Moving up, Driving down

Dear Maya and Emi,

What a week! We're on vacation right now and mommy doesn't have time to be too wordy so here's the breakdown:

• Last Monday was your 'Moving Up' Ceremony, Maya! You and the rest of the pre-K students received certificates of completion in your school's courtyard. Then we went to your classroom to watch a slideshow, receive gifts from your teachers, and take pictures. Aunt Rhi and mommy were both able to attend and it was so sweet to see the bond you had with your teachers and classmates. And you loved your celebratory blue ice cream on the way home!

 

• A couple days later was your actual last day of Pre-K. Where did the time go?!?

• Grandma and Papa Stan came to our house for a few days and you both loved spending time with them. And now we are visiting them! We followed them back to North Carolina and in the 30 hours we've been here we've already done some gardening, fishing, tree swinging, bike riding, and of course we went to the beach! Maya, you couldn't get enough of the water, but Emi, the waves scared you so you spent your time playing happily in the sand.

Well, mommy needs some sleep! Love you both!

Field day, Father's Day

Dear Maya and Emi,

What a roller coaster the last couple weeks have been, and one with more dips than seems logical. What started out with a 'quick 24-hour bug' for each of you kids ended up being a sick-again, well-again fiasco for the whole family! Mommy and the two of you still have a lingering cough but thanks to doctor visits and modern medicine, we're much better than we were just a few days ago. Daddy has just gotten started compared to us, but hopefully he'll be better soon, too.

Luckily all of our non-sick days synced up for your school field day, Maya. (That's not exactly true--mommy had crazy pollen allergies that day.) You had such a fun time doing silly races and playing with the parachute with your friends and teachers. It was so much fun to watch!

Maya's teacher helping her into the bag

Look at that braid go!

Maya's face when she saw us coming over to see her--priceless!

Today was Father's Day and, like I said, your father wasn't feeling so well at all. We still celebrated him the best we could with a banner, some sweet gifts, and lots of warm snuggles. Emi, you repeated after your sister first thing this morning and wished him a "Happy Father's Day!" before even getting out of bed! Maya, you slowly read a booklet from school to him--and it was 16 pages long! You two are growing and changing so much lately it's not even funny.

Playing with Snapchat filters, like those at the beginning of this post

Well, mommy still needs rest so it's time to go. Love you both!

Eric Carle, GREAT-grandparents

Dear Maya and Emi,

Mommy is a little behind in blogging again. Yes, the last two weekends have been hectic and that's part of the reason. But it's also as much due to the nice, hot weather last week keeping us playing outside with bubbles, the water table, and the hose. Hooray for summer!

The biggest news around here lately, well at least for mommy and for you, Maya, was what we did last Saturday morning. We met Eric Carle! He's been one of your favorite authors for a long time and mommy loves his work, too. We had such a hard time choosing books to take and buy, but in all he signed 4 for us, including drawing two adorable animals! Mr. Carle took plenty of time to chat with each of his adoring fans young and old (and I mean that--we were directly in line between a toddler celebrating her first birthday, a senior woman there by herself, and a family from Chicago who added extra flights to their itinerary to meet him). When we chatted with him and showed him our copy of the bilingual book he collaborated on with a Japanese author, he told us how much he loved Japan and Japanese picture books. What a sweet man and a wonderful experience!

Last Monday we went to visit your great-grandparents to belatedly celebrate Nanny's birthday. You've been quite the little spitfire lately, Emi, daily making us wonder why the 'terrible twos' had to start early. You were so well-behaved and entertaining during our visit, though. Between the yummy lunch, the cakes and cupcakes, and all the attention they lavish on you, it makes sense that you would be. Nanny and Poppy's house is the best place ever, isn't it?

Well, mommy has to sign off now. Love you both!