Slip 'n Slide

We bought a Slip 'n Slide for the kids to play with this summer. It was in the 80's today, so we had our inaugural run. Here are some pictures:

William in action:


Tessa loved her new swimsuit:
Henry and a neighborhood friend:


It was hard to get good pictures since they were basically running around the entire time. Oh well. I imagine I'll have plenty of practice this summer. Between the Slip 'n Slide and the crazy water hose attachment that we have left from last summer, there was lots of water flying around our backyard. Throw in a few popsicles and you've got yourself a party!

To Pedal or Not to Pedal

I realized the other day that I hadn't yet posted any pictures or video of Tessa on her new trike. We have a cute video from her birthday, but the picture is sideways and I haven't fooled around with the software enough to figure out if I can rotate it.

Another issue is that it's taken her a while to figure out how to pedal. It's one of those things you don't realize that you, as a parent, have to do - teach your kid how to pedal. There are only so many ways to coach them on it so you really just have to let them figure it out. Today was the day for Tessa, so here is a video of her riding her bike. As a bonus, you get to hear her name the princesses on the little plastic bag that attaches to the handlebars:

Spilling the Beans

Yesterday we told the kids about our trip to Southern California. We decided to have a Family Home Evening of ice cream cones at Casper's and brainstorming fun things to do this summer. Henry was a little upset that I didn't sign him up for the sports camp that he did last year and William kept talking about going to the beach so we decided to tell them. It was kind of funny - they came up with going to California on their own because, according to Henry, "it's sunny there", as if we are perpetually shrouded in fog and gloom. Anyway, we told them that we would be seeing their California cousins. It literally took Henry 3 minutes (we timed it) to ask if we could see the Anaheim Angels play baseball, preferably against the NY Yankees. He was overjoyed when we told him that we ordered tickets to a game months ago. William was excited about the beach - he wants to collect seashells. Funnily enough, no one seems that jazzed about Disneyland. William said that "princesses live there" so "it's not in my interest" (and yes, that's a direct quote from him). But we told him that Disneyland was so much more than princesses and that we would have a blast.

So it's out in the open. No more hiding Disneyland guidebooks in the closet or shutting down internet sites when one of the kids walks in the room. If you have any tips or must-sees at Disneyland, feel free to share. Jay and I tend to overthink things but we do want to have a game plan of sorts so we don't walk in the park and have our heads start spinning as we ask each other "what should we do first?" I've reserved a table for Tessa and I to have a Princess Luncheon at Ariel's Grotto in DCA (that's Disney's California Adventure to those in the know, according to my trusty guidebooks) and we have a general idea of all the rides we want to cover. We will stay late one night for sure to do the fireworks. We're getting a multi-day pass because they are having a deal on them and we figure it will give us some flexibility to maybe do an extra half day at the parks on Friday (the day we go to the baseball game) or even hit the park the first evening we are at the hotel, just to check it out and get our bearings. We'll see.

Our first family vacation with children. Driving. To California. In a minivan. With three kids under age 8. Wish us luck!

The Princess Party - Part 2

Today we celebrated Tessa's birthday - again. Since we haven't had a chance to get together with the extended Wright family yet this month, we had a Memorial Day weekend BBQ/Birthday Party. We had a really good time. The cousins are getting old enough to really enjoy playing together. Tessa helped me make brownies, complete with princess-themed sprinkles. And she received some really nice gifts, including lots of fun dress up shoes and jewelry, some Disney Princess Polly Pocket dolls, a Cinderella play pillow, a Tinker Bell lunch box, a Disney Princess purse, and a Disney Princess CD player/jewelry box. It was quite a lot of pink, but we're loving it! Here are a few pictures:

The cousins enjoying their ice cream:

The Dress-Up Diva:


Enjoying her dress up clothes, play pillow, and cd player. I knew that buying the soundtracks to The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King would pay off some day! So there, Jay (who mocked me mercilessly when we got married and merged our CD collection).

What a fun day!

p.s. Although I distinctly remember raised eyebrows from Jay when he discovered that his new wife owned Disney movie soundtracks (I was planning for the future, I tell you), you should know that he spent more time than he should have on iTunes finding just the right version of "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" to download. In case you were wondering, there are 150 versions available for purchase, including one labeled "Explicit". Really.

The 2nd Annual Wright Family Garden

We got our garden planted last weekend. Well, I shouldn't say we - Jay got our garden planted last weekend, with a little help from the rest of us. We really enjoyed our garden last year and are hoping to build on its success and have an even better harvest this year. With the help of a kind neighbor who took pity on Jay trying to till the garden with a woefully undersized rental tiller, we got it tilled a few weeks ago. And last Saturday Jay went to work. He planted tomatoes (in a spot up against the house as well as in the garden itself), several varieties of peppers, corn, potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, cantaloupe, watermelon, and a bunch of different herbs. He may have planted broccolli as well, but I don't remember. We have two pumpkin plants to put in, but we put them in another corner of the yard. And we have two rows of raspberry plants that we're hoping to get some raspberries from this year.

I would post a picture of what the garden looks like now, but it pretty much looks like a big patch of dirt with a few green plants sticking up. The kids keep forgetting where everything is planted so if they go into the garden they inevitably walk on top of a plant or two. But soon enough they'll be nice green sprouts coming up and it will be easy to get around to check on everything.

In conjunction with The Garden Project, we spent two Family Home Evening's discussing the reason that we garden. There are lots of reasons, actually - it's healthy, it saves money, it teaches us to work and plan and be responsible for growing something, and it's a good family project to have. William loves it. Tessa is enthusiastic. Henry, not so much. He wasn't happy when I informed him that he would be helping in the garden some this year. You would have thought that I had told him he was solely responsible for the upkeep and harvest between now and September. "But I don't like weeding", he wailed. I thought of so many sarcastic comments to make to him about all the things I don't like to do, but I refrained. Instead I informed him that garden maintenance was something that he would help with as a member of the family and that certainly he could take 20 minutes a week out of his busy schedule to pull a few weeds. We'll see how it goes.

So we're gardening again. Hooray. Hopefully we'll have a bountiful harvest with lots of yummy vegetables in a few months. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it all. Huh. Better start Googling.

Overheard...A Conversation with Grandma

First you should know that Grandma (my mom) lives in Alabama. So any conversations with Grandma, unless she calls, are purely imaginary.

Anyway, I was headed upstairs to get dressed this morning and heard Tessa say, "OK, Grandma". I stopped to peek downstairs and see what she was up to. She was holding a basket of food from her play kitchen and wearing her jammies and her Snow White shoes. What follows is a close approximation of the (one-sided) conversation:

"OK, Grandma. You can watch my baby. I am going on a picnic (hence the basket of food, I guess). I will be back later to play. But be sure not to throw up in your bed. Because that means you are sick and you won't get any French toast. OK, Grandma, I love you, Bye Bye."

Apparently Tessa is still upset over a-throwing up in her bed on Saturday night (and frankly, I don't blame her) and b-being denied French toast on Sunday morning because of the whole throwing up thing. On a happier note, she was getting a babysitter instead of leaving her baby unsupervised while she planned a picnic with a basket full of plastic food. Never let it be said that I don't teach my kids responsibility.

Emergency, Emergency

Today William's preschool class went on a field trip to the Smithfield Fire Station. They had a great time! They took a tour of the facility, sat in the fire trucks and in the ambulance, and tried on the firefighter's gear. It was a lot of fun!

Goal!

Here is a clip of Henry scoring a goal in tonight's game. He is number 8 in blue (streaking down the sideline). Or you could just look for the kid with Jay's hairline. Either way works.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is always a fun day at our house. The kids are young enough that they are pretty excited about any celebration that involves treats, even if they aren't the target of said celebration. Both William and Henry both made cute little Mother's Day gifts at school (Henry's is seen in the picture; I must say the sentiment is appreciated) that they informed me were "none of your business" until the big day arrived. Jay took the kids out on Saturday to choose a card, a treat (cheesecake - yummy), some flowers, and a gift (a nice gift certificate for a massage or facial at a local salon). They made French toast in the morning for breakfast. And they let me sleep in. Which isn't unusual, actually, since Jay is an early bird and is typically the one up with the kids in the morning.

This Mother's Day it was especially nice, since Tessa woke up throwing up around 2 am. Poor thing. We have all, except for Jay, been stricken with the stomach flu this past week (William was over a week ago, then Henry and I were sick on Tuesday night and Wednesday). We're not sure why the actual sickness is so spread out among us - usually we're like dominoes and everyone is sick and done with in fairly short period of time. We even thought that if Tessa wasn't sick by Saturday, we were probably in the clear. Yeah, right.

Since the Primary children were singing a Mother's Day medley at church today, the boys were quite upset that I might miss their performance and so Jay stayed home with Tessa. According to her, she watched Beauty and the Beast while "Daddy took a nap on the couch. During the day. Downstairs." This was quite funny to Tessa, apparently, but she behaved and quietly watched her movie while Jay took a cat nap. Meanwhile, at church, the boys alternately mugged and grinned (William) and stared woodenly at the congregation (Henry) during the aforementioned medley. But it's always cute and I gave them big hugs and kudos for a job well done.

At church they also passed out white roses to the women in the congregation as a Mother's Day gift. These gifts vary - sometimes it's a flower, sometimes a small booklet, occasionally a treat. Last year (I believe the gift was a single red rose), upon seeing the rose that I had been given, William blurted out "gosh, Mom, it's too bad you aren't a big fan of roses", much to the delight of the 20 people seated closest to us. He was warned this year, but that didn't stop him and Henry from dissolving into a fit of giggles as I admired my flower. What can I say? I prefer daisies. It's the thought that counts. And I certainly appreciate the thought.

All in all, a good day was had by all. Tessa seemed recovered well enough to join us in our dinner and cheesecake. I have a massage or facial or something to look forward to. And I, apparently, rock. What more could I ask for?

For Me?

Just a quick video of Tessa opening her Fisher Price castle on Saturday. She loved it. At least we think she did. The hugging of the box and the high-pitched squeal seem to clinch it.

Happy Birthday, Tessa!

Today is Tessa's 3rd birthday. She was born May 3, 2006 at 2:48 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is such a fun little girl. And we are so grateful that she is part of our family. We love you, Tessa!

The Princess Party

We celebrated Tessa's third birthday today. Her birthday isn't until tomorrow but Sunday birthdays can be hard, with church in the middle of the day like we have it this year. So we opted for a Saturday celebration. The day didn't start out well, to be honest; William woke up with a stomach bug (thankfully shortlived) and it rained cats and dogs for Henry's soccer game (in which he scored two goals). But we geared up to celebrate Tessa's birthday in true princess style:

She received a Fisher Price castle from Grandma that she absolutely loves: The boys gave her a Cinderella doll that you can dress up (kind of like Polly Pockets):

You know you're in trouble when the birthday cake requires it's own box:

We sent cake over to our neighbors because there was just so much of it, but the smile on her face was well worth it.

Tessa also got a new tricycle (Disney princess-themed, of course). We got some cute video of her on it that I'll post soon. All in all, she had a nice birthday party.