Aunt Laura arrives at BGM

The kids were so excited to see and meet Aunt Laura, as was I.  This was quite a reunion in coming since, as many of you know, I have not seen my sister in 8 1/2 years.  I know it sounds crazy, but time and circumstance have worked against us.  So finally we had a chance to visit.  The kids made signs to welcome her to the Greater Binghamton airport.  We also caught her coming through security and then she posed with the kids for a shot in the terminal.  Notice Caleb is absent from the last photo.  He was being a booger and didn't want to participate.  

Last of the swimming lessons

Molly became so comfortable in the water this year at swim lessons.  She loved getting into the big pool, just like Potter, and swimming like a fish back and forth across a pretty large pool.

Potter finally made it off the diving board.  It isn't a huge cannonball splash, but he was able to make the leap without any assistance from his teachers and then swam over to the edge of the pool.  Maybe next swim lesson, he'll be more adventurous.

Lacking in updates

Just to let you all know, I am having a fabulous time with my sister who is here visiting from Tennessee.  We've been so busy, but I have tons of photos that I will be posting soon.  There are many pictures from swim lessons, Laura's visit, and various miscellanous photos.  I just thought I should update my dedicated viewers!!!

More Amsterdam/Finland

Bill and Katri, Amsterdam

Katri and Dave in a pub in Amsterdam.  Big surprise!

This is a drawbridge that goes up so that barges can travel up and down the canals in Amsterdam.  The way that Dave explained this, everything is drawn up, including poles, wires, everything!!  You can tell how wide the bridge is.  This encompasses a bunch of driving lanes, walking lanes, and bike lanes.  Sounds really neat to see in person.

Canal view in Amsterdam.
Canal view in Amsterdam.  They had such gorgeous weather!!

Amsterdam/Finland

This, I am fairly certain, is one of the buildings, perhaps even Katri's, at the university in Tampere.  I should maybe be doing these captions for the European pictures while Dave is here, but he is tied up for a while and I have spare time while the kids nap.  You may want to check back after you see this in case I have had to make corrections!!

Mikko, Torik, and Katri
Katri, Taija, and Erik
Katri with Curious George, Muumi, and the Shamrock bear.  Each of the kids gave Dave a stuffed friend to take on the trip.  Looks like Katri got a chance to play with them all.
Dave says that the light and background of this building in Amsterdam was far more beautiful in person.  It was probably still 2 a.m. when he took the shot.  It never gets dark totally in the summer up there.  

Caleb is 21 months old

Our little rugrat has now turned 21 months.  He is into everything.  Nothing can escape his wrath, not toys, not the dog, not the cat, he can scale buildings and mountains without a second glance.  He is currently giving us fits with his behavior and willfullness.  Well, we've decided that maybe he is on the early side of getting his 2 year old molars and have started giving him Tylenol.   He seemed to be very happy earlier today when I rubbed his gums with my finger.  He stopped crying, was still and patient.  He didn't even bite me.  That is an entirely different story.  He is back to the biting again.  He was naughty in the tub one night while Dave was out of town, so I took a bar of soap and told him to take a bite out of it, which he did.   But then he decided it tasted good, wanted more, and I ended up losing my upper hand!!!  So now I have discovered that he does not like the taste of lemon, so the next major biting episode he has, he will be biting into a slice of lemon and we'll see how that works out for him!   He is overall a sweet kid, loves playing with the older kids so much, so we can't complain for very long.  He'll outgrow this phase and then I am sure he will be onto something else that will totally make us crazy.  And grayer.  Oh well!!  

More swim lessons

The kids started swim lessons on Monday that will last for a couple of weeks.  Last summer, Potter jumped right in and Molly was a lot more timid.  This year, they are both so into the pool and doing all of the activities that their teachers give them.  It is so much fun to watch!!  They both spend time in the big pool, Potter for the whole lesson and Molly for only part of the time.  It has only been cool one morning, the other days have been sunny and warm.   They both come out of the pool shivering, but so happy about how well they can swim.  Potter is not using any sort of flotation device for assistance, and Molly only does when they are in the big pool.  She is very confident, probably more so than she should be.  Potter talks about maybe going off the diving board at free time one day.  If so, there will be a movie of it on the blog for sure!!  You can get a feel for what they are doing from all of the pictures.  I have to say that for Caleb, it is torture just sitting on the sidelines and watching them get in the water.  He *loves* the water and would jump in if I would let him!!

Swim lessons

Molly's gymnastics graduation (of sorts)

Molly's last regular gymnastics class of the school year was this past Thursday.  She is such a natural at this and loves it, that we'll keep continuing on, I'm sure.  She has become extremely sure footed and is in control of her body with all of the jumps and movements they have learned.  Her teacher thought she was older than she is and was hoping she could move up to Level 1, which is for kids 5-7, but obviously at 3 1/2, she'll stay in the preschool level class.  Just watch out,though, one day she'll be in the Olympics!!  The first picture is of her doing a straddle jump on the trampoline.  The remaining two pictures are of her entire class sitting to receive their awards.  I might go back and post a video of a portion of their last lesson.  Enjoy!!

Ice Cream treats

Cement truck fun

Saturday morning, our friends had the cement truck come to pour a part of their garage floor and a small trench next to their driveway.  Even in the chilly, foggy morning, the kids would not be deterred.  Well Caleb was a bit; he didn't enjoy the horrible noise the truck made while mixing the cement up.  

Molly does her Jackie O impression.....

Molly decided to wear the silk scarf in the fashion of the impeccable Jackie O.  I have to say that she pulls it off with terrific grace!!  

Potter's 2nd grade picnic

Potter's end of the year 2nd grade picnic was this past Thursday.  I volunteered to coordinate all 7 classes that were going to ensure a smooth and fun day for the kids.  Although the temperature was probably about 65 and it was overcast most of the time, that didn't stop about 100 kids from getting into the pool.  Potter was purple and shivering uncontrollably after about 5 minutes, so he got out and changed back into dry clothes before lunch.  The carousel also opened early for us and all the kids made numerous rides on it too.  It was such a fun day and the kids will have fun memories of their friends to carry them into the summer.  

Sprinkler fun on Father's Day

Dave enjoys blasting the kids with the hose. This is the infamous 'pop' game that we invented when Potter was little bitty. Potter and Caleb seem to love this the most. Molly is less into it, although she was quite happy to get hit with the hose today.

Caleb loves to drink out of the hose. He does this almost everytime that we turn on the sprinkler. None of us got deathly ill doing it when we were kids (didn't you drink out of the hose???) so I guess that it won't hurt him to snag a little sip!!

Pounding away at Great Grandmother's piano

The kids all decided to play Great Grandmother's piano this afternoon, once we were home. They are all so cute and talented. Maybe they'll do a concert soon.

Jamestown Cemetary

On our way home from Granny and Granddad's, we stopped at the Jamestown Cemetary to show the kids the relatives for whom they are named. This is on the Clark side, so only Potter and Molly are represented. Potter is the Ames and Molly is the Gage. Poor Caleb, he'll have to visit a different cemetary to be included!! But there is a picture with him anyway. It only took us a short time (ha ha) to find the headstone. It was well worth the driving around and around to find it. We were only sorry not to have any flowers we could plant.