February Part 4: Birthday & Outside

Toward the end of February, my birthday arrived.

With Summer's help, the kiddos had made me sculptures; this one, from Madeline, is a trophy!

For my birthday, we went to one of my favorite places in Rhode Island: Beavertail State Park.

We explored the rocky shoreline ...

... and poked around in tidepools.

After we'd returned to the path, Madeline ran away from us and got lost and everyone was scared and that was no fun.  But we found her and carried on.  Phew.

The next day, there was much Legoing.

We also ran out for a quick trip to Lincoln Woods State Park.

There we climbed a big hill and sat on a rock.

Then we looked for bigger rocks to climb.

And then we went home.

February Part 3: Uncle Marc & Grand Tour

This February, the kiddos were excited for a special visitor ...

... Great Uncle Marc!  He took us out to dinner at a restaurant ...

... brought gifts for the kiddos ...

... and even taught a yoga session.

We took Great Uncle Marc on a tour of some Providence institutions: the Athenaeum ...

... Brown's campus ...

... Prospect Terrace ...

... the Roger Williams National Memorial, and finally a walk along the Providence River.

That was a lot of walking.  Back home, everyone was happy to rest.

February Part 2: Zoo & Birthday

One snowy February weekend, we needed to get out of the house, so we went to the zoo.

The flamingos have a temporary indoor home.

We had fun ...

... until the snow started coming down again and we headed home.

In February, Madeline turned six.  She got some exciting gifts ...

... as well as her chosen birthday dinner of macaroni and cheese, corn muffins, and mashed potatoes, followed by a sundae for dessert.

Once she was six, Madeline felt very grown up.

February Part 1: The Usual Shenanigans

In February, we were up to the usual shenanigans.

The kiddos have more one-kid birthday parties these days, so sometimes Madeline gets treated to frozen yogurt ...

... while Oliver gets his party on!

And vice versa.

There's never a shortage of at-home amusement for the kiddos either.

One early February weekend, we met up with Karen and Benji at the Audubon Center in Bristol.

Oliver and Benji tried to use the scope and binoculars to spot birds.

And the enjoyed exploring the tanks too.

Madeline has begun converting her ever-more-elaborate drawings into books.

She's reading and writing much better too.  A couple times now, we've read Mo Willems "Piggy and Gerald" books together, with Madeline reading all of Piggy's lines.  And sometimes she now sits in the back seat of the car working her way through books.  She's a real reader!

Both kiddos adore building with Legos too.

January Part 4: Gifts & Protest

We finally had an opportunity to go out and get Oliver's Christmas gift from Nanny and Pop Pop, so Madeline opened her gift, too.

She was thrilled to find an American Girl doll inside, with plenty of sparkly outfits to wear.

Oliver was also excited about his gift: a new bed.  After picking it out, he was excited to help assemble it too.

Madeline was also glad to help.

Once the bed was assembled, Oliver was very pleased ...

... and proud!

[Interlude: an intense Madeline drawing face.]

Another weekend brought another protest.

Madeline asked a lot of questions: Why the wall?  What's the ban?  What's a refugee?

Then as we marched, Madeline chanted, "No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here!"  Oliver mostly just took it all in.

It was another enlightening experience.