This Wheel's on Fire

This week Lily ventured to a local farm for the annual school trip. Grandpa Maurice accompanied her, thanks GM! Lily rode the bus to the farm, rode a pony, saw/fed some livestock, and managed to choose a pumpkin without a stem - she said it was otherwise "perfect." Jack had a good week with Jonah playing soccer at the community center - the last full week with his friend. We had a difficult time finding another toddler to fill Jonah's spot, so Jack will be cared for by Beatrice alone until June and then he is off to Lily's school. Although we know he will miss having a friend, he will have fun when he sees other kids at the playground, community center, and library.

On Friday, the kids had gymnastics (firehouse theme) and then went to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's for a sleepover as Mom and Dad had to go to Baltimore for a running event - Mom ran the Baltimore 1/2 marathon on Saturday and Dad ran the 5K! Lily and Jack kept quite busy over the 24 hours they spent with G&G. On Friday they went to the local fall festival and had a blast on the big slide. On Saturday morning, they went to a fire station open house - they practiced 'stop, drop and roll' which Jack apparently loved since he had done a lot of similar rolling at gymnastics. Lily described a mock run where they pretended they were sleeping, heard the fire alarm, so they checked to make sure the door handle was not hot, and crawled out of the room to escape - she seemed to take the drill very seriously. She also loved spraying the fire hose, and both of them spent the rest of the weekend in their fire hats and spraying pretend hoses. On Saturday evening, Lily went to Audrey's birthday pajama party where they played freeze dance, had their nails painted and played other games - she had a blast!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day, with some playing with toys and watching the Redskins choke. Later, Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis came over and we went to Lily's favorite - chinese food!

At Lily's school, they read the book 'Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?' which is a book that talks about filling each other's 'invisible bucket' with kind words and deeds. Lily has been talking a lot about the invisible bucket and seems genuinely interested in making sure she fills our bucket and her own bucket each day.
She made a bucket at school with these thoughts: I can help my brother and share my toys. I can help Mommy and clean up the house. I help Ms. Linda button her buttons. I hug them.
Our sweet little girl who loves her little brother - even if he drives her crazy!


Lily and her classmates checking out an emu.


Lily and Grandpa Maurice at the farm.


They were still willing to sport their Redskins' gear before the game.


At the fall festival and riding down the slide.


Jack playing.


With Grandma Gail on the hay ride.


Lily learning about fire safety.


Checking out the fire hose.


The two junior firefighters.