Welcome Summer - Go Dolphins!

We kicked off summer with a playdate with friends and an afternoon at the movies ("Monsters University" - not too painful to sit through as an adult, and the kids definitely enjoyed it).

And of course, it's not summer without swim team! The first meet was last night, and unfortunately thunder prevented the teams from finishing, though it was far enough along that South Orange won. Fer and Wendy were slated for relays in the final events, so they didn't get to swim, but they loved cheering on their teammates!

Weeks-Olsons Family Visit 2013 Day 4 - Fer's Moving On Ceremony, Lunch at Mi Colombia

We were thrilled that the Olsons could join us to see Fer's Moving On ceremony to mark the end of her fifth grade year at Clinton -- onward to middle school in the fall!

We got some year-end pictures of both girls with their teachers and with the principal:

We celebrated afterwards with lunch at Mi Colombia, one of our favorite restaurants.

Weeks-Olsons Family Visit 2013 Day 3 - Circle Line

We headed into NYC on Monday to give the Olsons a sense of the big city. We got to see it all on the Circle Line!

Weeks-Olsons Family Visit 2013 Day 2 - Church, Fer's Girl Scout Ceremony

On Sunday, we met up with the Olsons at church. They got to see Fer and Wendy sing in the Children's Choir and receive their Sunday School certificates at coffee hour. To celebrate the end of Sunday School, we had a special cake which was enjoyed by all. We were able to introduce them to some of our friends, and we got a great group picture afterwards outside.

In the afternoon, we all attended Fer's Girl Scout Bridging Up ceremony, where the troop transitioned from Juniors to Cadettes. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed another round of cake! I had to explain that our Sundays are usually not so cake-oriented, but with two year-end events on one day, it just worked out that way.

After the ceremony, we came back home and some neighbors came over to meet everyone. The kids had a great time playing in the front yard.

Weeks-Olsons Family Visit 2013 Day 1 - South Orange Pool, Hanging Out at Home

We were truly blessed to have the Olsons come to visit us for 4 days. A wonderful time was had by all -- the kids had a great time connecting and hanging out, and the adults really enjoyed being together as well.

We started our visit with some time at home, lunch together, and then an afternoon at the South Orange pool. The diving board was an especial attraction!

We ended the day with a cookout back at our house.

Introducing Brownie! (and, update on Snowflake!)

Wendy was thrilled to get her own guinea pig, Brownie, who joined our family a little more than a week ago, and has loved her first week of taking care of her. Fer has done an amazing job with Snowflake, who is significantly larger than Brownie, and who has her guinea pig nose a bit out of joint with the new addition. So, for now they are in separate cages and playtime is being monitored closely to be sure Snowflake doesn't "bully" Brownie. It has been a really nice focus to have in these hectic last weeks of school, with all the activities ending and final events and countdown to Fer's graduation from 5th grade, Wendy finishing 4th, and transition to summer. Last Thursday night Chris was out at a graduation so the girls and I watched a movie with our dinner, and it ended up that all three of us had a furry creature to hold and pet -- I was with Happy, Fer had Snowflake, and Wendy had Brownie. I've read research about the soothing effects of petting dogs -- apparently it lowers your heart rate similar to meditation if done for awhile -- and I think some meditative effects are pretty much what we all need right now.

Father's Day

We headed up to Tivoli for Father's Day to celebrate Chris, Matt and Grand-Dad. The girls made Chris beautiful cards and also had the chance to get some cousin-time with Jack and Daphne. We definitely thought of the other fathers in the family and send Father's Day love to Grandpa Jack, Uncle Terrill and Uncle Aaron!

When we got home, we continued the Father's Day theme with a Family Movie Night, watching "Father of the Bride, Part II."

I think all the talk of babies in that movie (the storyline is that both the mother and daughter are pregnant at the same time) as well as time with little cousins must have stirred some deep thoughts, because as we were getting ready for bed, Wendy asked me, "Why didn't you come get us when we were little?" and Fer chimed in "Yeah, like when we were one or two?" I could only answer that I wished I could have, but it wasn't possible. It's such an amazing and in some ways random series of events that brought our little family together -- incredible to reflect on, and I don't very often, but last night I certainly did after their questions.