Partyin' & Gardenin'

The kiddos rocked out at the special second anniversary shanty sing!

Then on Saturday morning we made our annual pilgrimage to Southside Community Land Trust's Rare & Unusual Plant Sale.  The kiddos hung out with the chickens ...

... plants ...

... and snails.

And we went to Holden's rock 'n' roll birthday party!  Here's Madeline playing bongos with the band ...

... and Oliver taking over both the mic ...

... and the drums.

Lately Oliver has been attempting to draw things that are actually things ...

... while Madeline has been drawing things that are increasingly creations of her imagination.

Last Friday, Oliver (age 2.75) had his preschool "graduation" where he performed three songs and received his "diploma" (just like Madeline did two years ago).

He felt very proud.

The next day was the Gordon School carnival!  The kiddos shared a cotton candy.

And Oliver danced and twirled ...

... which naturally required him to don a twirling dress.

After the carnival, we visited our garden plot and (finally) planted it!  Oliver loved watering the seeds and seedlings.

As did Madeline.

A Whirlwind Visit

The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind.

Oliver basked in grandparental attention ...

... while Madeline played her favorite game (draw a shape then turn it into a thing) with her great grandparents.

Downtime involved reading books.

But the kiddos always have more energy that needs expending.  So a subset of us went to the Roger Williams Botanical Center.

Afterward, Oliver took a nap while Madeline caused every family member to fall asleep while reading to her, one by one.

When Oliver woke up, he did exercises with Grandma Susy.

The next morning was Mothers' Day.  All the mothers present were presented with cards, plants, and donuts.  Then the Delaware contingent had to hit the road.

Grandfriends Day

One evening in early May, Grandma Susy, Grandpa John, Nanny, and Pop Pop came to visit.  There was lots of reading ...

... then the next morning was Grandfriends Day at Madeline's school.  She was excited ...

... to show around her special visitors!

That afternoon, we took Grandma Susy to visit Big Nazo.  She took a lovely portrait of the three of us.

Madeline got to try out a puppet.

And she dressed up like a turtle.

The Big Nazo folks let us know there was a pink unicorn head nearby at a pop-up "store" from Rhode Island tourism, where residents were invited to share what they love about the state.

After trying on the unicorn head, Madeline drew a picture of what she loves about Rhode Island -- Big Nazo, of course!

End of April (First Haircut!)

As spring sprang in earnest, Oliver found himself increasingly interested in borrowing dresses from Madeline and hats from me.

And Madeline found herself churning out artwork for friends' and relatives' birthdays.

Oliver also decided he was ready for a haircut -- and we agreed.  Here he is before ...

... during ...

... and after!

He loved the whole experience.

At home, Oliver likes to help turn the compost.

He was very interested but did *not* help as I (finally) took down a volunteer oak in the yard.

Inside the house, he's always ready for a party.

And Madeline is always ready to hunt down Petey for a (possibly involuntary) cuddle.