Boy vs. Bike...

After dinner tonight we went to the park to help George practice riding his bike. That didn't go so well...

With Jane's help, George made a quick recovery and the kids moved on to more important things.

We took our hike today, not yesterday.

Yesterday, we didn't have much to do and it would have been easy to spend the whole day inside watching TV and playing Wii. So I decided we needed to take a hike. It took forever to get the car loaded up, snacks in a back pack, shoes for eight feet, etc etc. Every time I'd come back out to the car with a handful of stuff, Henry would say, "I'm not sure we should go on a hike today". I kept getting frustrated at him, and would just go back inside to get more stuff. Finally once I had everything, he said, "really mom, Ruby keeps falling asleep". I look back and sure enough, she had had it. Just the prep for the hike was already too much for her. The hike got canceled, the car unloaded. I was sad.

With Ruby awake, we tired again today. And yes, Ruby is in a swimming suit. But she's definitely not asleep! She was completely on board for the outing this time. Albeit she thought we were going swimming. But she was fine once she saw that hiking would be fun too. The black case holds some piece of electronics, but she thought it was a purse, and was certain that it was needed for wherever we were taking her today, as were the sunglasses. Some girls just need to accessorize.

George is ready. Henry kept telling me he didn't want to go and it wouldn't be fun. But George kept saying he was on my team and would have a good time. Thanks George!

We're OFF!!

The boys find an enormous weed and think it's cool.

Ruby finds a flower and is happy to add one more accessory to the ensemble.

Jane gets nervous that walking on rocks is too difficult for Ruby. She turns back to offer her assistance. Jane often gets nervous on behalf of all of her siblings. It's cute and nice of her. At least I know she understands empathy. Ruby did seem a tad bit nervous about the rocks.

Holding hands, Jane safely gets Ruby to more stable footings.

It was fun. When we had to turn around, Henry was the first one to complain about having to go back. But he insisted to me that it didn't mean he had fun. He better not have had any fun. I told them before getting out of the car that we had only one rule, "no one better have any fun". Henry assured me he wouldn't. I did!

Making Use of Grandpa's Piano

Henry does NOT want me to post this. But I just can't help myself. Mostly because of the song he is playing, for some reason I just thought of dad, and wanted to share it. Don't tell Henry you saw it!!

I thought 5:45am was early enough...

Now that Darin is back home, I'm trying to get more consistent at running in the mornings. He still leaves for work totally early, so I have to get up by 5:30am to run before he needs to leave. So it was 5:45 as I walked outside. Unfortunately, the sun rises around 5:15, so it's very bright. As I was stretching I looked up at the kids windows, to find Jane standing on Ruby's bed looking out the window, waving at me. That's just too early for her to be awake, and to wake Ruby up too!! But Darin, still newly home, was happy to let the girls wake up and have a party in our room with him while he got ready for work. I'm glad I was out running!!

Darin Goes to Ukraine: 26 May to 23 June

The view from downtown Kiev of the Dnepr River.

Darin escorted 27 cadets from the Air Force Academy on a 4-week Russian language immersion program.

The "Rodina Mat'" (Родина Мать) statue commemorating Kiev's role in World War II.

The Swallow's Nest castle on the Black Sea near Yalta.

Preschool Graduation!

George graduated from preschool this year. He's now off to kindergarten.