We had a great afternoon. Mama woke us up early from our naps to go to the park with our neighbors. We got there a little late because we all took naps today, but mama was happy that we all woke up in good moods, which is pretty rare when we're woken up.
It was a great day to be outside. Baby Christopher was in a great mood. Mama almost traded me for him; he's so sweet and chunky.
We didn't get many pictures of the boys playing because Miss Kerri and Miss Juliet were clever enough to bring a ton of sand toys. The boys spent the entire afternoon playing with trucks in the sand and there were hardly any tiffs over sharing toys. James filled his car up with sand.
Andy played in the other sand pit.
John pushed his truck around in the grass while Henry spent the whole time filling up a toy garbage truck one stone at a time. We've got to find one of those little Waste Management trucks.
While the boys were playing with their trucks, I played on the playground. I managed to climb all the way up the 10 foot tall twisty slide by myself. Mama is thinking about enrolling me in a gymnastics class this summer. (By the way, could I be any cuter in my little tennis dress and cap?)
I headed straight to the sandbox as soon as mama slathered me up in sunblock, so I had a nice gritty coating for the rest of the day. I wonder if sand has a natural SPF.
Mama cracked me up by peeking through the holes in the tunnel. This may be our new favorite picture.
I keep begging mama and for a dog. They said I can hang out with Keats, John's dog. And Miss Juliet said we are welcome to walk him whenever we want.
After the park, we got a big treat- we went out to eat at a restaurant! A real sit-down restaurant even! We were very good and even ate the grilled cheese we ordered. Looks like we need to take advantage of two well-behaved kids while we still have time before the baby comes.
After supper, we got to go to the baseball game. We sat in the stands for the obligatory 10 minutes before we were too antsy to sit any longer.
Henry was so excited to see that we sat by a friend from school- J.D. And his parents let him come run around with us in the grass.
The boys had a great time playing tag and climbing the fence.
J.D. is in tee-ball this year and is very athletic. He taught Henry how to slide. Next time we'll dress Henry in pants so he can slide a little better.
The boys fun and were pretty bummed we had to leave to come home and put me to bed.
Henry has really been a pleasant kid lately. He's hit a great age where there isn't too much fighting or whining. We've talked about how Henry doesn't care much for doing chores for money, but loves the idea of earning books. Today, mama went to the thrift store and picked up a few more books. (We found more Dave Ramsey for kids books, Aunt Elizabeth.) Henry couldn't stand the idea of not getting a new book so he insisted they head outside and plant the new plants mama bought at a plant sale at the local Montessori school. When I was down for my nap, they planted a cayenne peppers, squash, parsley and Sweet William flowers. Henry is also getting very good at watering all of the gardens we've planted. We've got the vegetable garden, the herb garden, a raspberry plant in the back of the yard that needs buckets of water carried to it, flowers in pots inside the tree house, and flowers in 4 other spots around the house. We've learned the hard way that if we're going to keep anything alive, we need to water it often, because the clay down here dries out very quickly. We almost lost the Abelia we bought at the zoo, but it seems to be getting better now that we drench it daily. He earned one book for planting and watering. He tried to convince mama to get the shop-vac out so he could vacuum up more acorns but she made him come inside and take a nap before he could earn a second book.
While we're on the subject of Henry, it's worth mentioning his latest analytical obsession. He got a calender for Christmas and spends his mornings crossing off dates and counting down until future events. He can always tell you which day it is and how many days there are until the next pancake night, the train festival (tomorrow!) or how many pages until the new baby comes.
He's also really into adding. When he does his lessons on campus on Tuesday and Thursdays, papa has started writing out math problems and letting Henry work on them alone. He can add all the way into the twenties. Papa says it is really something to see. He counts out loud but doesn't use his fingers or anything. Mama says it's another sign of the "knack" and is very pleased that he likes math like she does. She can't wait until he started doing long division in his head to help himself fall asleep like she used to do.
The only down side to Henry these days is that he might be getting to an age when he won't take naps. We know we're lucky for him to still be napping at almost four and a half, but noooo! He didn't take a single nap last week. It was very trying more mama, who is still taking her naps every afternoon. He's good about playing by himself while she naps, but wakes her up every 5 minutes to tell her how much time is left on the timer she sets for him. Luckily, he napped a few times this week. We think that mama's promise to watch "The Incredibles" if he slept may have had something to do with it. If it gets a few naps a week out of it, mama says it's a good deal.
adding
