Preschool fun

Raquel has had some fun days at preschool recently. Natalya, Marcus and I got to go see Raquel and her classmates act out a piggy play (a version of the 3 little pigs) where Raquel played a Mommy pig.

Then today her whole class got to go swimming at the new Christiansburg Aquatic Center. One of Raquel's swim coaches happens to be the dad of one of Raquel's friends in her preschool class. So all of Raquel's preschool class and their siblings got to play in the pool today. Raquel had fun showing off her swimming skills and going down the slide probably 20 times. Natalya was able to swim and have fun in the water too.

Raquel's preschool class dressed up in their piggy play costumes.

Raquel as a mommy piggy

POOL FUN!

Raquel playing with her classmates and swim coach.

Easter Bunny!

We were gone on Easter, so we had to ask the Easter Bunny to come to our house a few days later. Lucky for the Easter Bunny since all the candy and toys were on sale when she had to buy things to fill baskets and eggs.

While we were at Natural Bridge Hotel waiting for the elevator on Easter morning a couple of kids and their parents were checking out and had their bags piled on a cart along with their Easter Baskets. While we waited for the elevator Raquel leans over to me and says, "Their parents just bought those baskets for them". My smart little girl knew that the Easter bunny was going to come to her house later since she wasn't home and knew that if the Easter bunny wasn't bringing candy to her in the hotel he was for sure not going to give it to other kids.

The girls had fun hunting for eggs in the morning and eating their candy all day long.

Ball Skills

Marcus has fun playing at Romp n' Roll with all the toys. He especially loves the balls. We might have ourselves a future basketball player with these ball handling skills.

Natural Bridge

Thomas Jefferson liked it so much that he bought if from King George III. If a U.S. president recommends it, it must be good right? and with it being only a little more than an hour from our house we thought we should check it out. Leaving early in the morning we headed up to Natural Bridge and the Safari Park we stopped for breakfast at the Pink Cadillac and then on to see the animals.

Enjoying Breakfast!

Virginia Safari Park

I wasn't expecting much when we pulled into the park. We had done a ride in your car type of zoo in Idaho last spring and you really didn't get to experience the animals much because you had to have your windows rolled up (for good reason with the bears). But after getting our tickets and free food buckets (thanks to our military personnel in the car) and lining up to drive through the park we knew we were in for a fun experience. The kids and especially me had a great time getting up close to all sorts of animals. We got to feed lots of different kinds of birds like ostrich and emus, tons of deer and elk from all over the world, camels, giraffes, llamas, gazelles, wildebeest, yaks, zebras and lots more. Here are some pictures of our up close and personal encounters with the animals.

Some of the many animals we encountered at the Safari Park.

Feeding the animals!

Foamhenge

We stopped at Foamhenge an exact replica of the real Stonehenge in England. I now have been to both the real and the fake henge and recommend skipping the foam. Luckily we didn't go out of our way to see it. It may have been more impressive when first build but birds, people and nature have really taken a toll on the foam. It was a beautiful day so we enjoyed the short walk and taking a few pictures.

Natural Bridge

We stayed at the Natural Bridge hotel and in the morning hiked to the Natural Bridge. One of the reasons I love living in Virginia is all the history that is so close to home. All through school you read and study about all the things that took place and now our family gets to see and walk were our countries history took place. George Washington surveyed Natural Bridge and you can still see where he carved his initials in the rock.

The family enjoyed walking the Cedar Creek Nature Trail and seeing the Native American Village, Lost River, Lace Falls and throwing rocks in the river. We also toured the toy museum and wax museum and factory which were both a definite miss.

Overlooking Lace Falls

Our last stop was to explore the deepest caverns on the east coast but the kids were getting hot and tired and needed to sleep so we decided to head home. We really enjoyed our short vacation and will definitely be hitting the Safari park again!

Kindergarten visit

The school bus passes by our house 4 times a day on school days and Raquel has begged to ride ever since she was 18 months old. She has patiently waited 4 long years to ride the school bus and today she finally got her wish. It was kindergarten preview day at school, where the up and coming kindergarten students spend a few hours at school in one of the 3 kindergarten classrooms to help them prepare for their own first day of school.

The kids were able to ride the bus into school. I asked Raquel if she was scared to ride the bus since she didn't know anyone and my brave little girl replied that it was ok, because she would make new friends. I was definitely more nervous about her going than she was, so I reluctantly put here on the bus and then headed to school so that I could make sure she got to where she was suppose to go once she arrived at school. Raquel bounded off the bus and ran to me because she was so excited she finally got to ride the bus. I was hoping to get to drive her to and from school next year but I think it might be hard talking her out of riding the bus.

After spending a couple of hours at kindergarten I went to pick Raquel up and she was not ready to go. She was so sad that she couldn't stay the whole day. She actually ended up in the same class as her friend Autumn who is currently in kindergarten and with 3 other kids she knows from preschool and church. They gave them desks to sit at, made an art project and did workbook pages. The teacher said Raquel had no problems and fit in perfectly.

Sad, my little girl is growing up and is already for kindergarten, at least I have 4 more months of her before I have to send her off all day.

Waiting for the bus with her friend Autumn.

Bounding off the bus at school!

Today we also got to celebrate Raquel at her Spring swim banquet where she received a trophy. Raquel has improved so much in her swimming from the beginning of the swim season in Sept. She went from swimming a few strokes to swimming 25 freestyle and 25 backstroke easily. She also learned to breathe to the side. We are proud of our little swimmer and excited to continue to watch her swim and improve.

Receiving her award at the swim banquet

Rompy's

"Get ready for some fun!", is what they sing right before letting the kids go into the gym at Romp n' Roll and Natalya sure does have a lot of fun. She takes a 2 for 2's class each week and absolutely loves it. The kids get to play in the gym, be creative with an art project and enjoy musical instruments during music time. Each class they get to play with a huge parachute and end with a bubble dance party awhile listening to fun music. Which Natalya most of the time will break out dancing too. Its great spending time alone with Natalya doing something she loves. Every time we get in the car she asks if we are going to Rompy's and shouts for joy when we pass by Rompy's when we are out doing errands. Here are some pictures of her having lots of fun!

On the Move!

Marcus is on the move! He isn't very fast but he can get from here to there.

Stroke School Championship

Raquel swam in the stroke school championship meet. Since she knew what to do this time she greatly improved her times. She got 4th place in the backstroke, 5th in freestyle, and 6th in 25 yrd. board kick. She was the youngest swimmer but she did great swimming against the 8 other little boys and girls.

Raquel is swimming the Backstroke in the first lane. She got 4th place out of 9 with a time of 38.46 sec.

25 yrd. board kick -6th place with a time of 39.63 sec

Raquel is in the middle lane.

Freestyle- Raquel is in the 1st lane and got 5th place with a time of 41.99 sec

Raquel really enjoys herself in the water and its fun to watch her swim!

Swim Lessons

Natalya has been playing in the pool by herself while Raquel had swim practice twice a week. After months of playing in the water she has started to get a little too comfortable and is venturing a little too deep. So we decided to put her in swim lessons once a week during Raquel's practice time. She is so excited that someone gets to play with her while in the water and hopefully she will learn a few swimming strokes as well.

2 Teeth!

Marcus has 2 teeth!

Raquel's 5!

Our little girl isn't so little anymore she turned 5 years old this week. Along with getting to pick out donuts for breakfast she got a new bike, lunch at the restaurant with the leaves on the sign (Olive Garden), and Tacos for dinner. She also had a fun Tinkerbell party with her friend!

Raquel trying out her new bike!

This year Raquel wanted a Tinkerbell party. We had fun coming up with things to do and games to play at her party. As the girls arrived they were given a fairy crown to wear and a Tinkerbell coloring page to color while waiting for everyone to arrive. Once everyone arrived the girls made magical bead necklaces or bracelets. It was amazing how focused and quiet everyone was while coloring and beading; you would have thought you had stepped into a library full of students studying for exams. The silence didn't last during out next activity and the true 4 & 5 yr. old girls came out.

We split the kids up into 2 teams, sprinkled them with pixie dust and sent them on a treasure hunt to earn their wings. The clues were everywhere inside and outside the house and up and downstairs, the girls had fun running around figuring out the riddles to each clue. Their prize at the end was their own fairy wings.

For lunch the girls made their own pizzas and ate fresh fruit and flower shaped jello. The girls played outside until everyone was done eating and then it was time for presents. Now I could have let Raquel sit and just open her presents but instead we had everyone hide the present they brought and played hot & cold to try to find them. I remember not enjoying it as a kid but Raquel had lots of fun doing it and I think it broke up the present opening time and gave the present giver a little more to do instead of just sit there.

We ate cake and ice cream, played a few more game and then sent the girls home full of sugar and energy with their parents. Just in case the girls didn't get enough Tinkerbell at the party Raquel gave each girl a goodie bag full of pixie dust (scented sparkly body gel), a balloon, Tinkerbell fruit snacks, stickers, tattoos and party blowers. It was fun planning and preparing for Raquel's Tinkerbell party but it felt good to send all 8 little girls home and be done for another year.

Pin the wand on Tinkerbell game

Pink, Green and Purple fairy decorations.

Raquel's Tinkerbell Birthday cake.

This picture was from the night before the party. Unfortunately the cake began to fall before the party. The kids all thought it still looked cool even though it had a big crack down the middle.

Singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday Girl!

It was a beautiful day for a party!

Playing games outside.

Happy 5th Birthday Raquel!

just a few of the reasons I love you!

1. You are fair. Always looking out for your little sister making sure she gets what you get.
2. You love your dresses, especially the ones Grandma Clinger gives you.
3. You are curious about everything. Always asking questions and wanting to do experiments.
4. Obedient! Whether it's making your bed or eating your dinner you always do what you are told.
5. You take initiative and do things with out being told like cleaning your room, brushing your teeth, helping clear the table or singing/entertaining your little brother when he cries until mom can come and get him.
6. You love art! Raquel always is coloring something and always wants to go out to eat somewhere they have a kid's menu you can color. The very reason she picked Olive Garden as her birthday lunch, because she can color.
7. Athletic! It is amazing to watch Raquel swim and run and swing and just play. She enjoys being active.
8. She knows what she wants and won't be talked into it if she doesn't.
9. She is willing to make new friends. A little girl was added to her preschool class half way through the year and her and Raquel became instant friends. And when I asked Raquel if she was afraid to ride the bus to kindergarten when she didn't know anyone next year she replied, "That's ok, I can make new friends on the bus."
10. You are excited that you are growing up but sad that you are no longer little. Raquel will bring clothes to me that say 4T and tell me that she can no longer wear them because she is now 5. But then the day after Raquel turned 5 she told Mike that she missed being 4 and all the things she could do when she was 4.

Riding Lessons!

Raquel has loved horses since she was a little girl. She is still my little girl but now that she is almost 5 years old she can now start taking lessons. Today was her first lesson and was a sunny but chilly day but that didn't stop Raquel from being super excited about riding a horse. Dad even got off work to come watch her ride. Dad plus Horses equals pure joy for Raquel. If only we could throw in a little water too she would really be in heaven!

Getting ready to ride!

Raquel got to help brush and saddle the horse before riding.

Half a Year

Marcus turned 6 months old today!

He is our smiley boy. Marcus is getting better at sitting and rolling over and loves to eat! I haven't found anything he won't eat, besides the baby food beef and rice which I tried myself and I don't blame him for not wanting to eat. For his half birthday we made him a Blues Clues Cake. The cake turned out really cute, but unfortunately Marcus is too little so didn't get to eat any, rest of us enjoyed it for him. Marcus had his 6 month doctors visit yesterday and he is doing great. He is growing normally and they weren't able to hear his heart murmur anymore. We love our baby brother!

At 6 Months Marcus:

Smiles & Laughs

Sits

Rolls around the floor

scoots backward

Sometimes sleeps through the night

Height: 26 inches (25-50%)

Weight: 17 lbs 10.5 oz (50-75%)

Head: 16 3/4 inches

Marcus' 6 months birthday cake.

Stroke School Swim Meet

I'm so proud of my little girl Raquel! She participated in her first swim meet tonight and swam so well. I'm proud that she had the courage to try something new even though she was a bit scared. She is the youngest swimmer at 4 yrs. old and did her best and kept up with the other kids. Being her first meet she wasn't too sure what to do at first. She is use to swimming at practice and didn't know that she had to touch the side of the pool to stop the clock or to start swimming at the sound of the horn, but she sure had fun. It was cute watching her skipping and prancing around the pool deck and playing with the other kids. Raquel had fun swimming but I think she enjoyed the goodie bag that they got at the end even more.

Getting ready to swim.

Raquel swam the 25 yard Freestyle, 25 yard Backstroke

and the 25 yard Freestyle Kick

Raquel and one of the swim coaches (Michelle Sudweeks)

Raquel with her goodie bag after the meet.

B week

Raquel is starting kindergarten in the fall and to help her get ready we decided to go through the alphabet helping her learn to write all her letters, both upper and lower case and learn the sounds of all the letters. This week we are on the letter Bb.

We spent the week having fun doing things that start with the letter B. Raquel got her Birthday pictures, the girls got balloons, we visited a bakery and made a Blues Clues Cake. Mike must have been feeling left out because he decided to join in the Bb fun and get rid of Natalya's blanket. I don't know if it was fun for Natalya but it's amazing how much her behavior improved and her finger sucking stopped immediately without the blanket.

It doesn't start with Bb but we also went to the Science museum in Roanoke this week. The girls had fun playing and learning about light, electricity, & sound.

Baby Brother that starts with Bb.

Enjoying the beautiful day with our balloons eating out treats from the bakery.

Blue's Clues cake for Marcus' 6 month Birthday.