First things first- go to the bottom of the blog, watch the video, and take the test. Good luck!

Today in church the primary children, including the nursery, sang to their fathers. Evelyn was so cute. There was the usual chaos of getting all of the kids lined up in the front and of getting them quiet for the beginning of the song. And then, right when everyone was finally settled down and the song was about to start, Evelyn points her finger right at me gives me the biggest smile and yells out in a very loud and clear voice, “DADDY!” (Sort of like she was saying “This one goes out to you, Papa.”) She then sang “I’m so Glad when Daddy Comes Home” and did all of the actions. I sure love that girl!

Speaking of Evelyn, she has discovered a new game. First she covers Jack and Addy up with a blanket so they can’t see anything. Next, she very sneakily walks up to them. And finally, she pounces, body slamming one of the poor unsuspecting babies. Evelyn loves this game. The babies have mixed feelings on it. Sometimes they sort of giggle and actually seem to be enjoying the attention. Most of the time they just scream bloody murder until we divert Evelyn’s attention elsewhere (Evelyn look- a doggy!).

The babies are becoming more and more mobile. Jack can now crawl on all fours just as well as his sister, and they are both pulling themselves up on things and walking around them. I don’t know if I’m ready for this yet. Evelyn’s second favorite game (for her first, see above) involves pushing babies over as soon as they stand up- sort of like an advanced form of whack-a-mole. We have to stop her, of course, but sometimes I feel like doing the same thing since it is so much easier to watch them when they are confined to a single location.

On Saturday we were going to go to Cedar Point- Just Rachel and I. For those who don’t know, Cedar Point is an amusement park in the area, and it was to be a belated anniversary gift to ourselves (since we were busy driving across the country during our anniversary). We had babysitters lined up and everything, but then noticed that the weather forecast called for violent thunder showers. Now we usually don’t plan around the weather (we find that we would never do anything, and usually the weather is wrong anyway), but for this day we figured we wanted to be sure we would be able to enjoy ourselves (as thrilling as it would have been to be on a tall metallic rollercoaster during a lightening storm). Between the cost, the time, and the babysitters we really only had one chance at getting it right and we were not about to risk it.

Needless to say, the day turned out being absolutely gorgeous. I found myself praying for the storm of the century to validate our decision, but it just didn’t happen. Instead we took everyone to the beach and to the Marblehead lighthouse. Again, for those who don’t know, this lighthouse has become an Icon of Northern Ohio and is really quite famous. As far as I was concerned, it looked like a lighthouse. It was pretty, as lighthouses usually are, but just a lighthouse all the same. The beach was fun though and Evelyn especially had a good time.

Here are some video clips we put together from some of our conversations with Eva. After watching them we started wondering if you, our loyal readers, could understand some of her favorite words. Take a second and put your best guesses in the comment section. We will have a surprise for the person who gets the most words correct.

We have had a wonderful week- except that Rachel got pooped on at church!

If you read the post last week then you know that I have decided to give parades a second chance. Well, this week we thought we’d really test my new enthusiasm by attending yet another of these events. The parade took place at University Circle which is just minutes from our house. The occasion? Who needs an occasion to have a parade? They just do this thing once a year for the fun of it. I think that it’s the anniversary of the neighborhood or something.

The verdict? University Circle harbors some really deranged folk who can put on a fantastically trippy parade. There was not one marching band (at least not in the traditional sense), classic car, or politician to be found in the entire procession. Instead it was like Tim Burton meets Jim Henson- a march of surrealism taken straight from your worst nightmares-or a Salvador Dali painting. Evelyn kept nuzzling deeper and deeper into my lap as she repeated over and over “scary…scary…scary.” Rachel and I were both so enthralled with it though that I just hugged her tighter and kept watching. It really was very cool.

To make up for the scary parade, however, Evelyn had some good news this week. She got a package! True, this is not the first package she has received. But the contents of this one were extraordinary. My mom had sewn a quilt made up of squares which she had been saving for basically her whole life. There were some from her own baby blanket, and several from favorite dresses she had as a child. Others were of clothes that we wore when we were kids, or of things my mom had made for us. It was clear that it was put together with a lot of love. Additionally, there was a little book that had sample squares in it with little stories about the material. Evelyn could also use the book as an “I spy” sort of game, matching the squares in the book with those on the blanket. We were very impressed with the whole thing. Thank you Grandma!

Our project for the week has been the organization of our spices. We love to cook and have accumulated somewhere around 50 little bottles of spices. It became ridiculous trying to find specific spices because we would basically have to take everything off the spice shelf to find that one thing. Well, Rachel had the great idea of using baby food jars and we now have everything labeled in an easy-to-find way.

Rachel and Evelyn now have their own little garden. Rachel took Ev to the library and brought home all kinds of picture books about gardening, then Rachel braved Wal-mart alone with all three kids to pick up the plants. Evelyn tilled the ground, weeded, and planted the starts. We will soon have sweet peas, watermelon, green peppers, and of course tomatoes.

The race is on! Adalie is perfecting her crawling skills and Jack is gaining quickly. Jack is perfecting the army crawl (on his forearms and legs). Addy gets kudos for her form, but Jack can beat her in any race.

So that’s pretty much it for this week. Summer time is officially here in Cleveland and we are loving the long days because it allows us time for an evening walk or bike ride before putting the kids to bed. School is going well for me and things have never been better.

Truly, we live charmed lives.

Before

After

Evelyn loves her new blanket. She insists on bringing it everywhere!

Here's Addy at the parade. All of the following pictures are of the parade. None of them actually have us in them, but we thought we'd share this bazaar experience with you.

Thinking back on this week it seems like it has been the longest short week that I have ever had. It was short in that the work week was only four days long. Thinking back, however, Memorial day seems like it was forever ago.

So, what did we do for Memorial Day? We went to a parade! While this may be surprising to some of you who know of my loathing for parades, it may come as an even bigger shock to hear that I actually enjoyed it! See- here is my past parade experience:

You drive to the parade long before it starts. You then spend the next half hour to forty-five minutes trying to navigate closed off roads and find a parking space. Finally you are able to leave the car and begin the fifteen mile trek to the side of the road. Because you are not a crazy fanatic, you have not scoped out the parade route and claimed your spot 4-5 days in advance, so you end up squeezing the whole family onto one sidewalk square that is exposed to the blistering heat of the sun. And then you wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.

Finally, the parade gets to you. By this time your butt is so sore that you have decided to stand up, but now your knees are starting to buckle and you feel like you are going to faint. The sun doesn’t help, and of course you left the water bottles in the car. After watching the parade for a full forty minutes you can still see the lead car, and about now you realize that you will be standing here for the next 6 years of your life. You wish you could sit down again but by now someone else has claimed that spot. And you probably need to pee, but of course there are no bathrooms nearby. Suddenly fainting doesn’t seem so bad.

Finally, long after the ringing in your ears has subsided and the sounds of the parade are but a muffled conglomeration of horns and music, you see the pooper scoopers in their golf cart and you know the end is in sight. You breathe a sigh of relief, hike back to the car, and spend the rest of the afternoon nursing your sunburn.

And so it is that I have always wondered how people could actually enjoy parades. I swore a long time ago that I would never, ever, ever go to another parade unless it was in celebration of my own children’s accomplishments. And even then I would be a reluctant observer at best. So when Rachel suggested we go to a parade for Memorial Day I gave an inward groan of despair. But then I remembered that our kids have nap times, and that Rachel is a “schedule Nazi,” and that gave me hope that we might not have to stay for the whole thing. Under these conditions I consented to the affair.

Well, I went about a half hour early on my motorcycle to reserve us a spot. Because I was on a motorcycle, I was able to find parking a mere 100 feet from the parade route. There, I found a very nice spot on the grass under a tree and read my book until Rachel arrived with the kids.

The parade started soon after Rachel got there, and since we were right at the beginning of the route we didn’t have to wait any longer. Also, since we were at the beginning the paraders (people in the parade) were throwing their candy with reckless abandon. I guess it is a mental thing; when they see their buckets are overflowing with sweet goodness they don’t really think of the possibility of running out. At the end of the parade is when they start getting stingy.

Anyway, except for the police cars and fire trucks, our kids really liked the show. Once the sirens passed it was giggles and smiles the whole time. And it was sort of fun because it was a small community parade and most everyone who was sitting around us knew several people who were marching. There were lots of politicians and classic cars, some floats and local youth or special interest groups, and a few bands. And then it was over. Just before it got to the point of dragging on it was finished. I thoroughly enjoyed myself the entire time we were there. I think I could get into this small-town parade thing.

So, now that I’ve rambled on about that, I’ll fill you in on the rest of the week. I started school again and Rachel got her routine back with the kids. It was sort of fun getting back to clinic, and I think that it will be a pretty laid-back semester as far as classes are concerned.

Also, this weekend Rachel has been taking motorcycle riding classes. She is the star of her class and has been begging me for a racing bike she can use on the track.

Ok, not really. But she has enjoyed it and will have her official motorcycle endorsement soon. She says she is taking the class for practical reasons (when you only have one car and the other is a motorcycle it might be good to know how to ride), but I think that she enjoys it more than she lets on.

Well, I hear the babies waking up so I guess I’ll stop the rambling and let you guys see some pictures. Have a good week everyone!

Here's Jack and Addy as they bask in the sun and watch Evelyn and her friend play in the swimming pool.

This is at the parade. We couldn't get Jackson to take his eyes off of the people in the street.

I know we've been doing a lot of these lately. This is a video of Jack and Addy. In the end you get to see Adalie's new trick (crawling). Very impressive.