Amelia the Reader

At Amelia's school this year they've had a reading program that encourages the first graders to read over 100 books during the school year up to this point. Amelia read and read and kept track of everything, and managed today to earn the "Golden Apple Award." She got to go into school early to choose one of the library's brand new books for the librarian to put a name plate inside with her name and achievement on it. She also got to be the first person to check out the book, and got to take home a real apple and a little golden apple. The book is called "Miss Lina's Ballerinas." Here's a photo of her getting her name in the book.

Day in DC

Last week we took a little overnight trip to DC to check out the cherry blossoms. We really enjoyed it! We hit the road Thurs. night and put the kids straight to bed in our hotel room. In the morning we turned on the TV while we were getting ready and before I could change the channel the boys spotted a monster truck rally. They'd never seen one before, but they were positive that it would be great, so I let them watch it with the sound off. I truly think it was Colin's favorite part of the whole trip! We got on the Metro pretty early and made it to the Tidal Basin to see the cherry blossoms and the Jefferson Memorial (which I've never seen before). It was rainy, which added some excitement for the kids and kept some of the crowds away. We also made it to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum before heading back to Philly. It was such a fun and easy trip that we vowed to go back soon.

Wild Animals

We had some time to kill one afternoon during Lauren's visit, so we entertained the kids by helping them whip up some animal masks with some craft stuff that was hanging around. The results were interesting, made even more so by the terrifying growling/screaming that they felt inspired to do while wearing them. (Note the animal jammies.)

Father's Breakfast

Mike and Colin had a great time this year at the annual Father's Breakfast at preschool. There's always food and a little program where the kids sing. Here they are getting ready to indulge in bagels, orange juice, and mini cinnamon rolls.

Standing around looking cool with his buddy, Albert, while he waits to sing.

"If you're happy and you know it shout..."