How does summer go so fast?

How does it all go by so quickly?  

As usual, though, we fit in a lot!  There was:

A trip to Philadelphia to visit friends

 Visiting family in Maine (and catching sand "creatures")

 Visiting grandparents in New Hampshire (and apparently learning to pose for the camera)

 Mariel's first sail school adventures at HHYC

 A 10th anniversary trip to romantic Paris...

 And to explore Malta

And of course many more adventures and fun times with family and friends in Henderson.  We are back in St. Louis and gearing up for school to start next week.
Not bad for two months!

Visit to Richmond

We went to Richmond over the past week/ weekend for Patrick's 15th college reunion and to visit some old friends and our old haunts.  While Mariel was happy to tell everyone that she encountered that she used to live here, she did not remember too much so it was a nice rediscovery for her.

They all loved Maymont Park, where we used to spend lots of time.  I do remember it being tiring to trek everywhere after my first toddler in the hot sun at Maymont.... it was just as hot and tiring with the latest toddler!

There were several events on campus that we took the kids too.  They were very cute and well behaved at all of them, really enjoying the ducks and the new friends that they met.  Holden (who turned into a crazed beast whenever we entered our hotel room, attacking parents and siblings, biting, kicking, and throwing things) loved being on campus and, while in the company of others, put on his sweet charm. 

 We also spent a lot of time with Mariel's "first" friend and her younger sibling, Lauren and Gabe.  They live in Richmond, so were old hats on campus. 

 Both older girls had been worried if they would get along... and from the moment that they saw each other they were inseparable. 

Summer adventures!

All of the kids are on summer vacation now, which means that while my progress on course planning and house projects has slowed considerably, we are having fun doing lots of other things.  Mariel's last day of first grade was on Thursday, and she is already quick to remind everyone that she is now a SECOND grader, and a BROWNIE (in Girl Scouts).  Of course her siblings would not let her pose for a picture on her own:

 With just the little ones at home before Thursday, I had all sorts of ambitious plans of things to do with "only" two kids to deal with (its funny how that works).  One of those was an extended bike ride; while they actually were having fun at the time the photo reveals that perhaps the trailer is running out of space.  The more I look at it, the more they look like angry caged animals.

As promised, aside from the photo above they did seem to be enjoying themselves that day- we stopped for a trip to Grant's Farm with its zoo and tram ride and all sorts of fun.  

 This weekend I took them to their first Renaissance Faire.  Mariel had declared that the ad in the paper looked "BORING" but upon arriving she decided it might not be so bad.  By the time we left, she is pretty sure that she will be working there as soon as she is old enough.  One of the first things that we saw was the fire juggler; Holden may also have some future plans in mind.  He spent quite a bit of time after the show waiting and asking for "more fire?"

 They enjoyed some other shows as well- it was sort of amazing to see them all sitting happily- and it was even raining on us!

 Of course the girls hit the dress up area for some "real" princess attire.  The prince was more interested in the musical instruments and the worker's dog.

And soon we will be off on our next adventure... I just hope that I can keep up!

Happy Birthday Holden!

We had  great time celebrating Holden's second birthday with family and friends.  He was very appreciative of all of his gifts.  He unwrapped each thing and carefully inspected it, wanting to play with/ read/ look at it for a while before moving on to the next.  It took three days to get through them all, and I can honestly say that if you sent him a gift, he has enjoyed it.  

He also (clearly) enjoyed the idea of the celebration- and the cake!

Miss us?

Did you miss us?  It may not be surprising to hear that it has been a busy two months.  Now we are gearing up for Holden's birthday celebration this weekend.  I am also on summer "vacation," which will predictably entail me adding way too much to my to-do list, including teaching an on-line course for the first time.  The summer break started off with a bang, as Holden had a double ear infection, Noella has battled a stomach bug on and off for two weeks, and Mariel has another case of lice.  We thank our lucky stars for a working washing machine several times a day here.
Updates in a few photos:

Mariel's (rescheduled) Birthday Party

 A few perks of the "rain date"- we got to celebrate with Grampy and Babci and the Irish themed party got to take place on St. Patrick's Day!

 Mariel's gift from Babci and Grampy: Disney on Ice!

 Easter!

 And we helped host a baby shower for a friend.  The girls (and their dolls) did not do much with the planning or food prep, but they still came early to help out.

 I got to share in the dessert table creation and frosted many dozen baby face cupcakes.