Hidden court yard

After the ceremony we went out into the special hidden courtyard. All the kids loved the pond. Julien said they had never been out there before.

Kindergarten Graduation

Julien graduated from kindergarten. It was cute how nervous they all were. Julien was the only one smiling, and even that was a nervous, self-conscious smile. The kids were very careful that their hats did not fall off. All the parents were there, frantically taking photos and video taping the ceremony.

Julien was very proud, as well he should be.

Volcano cake

It was an incredible cake, complete with dry ice as smoke and sparkling candles. You can see what Julien thought of it!

Sebastian at the party

Sebastian joined us after his nap.

Science Birthday

Julien's friend Isaac had a science birthday last weekend. It was an amazing party with lots of cool experiments. Julien was thrilled.

The mom went overboard, but the kids LOVED it. Jello petri dishes, dry ice, color experiments, miniature volcanoes, etc.

Newspaper Dinosaurs

At the school we saw displays of artwork and projects from Julien's class. Julien's dinosaur is the big red one in the center.

It was fun seeing Julien in his element. He liked showing us around the school. Lots of kids new him, and not just kindergartners. A few older girls yelled out, "Hi Julien!"

Learning Festival

This last Saturday we went to University Elementary's Learning Festival. It was a large affair. Most schools have a school carnival, University has a Learning Festival. It was fun, international booths with African outfits kids could try on, t-shirt painting, Brazilian dancing, Italian pot painting, etc. Julien and Sebastian made a couple rain forest animal key chains which Julien has worn attached to his belt loop every day this week. Julien was very excited about the "bicycle rodeo." We brought Julien's bike. It starts with a session about bike safety and then the kids go around and around the track (which included wood beams to ride over, stop signs, etc). The guy running it told Julien he is ready to take off his training wheels. We agree.

Strep

As for a health update, Julien and I both have strep again, and this time Sebastian has it too. Richard is the only one that hasn't had it. Hopefully he won't get it. It's no fun.

Happy dog

Happy Sebastian

Sebastian loves Emmett. And loves to say Emmett's name. He often looks for Emmett and talks about him. At school, if Sebastian is upset they ask him about Emmett to distract him. I guess it usually works!

Cute dog

On the deck

Outside

When it hasn't been raining (It's been very wet lately), we have been spending a lot of time outside. Julien is outside as often as possible. Emmett has been enjoying hanging out attached to a post outside.

getting back in to the swing of soccer

This last weekend we had soccer again. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful. Julien is beginning to get the hang of it again. The coach has been pairing Julien up with his daughter (one of the best players) quite a bit. It seems to be working pretty well. He tends to behave better when paired up with a girl. Either the kids have all grown up a bit or their coach is really good-this time they have not been spending as much time trying to steal the ball from their teammates.

Sebastian is also easier to deal with when we are watching the game this year- at least so far. It always helps to have a few toys and some snacks.

Art opening

I took the boys to my friend Sarah's art opening. It was her final show for her MFA, and it looked great! I haven't been at an art opening in a while. It was fun, although very crowded. Julien was a bit overwhelmed, although he seemed to enjoy the art. Julien was feeling too shy to talk to the twins. They were pretty busy with grandparents and aunts and uncles.

Julien is pointing to squid that is heading towards the mouth of a baleen whale in one of Sarah's paintings. He was also fascinated by the ceramic figurines of a small boy playing pretend.

Julien's photos

I think Julien took these before we had Emmett.

Resting at the end of the hike

Everyone was satisfied.

Morel?

This is the season for morel hunting, which is always a big thing around Bloomington. I'm not sure, but I think this is a morel.

Mayapples