Back to School

When we got back from Chicago, we had two weeks with absolutely nothing on the agenda.  In some ways it was a nice slow pace.  We slept late, swam and colored a lot of pictures.

 Cate dressed up in her American Girl dress from Nana to match baby Maggie.

We went to the library and did a million puzzles.

Cate dressed up in her Tinkerbell costume.

And had a fit when I wouldn't let her try to "fly" off of the couch.

So when meet the teacher day finally arrived, we were ready for some action.

First we checked out Cate's four year old classroom.  She will have a small class this year which I think will be good for her.

 Meet the teacher day was also an ice cream social which was popular with everyone.

 After we checked out Timmy's little room, he insisted that we investigate the playground.  He channeled Usain Bolt on the slide.

On Wednesday, we were up bright and early to make it to school on time.  Cate and Timmy did great.  Cate said that her favorite part of the day was quiet reading time.  They are allowed to choose a few books and a little spot to sit and just read on their own.  Timmy's favorite part of the day?  Snack time.

Summer in Chicago

We just got back from our long awaited, first trip back to Chicago.  We spent ten days in the Windy City and had a great time.

Cate and Timmy did great in the airport and on the plane.  It was our first trip without a stroller!  Just two kids with their own backpacks.  Although they do like to move from one activity to the next on the plane, both were content for quite awhile doing books, stickers and coloring.

After we settled in for a few days, we decided to go to Santa's Village on Saturday.  This little amusement park was perfect for a four and almost three year old.  They loved the whip, the tilt-a-whirl and the dragon ship.

Cate passed the first time we went on the dragon ship (the one that rocks back and forth until you're perpendicular to the ground) but after getting her feet wet on the other rides, she asked if we could go on it again.

I assumed that she would be screaming and I would be trying to get the ride operator's attention to beg him to stop the ride.  Not quite.  She was a maniac.  She screamed and threw her arms up in the air like a little wild woman.  The girl surprises me sometimes.  Timmy did not love the dragon ship, but after riding the tilt-a-whirl a few times, he exclaimed, "Mama, this is very cool."

The next day, we had a summer birthday party at Mimi and Pop's house with a princess cake for Cate and a Thomas the Train cake for Timmy.  It was so much fun to see everyone and just hang out.

Later that week, we spent some time in the city.  We met Uncle Rusty for lunch near his office and took a water taxi tour on the river.

It was a really nice day to hang out outside.  Of course while we were on the water taxi, there was another passenger who kept telling me that I needed to start working on multiplication tables with Timmy.  I needed to start early for him to be good at math.  Ok sure.  He can barely identify numbers.  I guess she didn't care too much about Cate's math skills.

Before heading back to Mimi and Pop's house, we went for a swim in Uncle Rusty's rooftop pool.  It was empty (being the middle of the day on a Tuesday), so they jumped and jumped and swam across the pool until it was time to go.

Tim and I went back into the city the next night to stay on Michigan Avenue for our anniversary.  We had a great room with a great view of the Hancock Tower.  It was so nice to just shop and poke around a little bit on our own for the day.

We were sad to leave but the goodbye was made easier because we will see Mimi, Pop and Jenn again in just a few weeks in Las Vegas!  We surprised Mimi with the plan to see Celine Dion's concert there for her birthday.  We can't wait!

Flying By

The summer is flying by.  We have made it through eight weeks of city swim lessons.

Then we made it through four weeks of survival swim.  I was so nervous about the survival swim, but I am so glad that we did it.  The progress they made from whining, complaining, yelling and crying to jumping off the diving board and swimming to the wall is amazing.  Of course they both have a lot of swimming skills to learn, but they can swim on their own, a good distance of the pool.

We spent our first Phoenix Fourth of July with Dan and Jamie, Norah and Eli.  It was unseasonably cool (under 100 degrees) and even rained a little bit.  I must be acclimating to my surroundings, because I was happy to see the rain.  A phenomenon I never would have understood in Chicago.

Cate dance class, which she loved, and Timmy's soccer class, which he did not love, are over and school starts for both in early August.  First, though, we leave on Wednesday for our first trip back to Chicago.  We are so looking forward to seeing everyone, to having ten solid days together, to an overnight in the city and, if you ask Tim, to hitting up every famous Chicago eatery.  We can't wait!

Fabulous Four

Last Sunday, my little Cate turned four.  It was a bit strange for us to be here, in Phoenix, far away from family, but we still had a fun day with our favorite four year old.

In the morning, we managed to squeeze in a Skype date with Mimi and Pop to open her presents from them.  One of her favorites was a great Doctor kit.  Right now she is using her playhouse as a "clinic".  She treats all of the stuffed animals and the animals from Noah's ark there.  If you are a willing patient, Cate is happy to see humans too, but a shot is a virtual guarantee at this clinic.

Timmy (whose massive mop of hair was cut later in the day), was not left out.  Mimi sent him a train for his Cars which he was very excited about.

After opening a few presents, we went out for breakfast and Cate got to have Minnie Mouse pancakes for her big day.

In the afternoon, we had a low key pizza and pool party with Norah and Eli and opened a few more gifts.  One of the nice things about having a pool is that even when you aren't organized enough to plan a great birthday and only know about four people, you can always have them over, get balloons and pizza and call it a pool "party."

I can't believe that Cate is already four.  It goes so fast!  She is such a funny, spirited little girl; I can't wait to see what this year will bring.  Happy Birthday, Cate!

Summertime

The beginning of summer usually marks the start of a few slower, lazier months.  Since Cate and Timmy weren't in school in the spring, and summer weather has been here for quite awhile, I found myself feeling like there was no great change of pace.

We've been swimming for awhile and Cate has emerged as a little water lover.  She is definitely still tentative but has come such a long way in the last six weeks of swimming lessons.

 Next week we will change things up a bit though and start a month of survival swimming lessons.  I am really nervous about how they will take a much more intense swim class, but I am excited to see the end result and to feel like they are a little bit more confident around the pool.

Beyond swimming, Cate and Timmy are each taking a class this summer.  Cate is taking dance and Timmy is doing soccer with Tim.

They both love their classes and Cate likes to practice her new moves at home for us.

In the car this morning, Timmy announced, "Daddy is so cool.  He plays soccer and basketball."

 Although I would like for our days to have a little bit more structure and action, I know that next summer will probably feel busy with C&T both able to go to camp at their preschool in addition to swimming and whatever other classes they are interested in by then.  For now we are trying to get ready for Cate's fourth birthday and our first trip back to Chicago in July.  We can't wait!

A World of Imagination

Cate is all about pretending these days.  She has always had a healthy imagination, what with her three imaginary friends (Elizabeth, Bufana and Lizdee) and all, but lately she has kicked it into high gear.  

Timmy is usually a good sport about all of the pretend tea parties, sleepovers, birthday parties and pretend babysitter games.  He calls up his "friend" Rick and they join the game for awhile before heading off to play cars.

Mimi came for almost a week while Tim was working in Las Vegas right before Mother's Day.  She is great at pretend games and outdid herself this time with a pretend Toy Story guys game that she then had to play all. week. long.

At the moment, Cate wants to be a mommy when she grows up because mommies get to workout and twirl in the kitchen while they cook.  I think she might be mistaking wearing workout clothes with actually working out.  That's ok, it's just pretend.

There are plenty of days when I am tired of playing pretend princesses or parties, but I try to remember that she is already almost four and her pretending days will suddenly come to an end, so I should soak up all of the funny things that she says.  Like when she is the mommy and I am the babysitter and she always leaves me a fancy dress for her baby to wear.  Just in case we go to a wedding between dinner and bedtime.  The girl is always prepared for a party.

Little Fish

The theme of the past few weeks has been swimming, swimming, swimming.  Cate and Timmy have been going to swim lessons four days a week in the late afternoon.  For two kids who did NOT want to get in the baby pool last summer, they have done great.

There was a little bit of drama from our resident drama llama on the first day, but she loved her teacher and did much better than I thought she would.  

We have also been using our own "hot tub" method to work on things with them.  Our pool is still just a little bit cold (and in need of cosmetic work), so we heat just the hot tub a little bit and they are happy to float around in there for quite awhile.

I usually get to sit and chat with a friend I met at my moms group.  We never really look at each other because we are both watching our kids to make sure their heads are above water, but it's nice to see someone I know a little bit.

Tim has been trying to make it to as many lessons as possible too.  It's good practice for him because Cate and Timmy are signed up for a survival swimming course in June/July.  I do not intend to be there much.  I can't handle it, so we agreed, when I signed them up, that he would make it a priority to take them.  Yikes.

It's a little bit crazy when we get home from swimming around 5:15 because C&T always want to ride their bikes, we need to eat dinner, have a bath and walk the dog, but the bonus is that swimming is just so tiring and they are usually tucked in bed right on time.