Beach bums

For probably the first time in his life, Steve played hooky today and we went to Ogunquit for some serious sand fun. The thing about going to two kids from one, is that there is almost never an outing (or moment) where everyone is completely happy; someone is always melting down. EXCEPT when we go to the beach, You'll see some serious faces in these photos, but you can safely attribute that to the subjects concentrating on their next sand attack or being impatient that mom wanted a picture. It was definitely the way to start the week!

Most red-neck trailer I've ever seen

After years of driving past, we finally took advantage of the kids napping and got a dog. Yum!

Oh he wanted a seagull sooooooo badly!

The tide was heading out as we got there and the water was warm

*whistle*

Before they both went swimming in the ocean and were still somewhat clean

My men :)

Hen had her appointment today and now weighs 31#! She did a really good job at the appointment

She must have run miles today. This girl has always been a beach lover

Making sand castles

(Gleefully) destroying sandcastles...

I realize these are rather repetitive. Sorry. They do show the progression of how bold Henri got in the water.

She finally got chilled hours later so we packed the car and went for a walk down the beach

More selfies

The seaweed was a big hit too

Dancing on the beach

It got pretty windy

Another one of those elusive seagulls that won't let Hudson catch them. Meanies.

He vented his frustration by throwing mud at them. 

It was a perfect day.

Four

And just like that, we've hit the four year mark. I wish I could come up with something deep, or even comprehensive, about the young woman that Henrietta is becoming. She is, well, she's Henri. And we love her, and are frustrated by her, and she makes me laugh, and she makes me scream (not my finest parenting moment), and she has the sweetest heart, and she can be totally heartless (I'll have to tell you her take on King Herod's law about infanticide....), and she loves order if it's her version of order, and she's a great helper, and she finally knows all her letters and is this close to reading, her sense of fashion is disastrous (not that I'm one to talk about fashion), she has an insanely good memory and is super observant, she mothers all her dolls and stuffed animals, and my fridge is going to collapse from the weight of all her drawings.
Hen had pretty simple requests this year: a jump rope, supper of rotisserie chicken, and a strawberry cake. She "decorated" the cake by dumping an entire bottle of sprinkles on it, and it was a big hit. We met up with Steve at Chik-fil-A for lunch but otherwise her day was low key. Looking forward to seeing what this next trip around the sun brings for our Sunshine!

She wakes up cheerful in the morning

Steven decorated for her

Birthday waffles and HUGE strawberries. And birthday balloons.

She got her jump rope!!! And a Waldo book. Except she just flipped open a page and said "oh, there's Waldo (flip another page) there's Waldo..." She is scary observant. (I still can't find Waldo...)

And then the kids piled on my bed like they do most mornings so I attempted a birthday photo shoot and of course I was blessed with total cooperation. Not. 

She picked out her outfit (like every day) and I was amused to see it was a birthday themed shirt. 

So many of these would have been perfect if she would just smile. 

I had to keep one hand on Hud for most of this so that he wouldn't be in the frame. Once allowed up, they just wanted to play so there was no nice sibling shot. 

Most of it looked like this

OK, just a few of my little love bug...

He adores his sister, he isn't content unless she's right next to him.And then he just wants to torment her. But it's all done in love. I think. 

Lots of smooches

Happy Birthday!!!!!

No rhyme or reason

The pictures have been random about uploading, and then almost all of them are either of us playing outside (heelllooooo Spring!), or of food we're eating outside (because, again, Spring!). None of the artsy shots of the garden Hen and I (foolishly) put in, the mulching I got done, or the sandbox I made for the kids, but just imagine an uneven raised bed, mulch covering all the plants that might have come up, and this black plastic tub half buried and surrounded by rocks, and you get the gist.My housework has been completely neglected, all the laundry has been line dried (yay!), and our leafs have budded out. It's been a good week :)

Her hair's getting long

Lots of selfies

The occasional sibling affection

Made hot cross buns for the neighbors. It ensures good luck and neighborly relations all year. We have great neighbors already, so it probably wasn't necessary :) But they tasted great!

Easter morning egg hunt

Ignore the classy backdrop of dirty dishes...

I tucked him in and pulled the plug for service

Easter babies!

The weather shield arrived just in time for me to test it out along with my new running jacket in 30 degree and raining weather. I can not wait for this stupid 5k to be done so I can stop having to run struggle whine "train".

Hudson checking himself out in the phone haha

He'd just brushed his teeth and was admiring them

Lest you think he's always "so cute", here's how he is most of the time at home: mid-shriek and temper fit. I especially like that I caught him doing his foot kick thing. 

....and then he moves on to destroying the pantry. This was an especially hard day for both of us as the anticipated chocolate chip cookies didn't get to happen

Just doing her thing

Um.....kind of typical evening actually. They are lucky to have the best dad in the world. 

Hudson making breakfast

Park break on a long walk/run on Saturday. It amazes me how many incredible playgrounds we're surrounded by. I know my kids take it for granted, but I'm very jealous of them. 

Major progress in one winter. She's climbing everything now!

And he still goes headfirst down slides

Still super happy with my BOB. The kids seems to like it a lot more than the old stroller too. I like it even more when Steve's with us because he does the pushing ;) 

Sunday morning

my babies

Painting flowers for playgroup

The boy is beyond obsessed with balls. One of the teens made his little life by playing soccer with him last night :)

Picnicking! Love not having much clean up, and the birds love all the crumbs

Hudson and his fire truck. It's getting lots of mileage :)

There you have it! I'm eagerly anticipating a day off on Saturday at a Ladies Conference at a church in NH (though it will be sad to be inside all day in such nice weather), and then another looooong walk around Cambridge on Sunday after church with the family. We should be getting rain tomorrow so maybe some housework will finally get tackled :)