Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day started with chocolate banana pancakes in bed.

 

Joe liked his presents: a corgi shirt (as he is also a corgi dad), to add to his goofy shirt collection;

 

And a custom phone wrap with our family picture on it.

 

We hosted Father's Day at our house. The girls were excited to wish Grandpa a "Happy Father's Day" as well!  Thankfully, the weather really cooperated! We had a great time outside all morning. The kids learned how to play croquet. (And there were no injuries!)

We ate a yummy meal on the deck.

The moment we finished, it started to pour! It rained all afternoon. Then, it cleared up and Joe spent the rest of the day gardening with the girls.

 

I asked the girls to tell me their favorite thing about their baba.

Willa: He's caring!

Jia: He's nice. Actually, he's awesome. Actually, actually, he's cool, nice and awesome!

So true! We love you, Baba!

Hammers and Haircuts

We've been busy lately (seems to be a common theme). All fun stuff though!

The girls expertly wielded hammers the other day to make jewelry organizers.

What a fun project. They were proud of themselves.

We also did some of this:

And our fave farmer's market is finally open for the season! The girls danced to the music, planted some seeds and enjoyed our bounty! We've made strawberry rhubarb crisp, kale chips, and lots of salads. Our large bunch of sugar snap peas were gobbled within an hour after we left. Apparently we'll need to make a return trip next weekend!

Finally, the girls got some much needed haircuts. Willa has been trying to grow her hair long like Jia's for ages. But Willa's hair is thin and wispy, and the length just made it look stringy. On her own, Willa decided that a bob was best. She told the stylist that she wanted her hair like "Kit Kittredge." It is perfect for her!

Here is the back of her hair after a swim...still cute!

Oh, Polliwog, where art thou?

We have been spending a lot of time outdoors lately. We hunted down some huge heron nests the other day. We then played on a flooded playground, splashed in a wading pool, and had a picnic.

After, we visited a nature center and found a ton of polliwogs!



You can see them in the photo below. They are all the black dots in the water.

We inspected them, and then released them back to their home.

 The insect larva, though, became food for these guys.

I love that the girls enjoy nature so much. Jia, especially, will pick up any amphibian, bug or spider. She has a big love for all creatures.

Later that night we tried to find more polliwogs at a nearby pond.

 Grandma and Grandpa came along to help.

 

The polliwogs were in hiding, but we did locate snails and a teeny crayfish.

 Willa made friends with the ducks, too.

What a pleasant day!

Last Day of School!

Jia had her last day of first grade on Tuesday. She is excited for summer!

She said it was bittersweet too, because she loves school so much. She adores her friends and teacher. We are thrilled she will have her teacher next year as well.

Her teacher wrote a note in Jia's report card which stated, "Jia read more fairy, folk and tall tales than any other student in the school this year." There are well over 500 students in her school, but I am not surprised. She was constantly bringing home those distressing Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm stories to read! Too funny.

We had an End of School celebration that night. The girls gave away ice cream treats and lemonade. Lots of people stopped by and the neighborhood girls even made a banner! They had tons of fun.

 Congrats to Jia on a great school year!

Jia's Chinese Program

Jia has been taking immersion Chinese classes after school twice a week. Her class just had their end-of-year Chinese program. We took some great videos but I can't seem to get them to load! The kids were so cute and excited to sing and play games for us.

I love that everyone there pronounces her name the proper Chinese way.



She adores her teacher and thinks it is so special that she was born in China like her. We hope she has the same one next year!

When it's hot out...

...crazy contraptions do the trick!