BIW- Christening of the Michael Murphy

On Saturday Uncle Dennis was kind enough to share his Bath Iron Works employee privileges with us. It was the day for the Christening of the Michael Murphy Destroyer. Michael Murphy sounds like he was a pretty amazing guy and Navy Seal. Here is an article if you would like to read more about it: http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/05/09/news/doc4dc826c5cd7d8335162429.txt 

or just google it:)  We got there early and were able to tour another ship that is in the water at BIW, and the sailors are living/working on, but is not yet ready for departure.  The kids did well, until the end when James got restless and Noah got whiny, but all in all as good as could be expected.  Unfortunately, we were not able to stay for the whole christening given the attention span of the kids (and the fact that we left the snacks in the car). The top pictures are of the ship we toured, the middle is of a ship they are building, and the last one is of the actual Michael Murphy ship.  It was a really neat day, thanks Uncle Dennis! 

New bird?

We have had several bird feeders in the last year.  Some were just cheap and fell apart, the last one got eaten by the squirrels this winter when the snow was high.  This is our newest "squirrel proof" set up.  How he got up here is a mystery, but he was persistent, even with both kids banging on the window he kept eating...

Portland Discoveries

Portland is a fantastic city for outdoor activities.  There are many walking/hiking trails throughout the city that make you feel like you aren't in the city at all.  We are fortunate to have one just a block over from us into the Evergreen Cemetery, but we are always looking for other adventures/short "hikes" with the kids.  Our latest find is Mackworth Island. I have had this place ear marked for a while, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate for me to take the kids to by myself.  It was totally worth it!  We spend 2 or 3 hours there the other day. There is a 1.25mi. loop around the perimeter of the island, which is fairly flat and you are able to push a stroller on it.  There are lots of little stops along the way to enjoy the view,  to swing or sit on a bench, to walk down to the water, see the pet cemetery, or make your own fairy house.  For this "trial run" we stuck to the trail and played on the big beach at the end.  The kids had an absolute blast!  For the first time in a while I was able to get actual pictures of the kids together (more or less).  James is finally old enough to show some discretion and not run into the water or over the cliff at his first opportunity.  We will definitely be making this a regular stop for exercise and picnics.

Easter 2011

We have been having lots of fun visits and trips, but, once again, with minimal picture taking.  I am hoping that this will get better before #3 gets here.  Two weekends ago we had a visit from our friends from the UV- Christa and Reid.  We went to the children's museum, colored eggs, and even ventured out to Chucky Cheese:)  Last Saturday I had to work in the morning, so the Easter Bunny visited on Saturday and hid lots of eggs.  Noah was very much into the game of finding the eggs and James was way more into eating the chocolate... thus why there are not many pictures of James... he had a drooling mouth full of chocolate in all of the others (that was after he tried to eat the Easter Bunny's carrot). On Saturday afternoon we drove north for Easter #2.  We had a great supper and got to visit with lots of family we don't get to see often.  Sunday morning the Easter Bunny visited again and Noah is now convinced that there are 2 Easter Bunnies... one that puts M&Ms in the eggs at his house and one that puts cheese balls in the eggs at Grampy and Grammy's.  Sunday afternoon we drove back to Portland and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in short sleeves with our neighbors.

Noah's First Art Show- 2011

 Last Tuesday Noah had his first art show.  Apparently this is something that the preschool puts on every year.  It was a fun evening out to see all of the preschool art work.  It was a little challenging to get pictures of this... Gabe had to work, so I was trying to hold James (who was trying desperately to get down and grab at all of the art projects) with one hand and take the picture with the other.  Thankfully Noah was patient.  

Noah's First Fire Truck Ride

We had such a fun filled weekend last week!  Grammy & Grampy Civiello were here for the day on Saturday before their flight to Florida and we got to really enjoy the sun and warm weather.  We took a walk around the Evergreen Cemetery, got to feed the ducks, and the kids got a "special" grilled cheese sandwich from the store.  The kids and I left and headed north while Gabe stayed in Portland to be on call.  Saturday evening Noah and his friend Tyler got to go to the fire station to look at all of the trucks, and Chief Brown even took them on an extra special ride in the fire truck.  Noah was trilled beyond words, and I have tried to include part of the video here.  Saturday night we had a sleep over with Aunt Amy and Trey.  Sunday Tyler came over to Nannie's house for playing and a campfire in the back yard to roast hot dogs on.  Monday we spent the day with Aunt Holly and baby Trey while Aunt Amy was working.  We finished up our extended weekend with our last swimming lessons class until summer.  We were exhausted and everyone took a great nap on Tuesday!  

Noah Reading to James

James is not always super attentive to book reading (though he is getting much better), except when Noah is doing the reading.  To our surprise, Noah has memorized several short books, luckily these area the books that James loves. When James is given the choice of Mommy reading him the book or Noah, he always chooses Noah.  He has been doing this for a few months, but I had yet to get it on video.  This is Noah reading "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton. (Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the screen)

Maple Syrup-2011

We had a great, though brief visit home last weekend.  We went up to see my cousin Jacob in his high school musical, which was wonderful... good job Jacob!  It I hadn't been so preoccupied with keeping all of the kids happy and quiet, I may have remembered to bring my camera in... oh well.  After the play we went back to the Pelkey's for supper and visiting, which turned into Noah wanting to go outside and "help" with collecting sap... Once I saw Gabe and Bryan trying to carry the buckets and help Noah trudge through the snow, I thought that maybe they could use some help;)  Amazing how clear the sap is that boils down into that good maple syrup!!  We spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with my parents, to which the kids insisted on playing in the cellar for most of the morning.  Once again, a really fun trip that I failed to get many good pictures of... here are a few of the "mapeling" (is that even a word?) part anyway.  On a separate note, I have hit 17 weeks and can no longer fit into my regular work pants or jeans... on to maternity clothes from here on out. I am never sure why I wait so long... the elastic waist is so comfortable!