Happy Birthday, Batman

On the 18th, one of my superheroes turned four-years old. It's a little bit scary, as I can remember so clearly when my oldest turned four. Somehow 2.5 years seems to have escaped us. I don't know how or why his love for costumes materialized, but I love it! It started last fall- I think it started with an Ironman costume, but I can't really keep track anymore. It's been Batman for the last few months, raggedy old Batman. I have to steal it away to wash it; the seams are coming apart; it's stained & ripped. But none of that matters to him.

Covey-O, my free-spirited, loving, wild, snuggling, comical, goofy little guy, who was relieved to discover he still has ninja fighting moves at four-years old (his words, not mine). Happy Birthday!

The Last Day of Three

Covey turned four on the 18th, so I decided to document bits & pieces of the day before- his last day of three. I think we'll always remember it as one of the nicest days in Kodiak, ever. The weather app on my phone said 79 degrees. That's a big deal for our little island. In fact, I'm not sure it's ever happened before. We took full advantage of our day in the sun, spending it on the beach in Pasagshak. Followed by an impromptu overnight there- the perfect ending to three & a sweet beginning to four.

The First Two Weeks of June

June. Day 1. Weeeeeee. June. Day 2. It's a pool party.

June. Day 3. Why I get groceries in boxes.

June. Day 4. "Mom, is this how you spell salmon?"

June. Day 5. Tee-ball season.

June. Day 6. Pink sky at night, sailor's delight.

June. Day 7. He found a jar of frosting.

June. Day 8. She's goofy.

June. Day 9. Summertime.

June. Day 10. A chick named Chuck.

June. Day 11. Good morning, flock.

June. Day 12. She's obsessed with the chickens.

June. Day 13. Little tongue.

June. Day 14. Good night, flock.

June. Day 15. Today was his birthday party.

Balloon Animals

'Nobody can be uncheeredwith a balloon.' - A.A. Milne

Or so they say...a few things I've learned about parenting in my six short years of experience:

1. You try new things because your kids ask you to. 2. Sometimes you suck at those things, & your kids get bummed out. 3. They still love you, even if you sucked at it.

Animal balloons. Ry was so excited to try them out. Balloon after balloon popped- then we got one inflated, & Mike managed to twist it into a dog. A dog, that Ry informed us, was upside down & backwards...or something like that, a.k.a.not right. Then a second balloon remained inflated, but resulted in a very small dog. More disappointment. 'It's Pretzel!' I declared, attempting to provide some cheer, relating his dog to a favorite book character. 'Nope,' both boys agreed, 'definitely not Pretzel.' Ry attempted to untwist the make-shift Pretzel, but it popped. Covey's upside-down & backwards dog also popped. Lots of little balloon pieces, but the kids quickly recovered- & I think Mike might get a new balloon animal kit for Father's Day.

June: 10-on-10

The past couple of days have been ridiculously gorgeous. This means lots of outside time- lots as in all day & all night. We don't get any kind of regular weather here, so when it's good, it's really, really good. It's also hard to end the day, so one recent evening, Ella & I headed out to enjoy some 10:00pm sunshine. As a result, I'm breaking the rules a bit with this 10-on-10. One of Ella's new talents is signing bird; which also results in some very sweet expressions (picture number 3- that's one of her many bird faces). She puts that thumb & pointer finger together to sign bird, puckers her lips up like a little beak & (I'm pretty sure) wants to kiss any bird she can find. She's also been saying 'ch' for chicken. Much to her dismay, she's yet to actually kiss a chicken.

Keep the circle going, with Jill's blog- her girls just graduated, a big congratulations to them!