Alex

We had another bird visitor last week. This baby just hopped across our driveway towards us and even hopped under Darsie in the play car she was in! We couldn't figure out what kind of bird it is, but it is definitely young enough to not have tail feathers yet and still have some pin feathers on its back. What was weird was that there was no mother in sight, watching us and protecting it from us. The girls named it Alex, because, as Katy said, it can be a girl or a boy name, and we don't know if it is a boy or a girl. ;) Anyway, after dinner, Alex was not there, so we are hopeful thathe/she was able to get back to a nest or something and didn't just get eaten.

Racing!

Since Matt and I have been running this spring and summer, the girls have wanted to get into the action, too. The second race I was in had a kids fun run, so we signed them up for that one. They were so excited and really didn't mind too much when it rained all week and the run was moved and turned into a fun dash. They were just excited about the shirts they got (must have gotten that from their mother!). The second run they did was at a race I had planned on trying before morning sickness hit, so we watched them run and then helped man the table from our church and cheered on the other runners. Maybe next year!

Here the girls model their Running of the Monk race shirts (at the Media race, but it was before we picked up their Media shirts and they changed into them.)

Here they model their Media 50 yard dash shirts.

Darsie running....
Katy running....

They both had a blast! In a few years, it will be fun to run with them a bit!

Mmmmmmm...Strawberries!

Our bi-weekly nature walk was to Linvilla to pick strawberries this week. I think that, though Liam definitely enjoyed his first picking excursion, the highlight for him was the ride on the hayride truck there and back!

He happily stuffed his mouth with the first one he was offered. The whole thing, Just threw it in.

And then spit it out (who wants to eat the leafy part, anyway?).

I explained to him about picking off the leaves first.

And then he was ready to go to town!

He really only picked a few himself - he was much more interested in eating.

In fact, I made him pick them before he could eat them. :)

See what a pro he is now?!

Happy belly!

Mmmmm - now for some to keep.....

Still looking....

Standing and looking for the perfect row to harvest. Darsie complained that she couldn't find any and only had five in her basket. Maybe that's because she stood like that to "find" them. (And her belly was pretty full, I assure you!)

Showing off their finds to each other. (Notice that Katy has a lot less than Ellia - which girl do you think ate more??)

"Mommy, I have a lot now because I stopped eating them." (Go figure!)

See the cherry stems sticking out of her mouth? Reminds me of the scene in the Doris Day movie The Glass Bottom Boat when she is at a party at the guy's house when everyone thinks she is a Russian spy, and the real spy puts a "bug" on the hors oeuvres tray and then has to pretend to eat it to cover his tracks. Anyway, the antennae stick out of his mouth for a bit, and that is what Darsie made me think of. Long explanation, sorry. ;)

Fire Trucks!!!

We enjoyed our informative tour with Fire Chief Gibson today at the Media Hook & Ladder Co! I think Liam liked the trucks the most, as probably everyone can attest to after hearing him repeat "firetruck!" over and over again! :)

Here are a few things I learned that I found interesting:

• The Media Fire Co. started in 1891.
• Fire Chief Gibson comes from a long line of firefighters - his grandfather and great uncles, his dad and uncle, him and his brother (?) and his son have all been firefighters! Pretty neat sense of family and honor!
• Fire companies custom-design their fire trucks to the specifics of what they need. They had to design theirs to fit around the trolley on State Street!

Our Impressions

Darsie's masterpiece!

Katy's masterpiece!

This month, we are studying the artwork of Claude Monet. Yesterday was our second class about him but only our first actually creating art. We talked about how to paint like an impressionist (a little more difficult when we were using watercolors instead of oils) and then looked at one of his paintings of his Japanese bridge and attempted to copy his style. It was interesting to notice that our two younger ones who were more impatient to be done were much quicker to pick up the "dotted" style we were encouraging them to use, while the older girls, who are much more into detail work, really had a hard time not painting like usual. In the end, we had four beautiful Japanese bridges. Next week, we'll try some garden painting, since Monet liked to paint outside!

Darsie illustrated a story yesterday and then proceeded to narrate it for me. I had a great moment of inspiration and paused her and ran for the camera! Sorry if it's a little hard to hear - Liam kept begging to go outside (instead, he got a nap when she was over!). Notice the serious expression on her face, especially at the end when she tells the last bit of the story. She is quite the story teller - she often makes them up and then tells them to us.