Summer Bash

This afternoon Hanscom AFB had their Heroes Homecoming/Summer Bash to celebrate and give thanks to those who have returned home from deployment this year. We go every year and we always have a great time. They have food, rides for the kids and music. We had dinner first, then hit the rides and finished with fried Oreo's YUM! Maddie was big enough to ride on a few rides with Sydney which was too cute to watch :) It was great running into friends, including Sydney's preschool friends. The closeness of the families on this base is so strong, I'm so thankful to be a part of it. 

Father's Day 2011

Father's Day started out with French Toast with Challah Bread and fresh sliced strawberries at Andrew's request. I wrapped Andrew's gifts with white easel paper and wrote "Happy Father's Day" on each. While I made breakfast, the girls sat together and decorated each gift with stickers and markers. The girls gave him new gym shorts for biking/running and two short-sleeved dress shirts for school this summer. In the afternoon we went to Russell Farms for their Strawberry Festival. It was so much fun, much more than I had anticipated. It wasn't crowded and there were plenty of strawberries to pick. Sydney had her face painted and Maddie got a pink balloon puppy from the "balloon man." We took tons of photos so I'll post them below. I'll post the videos in a separate entry below this one.

Eating Strawberry Shortcake and listening to a local bluegrass band play.

 Hayride to the Strawberry fields!

Minute Man March

Today, Minute Man Arc held their 7th Annual Minute Man March in downtown Concord. They are a non-profit organization for Human Services, including Early Intervention. EI has supported us with Maddie's development ever since her seizures last year. Maddie is doing great and Andrew and I felt we should give our time and support for all they have done. The march had three paths to choose from; a 1 1/2 mile, 2 mile and 3 mile. We did the two mile and when we got back to our starting point there was a moonbounce, face painting and pony rides waiting for the girls. It was a lot of fun and a gorgeous day to be outside!

A Butterfly.

Maddie is super excited she won an orange teddy bear for catching a toy fish with a fishing pole!

Her smile quickly fades when she announces "It's MY teddy bear!" 

All ready for a pony ride. 

Maddie wasn't too sure about riding this pony.

Here she is after the ride trying not to smile. But we know she liked it! 

Minute Man Videos

Here are videos of Sydney and Maddie on their pony rides.

Sydney's Soccer Practice/Game

Today was Sydney's last soccer practice of the spring season. Here are some pics and a video!

 Sydney is kicking her ball around the cones.

 Group meeting.

Time to play! Sydney was so tired after preschool and the park that she didn't want to play, so Andrew encouraged her to try her best.

Sydney scored a goal!! 

Getting her medal from Coach Ann. 

Great Job Sydney!

 Sydney and her good friend Cason showing off their well deserved medals. Great job!!

Tangled

Sydney loves the latest Disney movie, Tangled. She talks constantly about drawing the floating lanterns on the wall just like Rapunzel does. A while back we painted easel paper blue for the night sky and were going to paint yellow lanterns on it, but when the blue paint dried, it cracked the paper so much we had to throw it away. This time I put clean easel paper on her wall in her bedroom and then put a star border around the paper. Sydney used crayons this time to draw Rapunzel, her loooong hair, lanterns, fireworks, etc. She had a blast doing it!

Painting at the Easel

Today I drew a large egg on easel paper for Sydney and Maddie to paint. They each had a turn to paint their own egg. This was Maddie's first time painting at the easel, we usually paint at the dining table, and she LOVED it. After she was done painting I helped her wash her hands. When I took her picture into the kitchen to dry she went back to the easel and started painting the board! I quickly put a sheet of white paper and let her have at it. I didn't think I could leave her to get the camera but I'm so glad I did!!

Sydney's is left, Maddie's is right