with his sister. I was so glad that he made a responsible decision for himself. He's getting so big.

 There was a wonderful and funny video presentation.

 Tired but happy kids.

 There was a caricature of each resident.  Dan and the rest of us in the background are dressed like farmers just like we did for the Harvest Ball at the 2013 retreat.

 With the 3 chief residents:  Brad, Mark, and Kate

 

 

 Time to try to get 3 kids to smile for family pictures at 9:30 at night:

 They did very well.  One last photo of my parents.

 Final picture of the night. Isn't Daniel handsome? :)

Afternoon at the Museum

Look it's a big rubber duck!

 The local art museum has been closed over a year due to a huge renovation.  When they reopened, they did it in a BIG way with "Rubber Duck" by Florentijn Hofman in front of the museum.  My kids loved it and didn't want to go inside to check out the rest of the art.  We did eventually make it inside, but Jonah couldn't wait to go back out and see the duck when we were done exploring.

 

 My mom came too!

 Elena wanted to pose in front of the pink glass collection.

 So, Kevin found something blue to stand next to.  He wants to do everything Elena does.

 I love this Tiffany stained glass window.

 Apparently, I put my camera away after the glass wing and didn't remember to take it out again until the end.  They have a room where kids can try to recreate a section of this painting.  Elena did the bottom corner... 

 ...and Kevin drew the flying metal machine in the middle.  It's impossible to see with the huge flash reflection, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

 One last look.  Did I mention that my dad was running errands near the museum that day and surprised us while we were in the museum.  So fun. I'm so glad that I picked Elena up from school early so that she could join in the fun. I'm soooo ready to have her home for the summer!

For the First Time in Forever

Elena and her friend Lauren had been singing Frozen songs on the bus together for months, so when they heard about the school talent show, they were both thrilled at the idea. They practiced here at our house and attended 5 mandatory weekly rehearsals.  They were prepared and excited.  I was amazed (and jealous) at their lack of stage fright. They loved the song and their outfits (Thank you, Mom, for making the 2 capes).  

I couldn't get the video to upload, but it is on facebook if we're friends you should TOTALLY check it out.  Plus I'm turning my blog into little journal books, so I guess the video isn't really necessary here anyway.  Just trust me when I say that they were adorable.  Heck you don't have to trust me, here are some pictures. Just picture these two cuties on stage singing and you can imagine how well it went.  Lauren is of course Elsa and Elena is little sister Anna.  Hard to believe they are both first graders - it's quite the height difference. :)

They sang with confidence and a few cute little hand motions. Lauren did a spin towards the end and Elena's curtsies before she left the stage couldn't have been more ladylike. :) Their microphones cut out for a few seconds in the middle (Dang cell phone interference!), but they got right back on track.  I loved how much they enjoyed themselves.  It was wonderful too that Dan actually had that night off and was able to come.  I kind of can't believe that he was able to make it to her piano recital and the talent show.  Such good luck for us!

In case she didn't get to dress up enough at Thursday night's dress rehearsal and at the Friday night performance, Friday at school was Career Day.  The students were supposed to dress as if they were going to work that day in their chosen field.  So: Elena went as a ballet teacher.  I love her.

Easter 2014

Family photo with the Easter Bunny at Busch Gardens.  We couldn't resist.  They had the cutest setup, and he had just come back from break, so there was no line.

We had a wonderful Easter:  Elena had Spring Break the week before Easter and Dan took that week off too.  It was a perfect staycation.  Plus it was almost a free week which makes it even better.  Thank goodness that between me and my mom/dad, we have passes to most of the local attractions.  We also had a wonderful Easter Sunday:  lovely day at church, awesome dinner at my parents, egg hunt in the backyard.  I love holidays so much and it makes me so happy when everything goes smoothly.  Here are the highlights of our week.

THURSDAY night:  We started the "Week of Fun" off early.  We went to the circus on Thursday night - which, not coincidentally, if half price night.  The kids loved it.  It was their first time ever.

They were very impressed with the Ball of Steel.  The boys loved it for obvious reasons and Elena was rooting for the girl who wore hot pink.

Yay circus fun!

SATURDAY:  Elena had her piano recital and we loved being there for it.  I'm so glad that it worked out that Dan was able to come.  He has missed out on so much the last 3 years because of work.  It was so perfect that he was able to get Elena's Spring Break off and that her recital was during that time.  She did great and wasn't nervous.

After the recital, we went to Toys R Us where they had a Lego Built It make and take.  We surprised the kids.  They didn't know until they were in line that they would each be receiving and building Emmet's car from the Lego movie.  I didn't get any pictures from that, but here's one of Jonah loving this pink cart.  He pushed it around half the store.

MONDAY:  The Zoo (and the weather was perfect)

My cuties in front of the giraffe habitat.

The Fennec fox is a favorite because he's so cute.  You can barely see him curled up in the back.

TUESDAY:  The Aquarium (it was pretty crowded due to rain, but we had a great time)

Gloria the tomistoma was chillin' with all 3 kids looking on.

WEDNESDAY:  The Museum of Contemporary Art

They had an exhibit on Vik Muniz which we absolutely loved!  We watched his documentary called "Wasteland" on Netflix that night.  It was so good.  Coincidentally Dan had seen it before and was able to tell us all about the artist as we walked through the exhibit. We weren't sure what to expect taking 3 kids to a modern art museum, but we Elena had gotten a free family pass at school, so we risked it. :)

We couldn't take pictures of the artwork at this museum, but they did have a create your art room, so I took pictures here.  The kids used recyclable materials to make a teddy bear on the magnetic board below.  The kids and Dan also made collages.

Jonah took a nice nap at the museum and woke up a little at the end to run around.

Their finished products

The one photograph-able and permanent piece of artwork at the museum:

Dan was intrigued by the statement being made by the artist of this particular piece.

THURSDAY:  It was a chilly day, but we took a risk and went to Busch Gardens.  We ended up having a great time and not being too cold - we brought lots of layers for the kids.  

Kevin is very interested in volcanoes and Pompeii right now, so we talked him into going on "Escape from Pompeii". This picture was taken in the boat on our way up.  He's being so brave.  You can see the end of the ride in the background.  He didn't like the fire, the falling statues, or the drop at the end, but at least he was willing to try it!

Afterwards, we took him on his favorite ride: St Elmo's Spire.  It just goes up and down.

Posing with the tulips:

All three can ride this one at once.  It's a favorite.

Speaking of favorites: funnel cake with strawberries, ice cream, and hot fudge?  Yum!!!

FRIDAY:  Children's Museum. Check out my cute boy blowing bubbles!

Friday afternoon when we returned from the museum, we dyed Easter eggs. Kevin knocked the blue dye off the table.  Luckily it washed off in the bath.  I thought it would be hilarious if he had a blue foot and thigh for a couple weeks.

Sweetie girl was so careful with her eggs and decorated them each with stickers, glitter, and pompoms.

Jonah needed help of course, but was happy to dye eggs for a couple minutes before he ran off to play.

The finished products:

SATURDAY:  Kevin and Elena were invited to Chuck E  Cheese to celebrate a friend's birthday.  Other that this one outing, we let Saturday be a laid-back day since the week as a whole had been pretty nonstop.  I like this picture because it shows how intense Kevin is when he plays air hockey (or any game really).

Elena and Kevin with Elena and Victoria and Chuck E.

EASTER SUNDAY: The baskets (in age order from left to right starting with Dan)

Sunday evening at Granny and Grandad's.

 

Dapper dude

"Look, Mom! I have 4!"

They were so quick, it was hard to get a picture of them while they were searching.