Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Easter 2011


This year's Easter Egg offerings. We used crayons on eggs still hot from boiling. The crayon melted in fun swirls and loops and the boys really enjoyed it. Since I'm the only one who eats hard-boiled eggs, I have discovered the down-side to using them hot from the stove is that the shells are now nearly impossible to get off. But great crafting fun was had and that's what matters!

Thankfully after a night of rain, the sun came out and the Easter Bunny was able to hide the real eggs outside after all! Sadie was sleeping late so the boys took full advantage and went a-hunting. Liam had the HARDEST TIME finding his last egg which was so much fun because it was the one that was most out in the open in the stroller cup-holder. A full half hour of the "hot and cold" game ensued before he finally found it!

It's nearly impossible to get a photo of all four kids together these days. Sadie is MUCH too busy for that! And it was TRULY impossible to get a photo in before the boys got grass stains, but that is par for the course around here.

Little Miss, so cute and demure in her blue dress with petticoats underneath. Except that demure part is all an act because really she was just angry that she couldn't go off exploring in the woods with her fresh white tights and dress shoes on. Thankfully Easter clothes are only meant to last the day (right?!) and she happily managed to get holes in her tights and scoot around despite those fancy shoes.

Salem Willows

The last day of the boys' April vacation deserved some kind of outing. We are not much on making plans in advance, but I realized I'd heard somewhere that the Salem Willows was open for the season, and we decided on a last minute jaunt to check it out.

The kids and I had never been before and they loved exploring the park and rocks and beach and of course, the arcade! It was considerably warmer on the North Shore than at home and LOTS more flora was blooming so we were thrilled to see so many buds and actual leaves sprouting already.

First stop was a climb down the rocks onto the beach. Liam is so in his element outdoors and immediately jumped from the car to climb the first hill he could find.

Sadie couldn't manage the sheer rocky drop to the beach, but luckily she became obsessed with manhole covers which kept her busy while her brothers explored a bit.

Time out for games and rides! I could tell Colin thought he was MUCH too big for the baby rides but he was very happy to supervise his sister on them and was so sweet with her, as always. Liam, of course, tried his hardest to jump/lean/fall out of the rides and ended up duking it out with Bozo the Clown. He was great at the sports games (no surprise!) and landed most of his shots in the basketball hoop! Eamon savored each and every quarter and had half a cup left by the time his big brothers were already broke, and he lingered over all of the car/racing/motorcycle/snowmobile rides he could find. Colin managed to beat The Claw and won a Red Sox ball only to put it down and have it lost/stolen moments later. Luckily I convinced the extremely creepy guy who was working on the machine to let him have another one.

Back to the beach for a couple hours of adventuring. This time we found a way for Sadie to get down and she met up with salt water for the first time! She loved it and walked right in despite the frigid April water. Her brothers tried hard to outdo each other and see who could last in the water longest (Liam won by far and went up to his neck. I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid, but he NEVER complains no matter how hurt or beat up he gets so what's a Mom to do but allow it?)

This sissy photography preferred to stay warm and dry on the beach and just document every one else's craziness!

Eamon went exploring near and far collecting shells...

...and seaweed and snail shells and crab shells and anything else he could convince us to take home in the car with us.

If there is a tree, we will climb it. (And if it happens to be a gorgeous old tree, all the better)

All that sun and sand make for a tired girl.

And her brothers were not far behind!

April winds bring facial injuries.

Even though we'd been getting spoiled with warmer days, the winter chills returned for a blustery bitterly dank day. The only thing to do with it? Ride bikes to stay warm and fly kites to take advantage of the cold gusts of wind! It was a particularly dreary day so our bright kite was a welcome dash of color against the cloudy sky.

Here's Colin masterfully keeping it up in the air!

Liam peeking through, just moments before a strong gust of wind took the kite (and him) out flat on the ground.


The dive-bombing kite got him right in the face. A few millimeters to the right and he would have lost an eye. As it was, he jumped back up and got it up in the air again.


Spring has finally sprung

We've been waiting and waiting for signs of life in our yard and FINALLY, it happened. The snow is gone, we've had a few really warm days and the crocuses made an appearance! Today the May flies came out (although it's technically still April. I was hoping for a few more pest-free days), the big boys have their first baseball game and it's supposed to hit 70 degrees. Undeniably spring!





Sunday, April 10, 2011

Ahoy, it's a birthday!

Ahoy, me hearties! Tis a pirate ship cake! Cannonballs, yar!

X marks the spot. Beware the snakes and skulls and find yer pirate booty!

Opening Day at Fenway

You would think from this picture that we are hardcore Red Sox fans. You would be wrong. Since we moved out of Boston, we have never been to a game, never watched one on TV. But the big boys had Red Sox day at school for the opening of Fenway park for the season and had to show up in all their Red Sox regalia so I went out and bought them all shirts. The boys keep asking to go to a game, but I don't think they realize exactly how LONG they really last. And that you can't just get up and run around like you can at Ryan or Erin's games. We'll see if we make to a game this summer and how they do!

Eamon praying for a winning season? Sadie giving 'em hell!

Sadie has no idea what she is so happy about, but that's just the way she rolls!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

An afternoon well-spent.

What do you get when you bring soccer balls, baseball mitts, bikes, trikes, babies and brothers to the tennis courts for a sunny afternoon? A little bit of this, a little bit of that. And a lot of low-key fun.

Colin getting in shape for soccer season!

Explorer Sadie looking for treasures.

Budding adventurer.

Evel Knievel takes to the street on his big motorcycle big wheel!

Big winner on race day! (at least when he raced himself. He couldn't seem to win against his brothers and their big kid bikes which bothered him to NO end!)

Shadow Stalker.

Birthday Boy

One of Eamon's favorite gifts. He loves being the doctor on call! Mostly he loves sticking his stethoscope up your shirt, giving you fake shots and testing your reflexes with a hammer!

Eamon's birthday blow-out wish? He wished for more candles to blow out! Who are we to say no to that. Four consecutive candles for our favorite four year old.

Little Mr. Four Year Old!

Liam insisted he wouldn't have fun on the "baby slide" but managed to find something to climb on anyway!

Little Miss Frosting Face

Colin is the perfect present helper. He read all the cards to Eamon and of course helped with the oohing and ahhing over the gifts!

I Spy has become a Family Game Night favorite so we built the party around it. Eamon is a MASTER at finding things!

I spy some sports balls and the number four!

I spy psychedelic frosting colors!

Nothing makes preschoolers happier than sugar topped with toys!