Easter Trail Flash-Back: Part Two

Saturday April 19th was the base's annual egg hunt. This year it was held on the football field and the Easter Bunny was available for photos pre-hunt.

Only McColley and Brayton took him up on the offer:

Pearson refused to get anywhere near that weird bunny:

The hunt was broken up by age group. Pearson's age group was up first and he was Ready-To-Go:

He picked up six eggs!

McColley and Brayton were in the same age group this year and their group had the most participants. When the bell rang they were OFF!

They also each managed to pick up about six eggs!

Luckily everyone got the same size bag of candy at the end:

After the egg hunt we came home and decorated our own eggs:

The hardest part was waiting long enough for the dye to work:

After all the waiting we ended up with twelve beautiful Easter eggs!

Ending The Summer At The Theatre

Unfortunately Aunt Arianna and Uncle Tim had to fly home on Tuesday the 20th. However, in expectation of the let down that was bound to happen after so much time hanging out with family, I had purchased some theatre tickets to get us through the last week of summer.

On Thursday August 22nd we joined some friends and headed into London to see 'Going On A Bear Hunt':

With six kids and only two adults, we had the lowest adult-to-kid ratio in the theatre. Luckily all of our kids were extremely well behaved and had a great time!

On Sunday August 25th McColley, Brayton and I journeyed down to London to see 'The Lion King'. Knowing that our train journey was going to be unusually long due to track work, we took along some snacks for the trip:

After arriving in London we headed straight to the theatre where we finished up lunch in our seats:

We were in the Royal Circle (First Balcony) for both shows and had a great view from there!

This is our second year taking advantage of Kids Week (one free kid ticket for each adult ticket and up to an additional two kid tickets 50% off) - we've managed to squeeze in three shows both years. The boys are turning into excellent theatre audience members.

Jet Lagged And Fabulous

On Monday August 12th we had a catch our flight home. The only good part was that we didn't have to leave everyone behind - Arianna and Tim came with us!

The baddest part of all was that our jet lag was TERRIBLE. We landed on Tuesday the 13th and basically just had enough energy to do a grocery store run for the absolute necessities.

On Wednesday the 14th, even though none of us felt like it, we knew we had to get out and do something to get ourselves in the right time zone.

So, in the afternoon we went for a walk. By going straight where we normally turn we found a super long obstacle course. Arianna took the lead off position:

Brayton was the caboose (he wanted to see everyone else do it first):

There were a few obstacles that were difficult for the adults and almost impossible for the kids - although Pearson was there to give everyone a quick smack of encouragement:

Part of why we had to get our bodies adjusted was that on Thursday the 15th we had a huge day in London planned!

In the morning Arianna and Tim took McColley and Brayton to 'Brain.iacs Live!' while I took Pearson to a park. The show lasted for an hour and the entire time Arianna, Tim and the big boys were laughing at science, I was laughing at this:

The pigeons never stood a chance.

Pearson had tired himself out by the time the show ended which was perfect because our next stop was this:

Well, it was the Palace and all the stuff attached to the Palace. We actually walked through the Mews as our first stop on our R.oyal Day Out. As always, the most exciting part for the boys was seeing the Queen's horses:

We then went into the Queen's Gallery where they are hosting an exhibit highlighting Tudor and Stewart fashion in art. Pearson got to be a smart Tudor gentleman:

Then McColley got to be the Lord with Brayton allowed in the picture as his servant:

Finally we went into the Palace proper... and forced the boys to walk through the whole thing:

At least everyone wanted to go to bed at the correct hour by the time we were done!

The Video My Phone Didn't Want You To See!

Thanks to a full memory, misplaced cords and the refusal of iPhoto to export a video I am getting this video up on the blog about a week and a half late.

After McColley's dance recital on May 12th I did a little post-show interview:

A Day For Spectating

This morning McColley had another t-ball game. It was our job to cheer him on from the stands:

During the second inning McColley got to take the pitcher's position:

And he actually caught a few balls!

Brayton and Pearson did a good job watching when McColley was up to bat:

But the rest of the time they ignored the field to do a little running:

Unfortunately it got very cold, so we spent the last inning watching from the car:

This afternoon Brayton performed in this year's dance recital. Once again no pictures were allowed inside the building. His costume was his regular dance uniform plus white sparkly 'dragonfly' wings. They danced to a jazzy version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

After doing such a great job performing he got a small bouquet and his favorite chocolates:

Hands On Painting

Yesterday at Playgroup the Playgroup organizers brought in a lady who does pottery painting.

I decided to keep things simple and let Brayton go wild on a coaster:

He decided to experiment with paint mixing:

I hadn't originally planned on letting Pearson do anything but everyone else was doing handprints so I decided to follow the crowd:

His handprint is 'Lil' Boy Blue':

I can't wait to see what these look like after they've been fired (and they should end up being very bright):

The Maguire Gallery Proudly Presents...

Waiting, Just Waiting...

by

The Ever Patient 3 Year-Old Artist

A Mother And Her Baby Check The Time Until The End Of Class 

His Regular Shoe Waits To Replace His Ballet Shoe 

Artist Self-Portrait (Waiting Again) 

The Wait Ends And The Camera Must Go Off

Mr. September

McColley's an award winning artist!

Our local vet clinic is celebrating their 100th Anniversary and as part of their celebration they held a drawing competition.  McColley's teacher asked me if she could submit one of his pictures and I agreed.  McColley drew a picture of Orlando and it was picked by Lady Major (wife of former Prime Mi.nister John Ma.jor) as one of the winners!

All the winning pictures were turned into a calendar for charity.  McColley's drawing is September:

Today he was photographed with the other winners for the local paper:

And then he received his prize - a goody bag with treats, toys and colored pencils:

Carving Time!

Since the ride home from the pumpkin patch McColley and Brayton have been debating whether we should carve or paint our pumpkins. Finally, to end the debate, I offered up a compromise.

Today at playgroup the boys got to each decorate a side of my pumpkin:

McColley's side:

Brayton's side:

When we got home, it was time to carve the rest of the pumkins.

B made quick work of 'gutting' the remaining four.  Then he asked McColley what he wanted his pumpkin to look like:

 In response McColley made an 'angry' face with his face. B wasn't sure how to interpret that into pumpkin, so I took a picture of McColley's face and attempted to draw it onto his pumpkin.  My drawing met with his approval.

I then repeated this process for the other two boys.

Once all the faces had been drawn it was time to start carving:

I carved Brayton's and Pearson's pumpkins:

B carved McColley's and then designed and carved his own pumpkin:

B decided to make a witch face by utilizing the pumpkin's 'nose':

As for the boys...

 How do you think we did interpreting their expressions into pumpkin?

Pumpkins complete it was time to display them outside our front door:

Now we just have to find our candles by Monday!