Recorder Concert

Gavin (and I think every other 3rd grader in the country) learned to play the recorder this year at school. With his piano background he found it very easy and enjoyed playing it (and making amazingly annoying sounds!). Here's a little video clip from their concert at school. They played six songs and this one was definitely the most fun! Here's Gavin playing Chi Chi Chihuahua.





Crazy hair day was the day before the concert - thank goodness! Here's a photo of Gavin. Garrett's hair was equally wild, however he somehow escaped without a photo!

American Idol

The kids are into American Idol this year. Kierstin loves to dance while they sing and sometimes she joins in and sings! Here's some footage of her dancing.

Granite

Gavin's class has been studying rocks and they made edible granite in class. Kierstin and Garrett really wanted to eat some too, so Gavin taught them how to make it. Here's a little video clip...

First fishing day of the season

We went fishing for the first time this past weekend. We didn't catch anything, didn't even have a bite, but it was fun to be outside. Garrett told us that his favorite part of fishing was finding stuff like empty bait jars, used powerbait, etc. Gavin was with us also, but he missed out on the photo op when he was walking around the lake.

Pioneer day

Gavin's class recently celebrated Pioneer Day. Everyone got dressed up. Most of the boys had plaid shirts and a bandanna, but the girls were decked out in pioneer dresses. I've never seen anything quite like it, we're talking elaborate get ups! Apparently there is a big market for these. Moms were bidding on eBay and getting outbid. So, for those of you with sewing talents....get to work, there's money to be made. I wish I would have snapped a photo or two of the girls. Our costume was thrown together that morning...coonskin cap complete with vest (thanks yaya and grandpa, can't remember which random country you bought the vest in, but it sure has been put to good use!).

I helped in the afternoon. The classes were separated - boys making marble pouches in one room and the girls making dolls in the other room. I was in the room with the boys. They are a great group of kids, they listened well to the instructions, got their pouches made and then split into little groups and started to play some marble games. They were having a good time and I didn't realize how loud they were until I peeked in the other room to see what the girls were doing and I witnessed an spooky silence as the girls diligently put their little dolls together!




The final event of the day was square dancing....Gavin didn't care for this part!

Kierstin, however, really enjoyed the dancing part!

Kierstin's big day

Kierstin turned 3 on the 28th! Unbelievable, she's getting so big. I was kind of on the fence about throwing a party for her, but as she was opening her presents that morning she said, "Why my friends not at my birfday?" Okay, I gave in and her party is this coming weekend. We will be painting flower pots and planting flowers (she loves to 'garden') and then bouncing around in a princess castle moon bounce. Fun for everyone!

Garrett's robot

Garrett made a robot for school. He worked very hard on it and is so proud!! His brother (and dad) helped him engineer a light that actually turns on for an eye.

Virginia Beach

Darin has quite a bit of vacation time to burn before he gets out of the Army, so we decided to take a trip to Virginia Beach. We had a blast!! We spent time with the Clifford's, great friends from medical school. They have kids very close in age to ours and the kids had a wonderful time together. Kierstin idolizes Isabelle (who is 5 and as cute as they come). Garrett and Gavin had so much fun with the boys (Alec ~11, Riley 9, and Will 7). Garrett decided that they should be our cousins and aspires to someday play soccer as good as Alec. Gavin really enjoyed our visit to Operation Smile. He was very impressed and gave a very nice report about Op Smile to his classmates. My parents met us in VA Beach, the kids had the ultimate vacation - Yaya and Grandpa AND friend-cousins!
We went to the beach - the water was freezing. Garrett didn't seem to mind too much, Gavin went in a little. Kierstin got her toes wet and accidentally got really wet and really cold when she got tumbled by a wave while getting her toes wet.
We went to the Aquarium, got to pet stingrays and horseshoe crabs, saw some sharks and escaped the rain!
Another rainy day we spent at the Children's Museum in Portsmouth. The kids had fun exploring all the hands on stuff and pretending.
When the sun resurfaced we went to Williamsburg (with everyone else - I was amazed at how crowded it was!). I think Garrett probably enjoyed it the most, which surprised us. I thought Gavin would be fascinated, but he couldn't get over how hot he was and how crowded it was. Garrett was into all the old fashioned stuff. When we first got there, we were walking down a street and there was a house where the 'garage' was open, I think it was a leather shop or something. Anyway, you could see things kind of piled in the 'garage' and Garrett went running ahead saying, "Look, it's an old fashioned garage sale." Everything he saw was old fashioned....old fashioned roads, houses, books, toys, ice cream, etc. We spent alot of time at the blacksmith and Garrett asked about 20 questions and decided he might want to be a blacksmith when he grows up.
We also went on a boat tour of the Norfolk Naval Yard, saw lots of really big ships and spent the afternoon at the Nauticus museum and the USS Wisconsin.
Rod and Sherry left Saturday and we met up with the Cliffords for a last day of fun. We watched Will's ball game, went to Brigette's parents house where the boys jet skiied and boated, then went to play on a beach on the Chesapeake Bay, and finally cooked out at the Clifford's house. We had a fantastic time - thanks Clifford Clan!!!

Check out my Slide Show!

Gavin's birthday

Here's the lone clip from Gavin's birthday. It was an incredibly busy day. Started off with opening presents before school, then school, then piano lessons, then Young Author's Night at school. Gavin was pumped that Young Author's Night was the same day as his birthday, considering he's going to be an author and all!!!!





Each class did a presentation of a poem. Gavin's class did Betty Botter. Garrett's class did Boa Constrictor by Shel
Silverstein - can't remember why I have no footage of it! After their presentations, we went to their classrooms and looked at stories and poems they have worked on this year. The boys both did a great job.



Here is Kierstin and her friend, Stefan. They sat together at the poetry performance...too cute!