Climbing

Robin is nine months old today (pics to come) and just starting to walk. Three steps is her record so far. Sometimes she'll do all three steps with the same foot, so she winds up going in a circle! While she is still a little wobbly on her two feet, she is an awesome climber. Here she is climbing up the Very Tall Silver Slide at a park near our house.

Preschool

Miri started preschool today. It wasn't such a big transition since it was at her friend, Theo's house. Why? Well, after playing a crazy application and waitlist game, we got tired of doing an admissions dance for preschool. So, we started our own with some other parents in the area. Miri had a great time with Miss Asiatu. She "painted" and "drawed." They went to the park for their outside playtime. She had crackers and grapes for snack. Miri was very sorry to leave and can't wait to go back tomorrow!Ready to go in the car. Only problem, no shoes! Only other problem...we're not driving. We're walking. She is ready to go.

She is super excited about school. Her backpack has two water bottles in case one gets empty and she is still "really thirsty."Ready to go! Milko, Danny, Theo and Miri.

Summer Socks

Miri loves "Daddy games" -- games where Daddy gets to sit around and make the girls do all kinds of tiring/painful things. A new favorite is "Summer socks," which is how Miri pronounces "somersaults." Check it out:

Robin Happy? Robin Happy Now?

Yes, Miri, Robin is happy to be eight months old. The title is a homage to the fact that whenever Miri does something to get mommy or daddy angry, she will ask every 30 seconds....Daddy happy now? Daddy happy now? until daddy is again happy. But, enough about Miri. This is about Robin who, whenever she is really happy will bounce and move her hands up and down...but what am I doing explaining it? Here she demonstrates during her quest to eat cheerios off the floor.

Camping

We took to the woods this past weekend for another try at camping. (You may recall last time Miri didn't make it through the night). We went with Miri's best friend (this week), Theo and his parents Beth and Steve. We had some great camp food (mac n' cheese with tuna, veggie dogs and corn) and of course made smores. The kids all slept (!) and we woke up ready to play the next morning. We walked to a nearby playground which was soaked from the recent rainstorm. The kids had a great time and we can't wait to do it again.

Enjoying the outdoors

Around the campfire

Ready, set...

Go! Miri's already wet rear end caused her to fly down the slide and off the end.
She landed face first

She's okay, I guess...

Miri is having more fun with her little sister. After a couple months of mainly ignoring Robin, she now interacts with the li'l one more and more. Sure, that sometimes consists of throwing toys in her general direction so Robin can play with them, but you have to start somewhere. The picture session quickly devolves into Miri's favorite activity with Robin: tackling.

Friends again!

Cousin Time

We were lucky to spend four days at the beach with Chris' brother, Mike and his family. Miri loved being with her big cousins, Matthew and Damon and Robin liked showing off to John just what he'll be able to do in another six weeks.

Reading with Matthew and Damon: Check out September, 2009 for a similar picture

Canoeing

The two little cousins hanging at the beach.
Hey, you try to get five kids to look good at the same time!