class party

I helped out to get Aiden's end of the year party organized at his buddies' house that is within walking distance of the school.  We lucked out with a perfect weather day for sprinklers and relay games.  The pizza lunch, snacks, popsicles, annnnd cupcakes were a cherry on top.

chuckie

While his brother is at birthday parties this guy got a treat with a quick visit to the Chuckie... A mini party just for him ;) where it's pretty unique to have alone time with both parents.

camp olympics

I found a half day camp for Keaton before Aiden got out from school which he was pretty thrilled about.  The theme was the Olympics in Brazil!  They made Brazialian bath fizz spiders the first day and dissolved them the next day, which I heard a lot about from Keaton.  He seemed to love the blue teams' visits to the science room the best. Very close second was water play day!  He met a ton of new faces that will join him in kindergarten next year.

dad's day treats

J is tough when it comes to gifts/treats, so the best strategy is letting him pick out his own big present.  In this case, it was a twelve string acoustic guitar. Isn't it cute?

But the kids still had some treats for him too...Aiden wrote a cinquan at school and made a paper Gtown bulldog card. The Italian teacher had them create shoe cards.  Keaton made a cute card as secretively as possible - "nothing to see here in the kitchen dad!"  He also helped dad pick out a blue vinyl Who album.

But possibly the thing the boys were most excited about was the Battle Cards game board they created.  This is a game Aiden and J created that is sorta like checkers meets Dungeon and Dragons.  

Aiden even created a custom deck of cards with his own logo.

I'm missing a photo of the air fryer I bought him as sorta a joke (small appliances are not his idea of a gift) but I knew he would like it.  So far a batch of chicken wings was a hit!

The best part of the day was a BBQ with his music buddies where they jammed. It's not quite a weekend getaway to a wool festival, but he seemed happy. ;)

party hardy

A and K know how to do parties. They have a smile on their face before we get there and are game for pretty much anything.  Aiden had a really fun backyard birthday party to attend with a huge water slide adding to their super fun backyard full of rope swings, zip lines, and balance cords.  Then the next day while J rocked out with his buddies, the boys cruised in some hot wheels, invaded a tiny gingerbread house, and climbed some good climbing trees.

happy father's day!

Happy Father's Day from these funny guys!

Happy Father's Day PopPop from LB on Vimeo.

KC's Father's Day Interview from LB on Vimeo.

AB's Father's Day Interview from LB on Vimeo.

field day

Aiden's field day was a really fun day.  They kicked off with a morning full of outdoor games - including Aiden's favorite "Niagara Falls" (catching water off a huge tower of pvc with holes in it).  Aiden was in charge of adding up all the team points while everyone enjoyed their popsicles. They also had two birthday celebrations and more lip dyeing treats.

hams

These little giggle hams are so much fun out on the double hammock with funny faces and the selfie camera:

luau

Man, this group of neighborhood friends is the ultimate group for a Murder Mystery Luau. The costumes alone would do the trick, but you would not believe the funny voices, costumes, mustache envy, kleptomania, renditions of Elvis and luau food they prepared.  One of our friends is getting ready to move and I think this was the perfect send off from a group that loves to laugh together.

more luau

The kids probably had just as much fun as we did at the luau.  They busted open a tiki piñata in between games and the perfect day to play in the tiki hut swingset.  Hang Ten!

The drama and the laughs!  The Pineapple Princess (Tammy) won most in character and the winning dish was her pecan pineapple dip.  Most creative went to Starr Bright (Samantha), who showed off many different costumes and shared her upcoming movie plots.  The improv moments were capped off with funny emotions from April Showers (Tre), who went home with the Sad Sack, most emotional award, although it was close with Susie Curl's (Carmen) dramatics.

parade

The neighborhood parade had a huge turnout this year!  I think it was because they invited all the Girl Scouts to carry banners and the politicians were all out shaking hands as we gear up for election season.  Aiden had two different birthday parties to choose over the parade, so he was off at a water party probably getting whacked with a wet pool noodle. But Aiden and Keaton had fun together getting AstroKeat's Astroscooter ready to parade. They recycled some of the poster board we used at Keaton's space birthday party for all the control panels.  His space suit was essentially like wearing a roaster bag in the sun, but this turkey mostly kept his cool in his spaceship jammies underneath. There is no such thing as a grumpy astronaut! The course looped around to the free ice cream party, where the raging economist in J couldn't help but express how the huge line meant it was far from free.  But the wait allowed time for the judges to pick their favorite bikes/scooters. Keaton was so pumped to win Funniest for the five year old crowd.  He got a $5 gift card to Five Below which was burning a hole in his pocket - and I realized I'd never taken the boys in there and Aiden had tooth fairy money to spend.  So we went there before dinner and it was like they unlocked a whole new world in there - ha!

tidbits

These last few weeks of school for Aiden feel so funny, because it truly feels like summer is already here - except when Monday morning rolls around and it's time to get out to the bus... but in between we are constantly prepping or getting ready for something.  The astronaut shuttle scooter prep in the garage ready for the neighborhood parade (more coming soon).  The constant piano practice and tennis practice four nights a week for the big guy will be even more fun once summer hits.  In the meantime, there are dress up playdates to clean up and biography reports to write... such flurry of random stuff.  Here we come summer and your sand volleyball courts and diving boards!

volleyball

J joined some of the volleyball action at the pool club and these smiley guys pulled out the cheers. It was a fun night for some dips in the pool in between vball action.

one sec spring

Still cooking up at least one video second a day... love looking back and watching time fly!
One Second Spring from LB on Vimeo.

symbols on parade

Man, school play kitsch is my favorite!  This may have topped the Lifecycles play from last year in that department.  Right at the point where Aiden's buddy Lucy came out as the talking pedestal for the Statue of Liberty I just knew that we'd reached maximum Peanuts cartoon-esque school play.  Aiden shared his Uncle Sam role with his friend Juliet (who in every photo together had a matching facial expression to him - so funny!) Aiden's buddy Quinten was the Star Spangled Banner! The whole "plot" was that they were searching for each of the American Symbols (White House, Liberty Bell, Declaration of Independence, Washington Monument, Statue of Liberty, etc) to prepare for a parade. The kindergarteners were all decked out with paper bag wings as eagles and the other three classes swapped parts.  Below is a highlight reel with all of Aiden's parts... 

American Symbols on Parade from LB on Vimeo.

vineyard

We've learned over many moves that it takes a while to find good friends where it's just easy to hang out and have fun.  This is our third year in Mantua and when spring hit so did the fun of hanging out with great people. We've already had two band nights at the pool this season with so many friendly faces and good music. One of my friend's just happens to love birthdays and she knows how to host a fun party.  We were at Oak Barrel Winery for a tasting (with over 25 of us!) and some fun in the sun.  The winery caters to families (and dogs!) with a treasure hunt that ends with big toy prizes and a "lake" full of tadpoles.  The kids explored every nook and cranny of that vineyard to check off all the treasure hunt items, while we sipped our wine.  Oh man, the sweet spot of parenting is upon us - kids that are still fun and a little cuddly, but totally independent!

goof troop

Here is a how to diagram on how to be a goof troop on scooters and bikes with helmets:

interview with KC

reunion

My 15th college reunion - wha?!  I went with the pretty low key plan of showing up for the family fun on the circle. Within minutes the boys had another full face paint and were bouncing around as a snake and zombie.  We took the trolley over to Carl's for some dark chocolate milkshakes.  We even snuck into my freshmen dorm while they are renovating it and it sure seemed small. The turnout for our class was the smallest and I'm hoping that people rally for the 20th?!  

happy anniversary

Happy 12th Anniversary to this handsome guy! Only took 15 years together to spontaneously wear coordinating purple to a University dinner on a school night... I love looking like a prom chaperone next to you. I am grateful for so much... I love you no matter what.

last day

Right before Memorial Day, Keaton celebrated his last day of preschool.  He is officially on to kindergarten!  The teacher let them pick all their greatest hits favorites for the last week.  The last day was full of volcanos and costumes.  The snack buffet was all their favorite choices: "restaurant" pizza, swiss cheese, popcorn, yogurt, crackers, apples, and lots of watermelon. Keaton dressed as a bat with really long ears - Skippy Jon Bat!  Everyone (even moms holding back tears) was excited for the class slideshow I put together with music and photos from throughout the year. Then Mrs. Quigley gave all the kids treats like Keaton's favorite spinning dragonfly wings. We are so lucky he had Mrs. Q twice and she really got to know him... and she lives in our neighborhood so we get to see her all the time.

fam friday

Brought to you by Aiden's watercolor family portrait and WordFoto:

viva vienna

Viva Vienna was hopping on a holiday weekend.  We reached maximum snow cone and moose juice consumption.  The boys continued their streak of face paint's nearly every weekend.  I was "selected" by the crazy knife juggler to hold a balloon while he juggled knives to pop it out of my hands - eek anticipation!  Then J was "voluntold" to get up there with the dad ninja training we remembered from the last time.  The boys squeezed in a few rides before we were off to a BBQ at our friend's house.

Viva V ienna! from LB on Vimeo.