Aaron Turns 4

This was the first year Aaron understood and was excited for his birthday. He's been on a "Mario Kart Wii" (as he calls it) kick lately so I asked if he wanted a Luigi cake. "Da-weegi!" was his enthusiastic response. Poor third child has never had a fancy cake like his siblings, so I stayed up until midnight making it perfect. I even dyed the batter rainbow colors. Take that, Pinterest!

He was so excited to wake up and see "A-A-R-O-N" and his 4:

When planning his birthday party he was very clear that he wanted to go "to the pumps." He was also very clear on who he wanted to invite: "Alivia." Alivia doesn't know it, but she's the great love of Aaron's life. She stayed with us one day over the summer while her mom helped at Girls' Camp. Aaron quickly began flirting and apparently fell deeply in love. He won't speak to her or look her in the eye, but he asks about her constantly (several times a day). All he wanted for his birthday was for Alivia to come to his party:

Nervous to be with his dream girl

But also excited.

After everyone had their fill of jumping, it was back to the house for cake. Aaron still gets a bit nervous during the birthday singing:

Ready, set...

Go!

(Finally blowing out his own candles instead of his friends' birthday candles)

An inside view:

Then it was gift time! Our big gift to Aaron (with Grandma Cathy's help) was a balance bike.

Elise was loads of help with the assembly:

Pleased with his green bike (he deliberated between green and orange for a long time)

A very successful birthday!

Family Field Trip

With school back in session, Jon is back teaching seminary. We are handling things much better than we did last spring, but it still takes a toll on our family. We decided to take a day just to do fun adventures with the kids instead of all the things on our to-do lists. First stop, a ride on a real train!

The train happened to be pulling in right as we arrived. The kids were slightly terrified, but also excited. 

Found this for my Harry Potter guy:

It was us and a bunch of old people enjoying a ride through some Pennsylvania farmland. Hopefully our kids weren't too distracting! I'm sure they weren't expecting a bunch of kids in the middle of a week. 

Velvet seats = fancy pants travelling!

Elise loves new adventures

Jon's job was to keep Elise from jumping out the window.

It was not an easy job.

Selfie with "I need a haircut" Seth

After the train ride we headed to Shady Maple Smorgasbord for lunch. Smorgasbords are not ideal dining for parents who are constantly taking kids back for more food, but the kids were thrilled with all the options. Especially the dessert options. 

Found some Crazy Aaron's putty in the gift shop after lunch

Last stop was Milburn Orchards for some traditional fall fun. First there was the feeding of various farm animals. Catherine was enchanted by this tiny goat that had escaped its pen:

Feeding other tiny goats not clever enough to escape:

Elise LOVED the animals. Lots of squealing.

Seth trying to feed the goats random weeds:

Aaron was very careful with his food dispensing. All animals were fed equally. 

Into the corn maze! Will we make it out alive?

Yes. Yes we will.

Because it's the lamest maze ever, with exactly one path to follow.

Enjoying some Daddy-Daughter time on the playground:

And the standard oversized rocking chair picture:

It was a lovely day. Jon gets all the credit for planning the trip. I'm so impressed with everything he does. It's not easy to be constantly on duty: seminary teacher, engineer, dad, husband. I'm grateful he's willing to make time for our family when I know he's got a list a mile long of projects, plus has had no free time in months.

Little Adventures

Random trip to feed the geese after a grocery store run

Seth's soccer games are the best!

There's a baseball diamond full of dirt to keep these three entertained.

There are baths all around after every game...

Trimming the tree is best done wearing a swim suit.

And no shoes.

Hanging out with Talia, Brownie (rabbit) and Nadara (python).

For those wondering, all animals survived this mashup.

A gorgeous day calls for sprinklers on the trampoline and a break from schoolwork!

Zoo Trip

Since most public schools don't schedule field trips the first month of school, lots of places offer great deals to homeschoolers in September. We got into the Baltimore Zoo for super cheap and had a lovely time. 

Elise checking out the birds in the aviary

Catherine Giraffe

She's at the age where she demands I take pictures of her. Case in point.

Oriole Elise

Some other kind of bird Elise

Two boys in a nest

Three babies in a nest.

Elise was not interested in getting back in.

Catherine tortoise

Aaron tortoise

Seth tortoise

Can't take a picture of just one kid! It must be all! Thankfully Elise doesn't care yet.

And what's an adventure without a little blood? Or, actually, a lot of blood? 

Aaron fell down the stairs several days earlier and split his head open on the railing.  No stitches, but a decent cut. While at the zoo he tripped and, of course, landed right on the same spot. SO. MUCH. BLOOD. Head wounds are the worst!

He freaked out several other moms who stopped to ask if we needed help. I promised them it wasn't nearly as terrifying as it appeared based on all the blood. I finally got it cleaned up and bandaged:

I got to sport some bloodstains on my shirt the rest of the day. Mom life at its best!

Back to School

First day of school calls for donuts!

I documented most of this on my other (rarely used) blog, but to recap: we decided to go back to homeschooling this year. So far it's been a great experience. I'm loving spending more time with my kids and seeing them get to spend more time together. I'm not going to lie: it's a lot of work. But I love it. 

Thanks to my awesome friend Bente, we found ourselves joining a great local co-op. The kids have academic classes on Wednesdays (history, grammar, literature, science, geography, Spanish) and electives on Monday afternoons (art, music, PE, Home Ec, etc). Each grade has around 10 kids, so they're still getting the experience of classrooms and peers. It's a perfect mix. 

As part of the co-op I get to help teach. I teach one section of Aaron's Pre-K, a middle & high school art class, plus I sub in Seth's Spanish class and in other classes as needed. The best part is that Wednesday morning I have TWO HOURS of free time when all my kids are in classes! It's so glorious...

Aaron walking into his first day of preschool at co-op. Love!

Elise at her first day of nursery at co-op.

It was very much not love. 

Four very happy babies after their first day of co-op

Seth playing checkers in history class

Catherine's geography class

Aaron's pre-K class

I'm Aaron's pre-K teacher in the afternoon on Wednesdays. Since I have to be in there before the kids, I usually just keep Elise with me until my co-teacher arrives and I can take her to nursery. But eventually I discovered the trick to keeping Elise happy: just keep her in Pre-K with me!

"I'm totally in the 3-5 age range!"

Of course, co-op days mean no naps. Which means naps happen in places like this:

Here's to a great year of 4th grade, 1st grade, pre-K and nursery!