Aoife's 4th Birthday!

 Happy Birthday Aoife!!!  Wow - it's hard to believe that she is 4 already!  What a wonderful, loving, spirited girl she has grown into!  She LOVES her baby brother and plays with Emmy and Aidan so well.  She is a good friend, leader and classmate.  She is so much fun to be with and you never know what is going to come out of her mouth!!!
This morning we had pancakes - apple per Aoife's request.  After breakfast we skyped with Brendan on the iPad so he could watch Aoife (and Aidan and Emmy) open presents.  We played for a while and then went to see The Croods with our neighbor and her daughter.  After the movie and a short quiet time, Aoife went to her friend's birthday party for an hour before we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner which was followed by cake at home!
Whew!  A busy and super fun day!!!  Aoife really racked in the presents!  She got legos, an easel, dot paints, dresses, an RC car, a picnic basket and more!  She's growing up so fast!  Here are links to her first, second and third birthdays!!

Everyone squinting in the bright sun!  Headed into the movie theater!

Aoife wanted no part of this picture:

Emmy was all about it!

Declan is 7 months old!!

 It really seems almost impossible that Declan is 7 months old already!  He continues to be the happiest and easiest baby ever!  He smiles at everyone and seems to never have a bad day.  Poor little thing is teething and still smiles through all of it!  He is sitting up on his own now - he can stay upright for quite a while before he topples over!  He's eating solids very well and loves his naps.  Bathtime and baseball practice are his favorite things - well - maybe after mealtime!

Emmy and the phone

Today Emmy had a chance to talk to her best friend, Kate, who moved 2 weeks ago. The conversation was too cute - mostly updates on the Kindergarten social scene and a discussion about the rain that we are having and the hot weather that they are having.  I think she would have talked for hours if Kate hadn't been at the park at the moment.  I see my future before me!

You can't win 'em all

Aidan had another game today and unfortunately they lost.  It was a rough game and everyone seemed really out of it.  Maybe they were tired from practice yesterday or maybe it was all allergies.  On the up side - Aidan did get a hit and get on base.  They only scored one run and the other team's infield was really good and they didn't let too many kids even get to first. 
Aidan had a field trip to the bowling alley today and they ended up playing outside from lunch until pick up - so about 2 hours - and by the time school ended his face was so swollen he could barely open his eyes.  We managed to get everything back in check before the game but I think he was still really uncomfortable.  Hopefully the game on Friday night will be better!

Away Game

Aidan had an away game on Thursday evening that started at 7:30 pm.  I couldn't drag everyone out in good conscience on a school night so he rode with his friend Cale.  They won the game!!  Yay!!! I was so excited for them but sad to have missed it.  I got this picture of Aidan in the side yard before he left - so handsome!!!

Opening Day

Aidan had his first real game last night.  It was an "early" game that started at 5:45 and was over at 7:15.  They lost 4-9 to the Rangers but the kids seemed to feel better about it than their loss at the Jamboree.  Despite the score, the teams were pretty evenly matched.  Aidan got a double and then scored on his first at bat!  Woohoo!!  He's also playing shortstop this year and he's really good at it!  I guess the hours that we've spent playing catch in the back yard are paying off!!  The girls played with Aubrey and drew with chalk all over everything and got totally filthy! 

This morning was ROUGH.  Everyone was exhausted and I had to pull everyone out of bed to get to school on time.  We also lost power in the middle of the night last night and Aidan came in at 3 am to inform me - so that added to his and my sleepiness!  It's going to be tough when the games start at 7:30 and don't end until 9:30.  I'm not quite sure how we are going to do it.

Tulips at Cheekwood

 On Sunday we went to Cheekwood in Nashville because they have 55,000 tulip bulbs blooming!!  It was as magnificent as you would imagine!!  It was the perfect day to visit.  We have been several times before but it has always been HOT and Sunday was about 70 and overcast!  It was so nice to be able to enjoy the flowers and not be dripping sweat!  The kids had a great time and were very happy that one of the treehouses from last year was still there and the trains were also still there - a smaller version but still cool!  We packed a picnic and Declan had his very first experience with grass.  Like the others, he was not a fan of this new feeling and was trying to lift his body out of the grass while he way lying in it - difficult but great practice for crawling!!  We had fun until the very end when Aoife took an enormous tumble and scraped her knees and hands up pretty badly.  It's a good thing I always carry first aid wipes, bandaids and tylenol in the car.  I can't wait to go back for the hydrangeas.  Last year we never made it because it was SO HOT and I was sick all the time.  This year hopefully there will be a day when we can make it down!!

Aoife's favorite flowers - purple!

 Trains!

 Tree House!

 We had to wait 10 minutes before we could get the shot with no one else in it!

 Declan very interested in the grass:

 A thatch cottage in the Fairytale Garden:

 Aoife - could you move over to the side a bit??  Thanks.

 Relaxin'

 Mom - these smell like dirt!

 Fluffy tulips!

 Poor Emmy - her eyes were really bothering her!

 A good map is good to have:

The First Firepit of the Season!

 Saturday was a nice day!  We had baseball practice in the early afternoon so we had a lazy morning!  After practice we came home and vegged out for a little while before dinner and then had out first firepit!  The kids have been asking for ages and today was the first day that was warm enough and wasn't a school night!  We roasted marshmallows  and rode scooters and 4x4s around.  A neighbor even came out to socialize!  Imagine that!!!

Clean Streams

 On Friday I went with Aidan's gifted class to help with Project Clean Streams here at Fort Campbell. There were a bunch of other volunteers too.  I think they said that there were about 100 people and everyone ended up picking up about 250 pounds of trash!  That's not much per person but that's a lot of trash that's no longer out there!  The kids had a great time and although it was a little cool it was still really nice to be outside - and not in school!!