Easter Sunday

This was the first year Isaac knew enough about the Easter Bunny to be excited. We'd talked about church and why we celebrate Easter, but this is what Isaac was thinking about: CANDY.

The boys woke up early, and they quickly found their baskets - filled with books, airplane hooks for hanging up their coats and backpacks, bath toys, a few other small toys, and yes, candy. But not too much.

Then we had a small breakfast and went to church. I couldn't get over Isaac in his button-down shirt; he looked like such a little man.

 The boys behaved beautifully in church. The first time everyone stood up, Jonah noticed and stood up too, with great seriousness. For a while, they stood up and sat down with us; then they took over the carpeted floor between our seats and the balcony in front of us. I'd brought a few books and cars, and they played quietly enough that we were all able to stay for the whole service.

When we walked to our car after church, the sun was warm and the day beautiful.

The restaurant was amazing. They brought a kids' menu (same stuff but cheaper) and twisty toys for the boys; it's a nice place, but there were lots of babies and young families there on Easter Sunday.

Once we got home, Adam went to work for the rest of the day. So when Jonah woke up, I put him in the stroller and we three headed toward the river. Jonah had not been feeling great since the day before, but he perked up when we started talking about ice cream...I'd promised Isaac a stop at Little Man.

It seemed that the whole neighborhood had the same idea, as the line wrapped onto the street and down the block, and we waited 35 minutes before it was our turn. But it sure was good. Isaac wanted a chocolate milkshake, Jonah wanted chocolate ice cream, and I just wanted anything sweet since I'd given up desserts for Lent!

With our ice cream in hand, we headed down the hill and across the bridge to the river. We all love hanging out near the water, and on this day, it was like a street party in Denver. 77 degrees, Easter Sunday, and it seemed like every dog in the neighborhood was out to play, with its family or cute young single owner in tow. Throngs of people crossed the bridges and walked the hills and fields by the river, many holding cups from Little Man. All the restaurant patios we passed were packed and happily noisy. Jonah got a lot of looks, as people walked by and smiled at his chocolate-covered face and happy grin.

 

 After eating our ice cream, strolling around the park, and stopping briefly down at the shore to watch the dogs swimming (before our Smokey started barking too obnoxiously), we hung out on the bridge for what must have been almost an hour. The boys were so happy watching the water, playing with each other, and running from one side to the other to look down at the rapids, the quiet pool, and the ducks.

Spring Break

For the first time since Isaac has been in school, spring break actually meant something. And it was fun.
No, we didn't travel. But our March weather - usually the snowiest of the year - warmed up to a two-week string of 70 and 80-degree days. We had plans with friends almost every day to fill our unstructured week with fun and take advantage of the weather. The parks were full of kids, and we spent two long, sunny mornings at our beautiful Botanic Gardens.

There was a park playdate on Tuesday, where I counted nine families we knew. On Wednesday morning, we had signed up for a Little Sprouts class with friends, and the four-year-olds got to learn about plants and plant their own seeds (sadly, Isaac's flat was later victim to a gigantic windstorm after our idyllic week and weather were over).
Above, he is coloring his laminated markers, with buddy Ewan sitting next to him. Below, we all wandered around the gardens after the class.

The next day, while Isaac's Thursday morning school was still in session, Jonah and I had a morning to ourselves. So I signed him up for the toddler class at the gardens. He was unsure about it until they handed him a tub with a wooden spoon and filled it with water.

They didn't get to plant seeds, but they did get to dig in dirt, splash water, and eat - what more could Jonah want? "Snack" was a tasting of cool-season vegetables. Here is Jonah shoving shredded, raw beets in his mouth. 

One night that week, I managed to make my first batch of bagels. They were gone in under 24 hours. 

 

March 23: Warm-weather, All-day Fun

This was one of those perfect Colorado days. We were outside almost the entire day, and the boys were worn out by the end.

Morning: We had a playdate with Isaac's good friend Louis from school. It was our first visit to his house, and the backyard was like a child's wonderland and a thoughtful learningscape all in one happy, safe and vibrant space. There were egg-laying grown-up chickens (and I wish I had a video of Isaac's stammering surprise and open-mouthed expression when Louis's little brother came running back from the coop holding two still-warm eggs), and there were two-week-old baby chickens that the children could hold and carry around like kittens. There was a piecemeal climbing structure with a playhouse on stilts, a slide, two swings, and a ladder. There was a waterfall running into a pond, complete with rocks for tossing and water that the kids were free to stand and splash in. There were two tables for outdoor eating, some grass for running, and a workshop area for Louis where he had real tools (and Isaac of course requested his own real tools on the way home - hammers, nails, pliers and a saw like Louis has). There were garden beds that will be bursting with homegrown food in a few months. And all this was in a space no bigger than our own yard. Isaac and Louis stayed busy and happy, and Jonah loved getting to know his free-spirited, barefoot future classmates - Louis' twin siblings will be Polliwogs with him at Steele in the fall.
We had so much fun that we were late walking over to Steele for the grand finale of the ocean unit: a beach party in the sandbox.

Afternoon: Isaac's teacher had asked the kids to wear beach clothes, sunglasses and of course sunblock because they would be outside most of their three hours together. There was beach music, and there were beach games and a scavenger hunt for edible treasures - pretzel sticks were driftwood, for example. It was creative, educational as always, and the kids were so excited.

Afternoon part 2: We played briefly with friends after school, and these pictures of the boys on the Steele playground are the only ones I have from this fun-packed day. I love to see them choose to play together even where there are other favorite friends around. Here, they were on the climbing structure, "fishing" with the "fishing pole" Isaac and Louis had made. They had attempted to attach various hooks to the end of it, but really, all they needed was this piece of twine and their vivid imaginations. For the record, Isaac got up early the next two mornings in a row and was quietly outside on the balcony when we woke up, "fishing" for sharks, much as he looks in this picture.

Jonah is always happy to help with Isaac's games.

We left the playground and headed to a neighborhood park to meet Kari, Brandy, Shawn and all the boys. The sun was still warm at 4pm, and though Jonah was getting pretty worn out (probably from the morning alone, which he spent splashing in the little pond at Louis' house), it was fun to see so many good friends all together. From the park, we headed a few blocks north to a Mexican restaurant with a big patio, where we had a rather loud but fun dinner at a long outdoor table of moms and boys, chips and happy-hour drinks, with the last of the springtime sun keeping us warm.

Kicking off birthday season

It's funny how birthday parties seem to come all at once sometimes. This beautiful St. Patrick's Day was the first of four Saturdays in a row of birthday parties. Normally it would be snowing here in mid-March, but this group took full advantage of the sun and warmth - barefoot painting, playing with water, jumping on the trampoline, and flowing in and out through open doors.

Sadie is such a fun, kind and cool girl. We are grateful that she and Isaac have had the chance to form such a special friendship this year.

We don't usually do much for St. Patrick's Day, so I was happy the boys got to enjoy a green, shamrock cake and a fun morning with friends. Sounds much better to me than a parade packed with people!

Feb 15 and 18: I'd Rather Be Naked

One Wednesday night while I was feeding the boys dinner, I turned around to see this sight:

And Jonah happily ate the rest of his dinner standing in his chair, with his pants pulled down around his ankles. The crash I feared never happened. Luckily he has good balance.

These days, Jonah would really prefer to wear no clothes at all. No matter the temperature. So when we spent a beautiful Saturday morning at Sloans Lake with some school friends, Jonah eventually decided it was time to strip down. He couldn't get his shirt off but he managed this. Little Tate, not even two years old, started taking off his clothes too. The two of them thought they were hilarious. And they were.

Pretty soon, Jonah's clothes were just bookends on his naked body. These three laughed and laughed while the big boys played in the huge spruce tree nearby.