Presents from Tanya

Tanya started out the visit with presents for the boys. A bionicle for Julien, and dragons for the little boys. Needless to say, they went over very well. Julien brought the bioncle with him everywhere during our trip.

In the morning

The boys were happy to wake up at our B&B.

Babysitter

On Friday night of the festivities we all went out to a french restaurant in Hyde Park. We hired a babysitter for the event and it worked quite well. When we came home at 9:30 the boys were wildly running back and forth from bed to bed. Benjamin was thrilled to be following Julien's lead. And Julien LOVES being the Pied Piper. And we were very happy to have a night out sans kids.

Drumming the brass table

I remember this brass table at my grandparents when I was growing up. I believe they bought it durring the year they lived in India when Bill was a teenager.

Booteys

On the first night in town we all went over to Bill and Jan's apartment for a dinner of very good take out Lebanese food, "Cedars of Lebanon." The little ones loved the kufta kebabs.
Sebastian and Benjamin enjoyed watching the trains go by. Sebastian told Ben all about the "Booteys"... it took us a while to realize that he was talking about the buildings.

Abode

This is the B&B. And you can see Sebastian walking down the block.

Gekko

Much to the thrill of the kids, there was a pet gekko. Sebastian watched the Gekko crawl into a bucket in the aquarium and then said over and over again "Gekko in da Bucket!" Julien now wants us to get a pet gekko.

Air hockey

Their was an air hockey table on the sun porch, which Richard enjoyed as much as the kids.

Family in Chicago

We all went up to Chicago for Bill's retirement party and academic conference. Since there were so many of us visiting (including Tanya) we could not all fit at Bill and Jan's, so we stayed at a great B&B in Hyde Park. It was very Home-y. We stayed in the "Garden Suite" (ie basement). It was well set up and even included a Mac mini. Very cool. Tanya, Jessica and Ben stayed upstairs. The main floor of the house was all shared space. A large kitchen, dining room and a long living room. It was decorated with lots of kids paintings and photos and she stocked the fridge with lots of food for us. It was perfect for traveling with kids.

Last soccer game

Julien had his last soccer game this last weekend. Soccer was more difficult this time round. Between all the strep throat and the rain, Julien missed a lot of games. But still it was fun. And all the kids are getting to be better players.

Goodbye Nigel, Helen and Ellie

Nigel, Helen and Ellie are moving to New Zealand this summer. We will miss them! They had a fun going away party at a neighbors house. Julien was excited to see that his friend Alex, from the bus, was there. It was a pool party, but it was a bit cooler than expected. Still, Alex and Julien went swimming. And then it was impossible to keep Sebastian back, so Sebastian and I joined them. Sebastian was so enthusiastic he made it worthwhile, but it was a little cold.

Afterwards, Alex played the piano for us and Sebastian joined in.

Sebastian charms Ada

Sebastian was fascinated by Ada. He worked hard to charm her. He was, however, a bit possessive when Ada shared his toys.

Sebastian enjoyed Kevin

Ada

We had Lane, Kevin and Ada over this last weekend. It had been a while so we were happy to see them. Ada is adorable and remarkably content! Kevin and Lane must be doing something right...

At the park

Afterwards, we played at the park.

Julien rides a bike

For the first time this last weekend, Julien rode a bike without training wheels. It wasn't easy, and I would admit that Richard and I both lost patience at times (and it didn't help that Sebastian cried and pointed at Julien's bike exclaiming, "Mine! Mine!"), but finally Julien was successful. And very excited.

Trading Pokemon cards with Cedric

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!