Spring is finishing up

It's Spring here in CT for the next few weeks, and the flowers and trees have peaked. This weekend we have a party on Saturday, and Sunday we're doing brunch at a fun place nearby. Today I'll get some party pictures, and I'll have some time to post this evening. I have some pictures from last weekend that I still need to post and I have some time that I plan to squirrel away tonight.

Until then......

Painting

Soooo... Kids + Paint = mess+fun. Therefore Paint = (mess+fun)/Kids?

Summer

It's summer here, which means the rain is ending and the flowers and animals are making their appearances. Most notably, was the arrival of a squirrel who decided he wanted a drink from the pool and became the first causality of my backyard. I woke up and it was like a CSI mystery. There was a dead animal floating face first in my pool. The poor squirrel looks like he thought the pool cover was still on or something. I haven't put the ladder in the pool yet (waiting for the algae to all die off) so there was no escape for him.... While small grey squirrels are committing Harri-Kari in my pool, there are also our resident turkeys making the rounds. I saw a few by a business the other day and could resist shooting a few pictures of the Tom showing his plumage.

After I got home, I completed a home improvement project for myself... a fixed up my work area... I installed under cabinet lights I got at Ocean State Job Lot for $6!! What a great deal... I had to frame out the workbench area, and then hang the cabinets and peg board. It was actually kinda fun... Anyway... one more things done...

Dinosaurs

We went to the Peabody museum in New Haven last weekend... it was great... we got there and the boys went right to the statue of Torosaurus.
Once inside, we focused on the dinosaur exhibits and Ryan went like a crazy person, pointing at each dinosaur and telling me something about it. We read books about them all the time, and I have to admit, it was cool to see the exhibit so soon after reading the books
T-Rex is a favorite
When they started running up and down the stairs we took off.... but not before seeing a rat snake eat a mouse. Ryan has had a fear of snakes for a while now, and seeing one, seemed to make him feel safe. Needless to say, Lise and I muscled or way though it. :)

Summer buzz

Ryan was looking great, but we pulled 2 ticks off him in a week, and thought we needed to be a little more watchful. We got some tick spray and buzzed his head. He was excited and told me he looked like another kid at school. The lady cutting his hair was very nice and it all went very well. MJ, who also works there had a surprise for me when I came in. I mentioned about a month ago that Ryan was a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle fan and she brought in a bunch of tapes.
Don't you want to bite those huge ears?

Preschool -- no more

Here are the Pictures from Ryan's last day at school.

Ryan heads off to Kindergarden this fall!

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Billy Joel

We (Lise and I) went to Billy Joel for as Lise's present. I'm pretty sure she had a good time... I posted a few pictures for your pleasure. There is a short movie clip so you can get a feeling of how close we were to the stage... 13 rows back on the floor. yahoo. :)

Thanks to Yvonne we had babysitting coverage!! She rocks! Thanks Yvonne!!

Billy Joel

37

On May 26th I turned 37.

Since it was memorial day, we went to the parade. When we got back we had a little memorial day cookout and b-day party. We had a lot of fun... the kids got out the sprinkler and had a grand time.

Mikes Birthday

Playscape

First, let me agree with you right away that I have been a horrible blogger. Life got in the way as I predicted early in the year and now I find myself squirreling away in my office to post. So much has happened since my last blog... I'll just stick to the highlight reel. If you recall, in February, I purchased a play scape for the kids from Toys R'US and we looked at the frozen tundra of the lawn as we unloaded the van, and thought, how nice it will be when it's up and done....
Then came the tear down of the old set, Bobcat rental , Kidney and sinus infections,delays, trips to NJ, and family obligations that left my poor yard with a giant hole in it for almost a month while I laid up sick. Not that I am complaining, while I was sick, Lise let me sleep in and I got to be king for almost 2 weeks. People at work were very nice to me and my family called regularly to see if I had passed on just about every day. :) ... I got better an had to reattack the monster project
Here is Lise enjoying the pit we provided for the month. The children were thrilled with the gaping hole int he earth and sorted thru the earth's crust for all types of things... Earthworms were top of the list, as were snake holes (thanks to my neighbor... who brought a dead one for Connor to play with ...ick) Trucks were parked in my ex-park like setting for about 4 weeks before It was my birthday and we set the whole thing up....