February, birthday season

Madeline's birthday arrived!  Her party was at 10 AM in southern Rhode Island, so we just had time for a few gifts in the morning: like Oliver's -- an octopus puppet!

Then we headed down to Pow! Science.

They explored mixing colored solutions to make new colors ...

... and Madeline got to do a special chemistry project in front of her friends.

Then came pizza, and then cake!

Back at home after the party, Madeline opened some more gifts.

We also worked on a project: a dinosaur excavation kit that Aunt Sarah had given Madeline for Christmas.

We chipped and scraped and brushed and -- ta da! -- unearthed some bones that, when assembled, proved to belong to a stegosaur.

We also snagged some chair pictures.  Madeline has come a long way.

And so, for that matter, has Oliver.

This particular stretch of February was cold -- it was -5 out the morning of Madeline's party! -- so we spent lots of time inside.  Dressing up was a popular activity:

Friday was my birthday, so we went out for Mexican food.  Madeline told our hostess that it was my birthday, so a special dessert and singing ensued.

And at home, I opened my gifts (including the fuzzy green blanket you see in the picture), and the kids wished me a very happy birthday.

Next, it was weekend.  Oliver decided to look very grown up now that he's two and a half.

And we went for a little hike down at Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge.

A far cry from the previous weekend, it was warm enough that Oliver and I didn't even wear jackets.

Madeline made some very interesting discoveries -- here, she's holding up a shiny nugget of what appears to be the droppings of some animal that ate a bunch of hay from the surrounding salt marsh.

In any event, it's pretty down there.

The rest of the weekend was devoted to Madeline's social calendar -- a play date and a birthday party.  So Oliver and I got to hang out.  We did fun stuff like taking a wagon ride to the library ...

... and going to the grocery store.