A Day with the Wards

Yesterday my kids got to spend the afternoon with their friends Marilyn and Graham, while their mom took her mom to a doctor's appointment in Sacramento.  We're all glad that Gigi is recovering well from her surgery, but shhh! don't tell, but I don't think we missed them at all.  These four friends had so much fun playing together that I thought I'd share the photos I took of the day.  These are in chronological order. 

First they played dress-up and I took pictures so that we could make a frame craft later.  Do you think the lizard and the princess are good friends?

Miss Caroline in her elephant costume which she loves--it's size 2T and somehow she can still squeeze herself into it.

Three kiddos all dressed up.  It's awfully hard to get a snapshot with all three looking at you/smiling.  I can't imagine how professional photographers take family photos.  Experience I guess.

Mister Graham was willing to wear a hat for about 30 seconds, and he was very serious about it.  This was pre-nap, which may explain the look.

Jack the lizard is one cute boy, but I may be a little prejudiced.

Gluing buttons on popsicle stick frames.

Marilyn has an amazing sense of order and an ability to concentrate on detail work that you don't often see in a three year old.  She glued on her buttons and said, "now I will wait for my friends to finish."  Darling!

While our frames dried and Graham took a nap, the three other kids planted flowers with me.  The best part was that the rain stopped, so after planting they could run around outside.

Caroline helping plant in her third outfit of the day.  She loves to get herself dressed, and re-dressed as the day progresses.

The finished product.  They were good helpers, and my pots are full!

We printed the pictures we took earlier and put them in the homemade frames.  Aren't they creative?

This was my favorite part of the day.  The kids went out back and had fun "golfing," swinging, climbing and generally running around.  After an hour, the girls came inside and had a bath.  They were done, but these two boys, age 5, and 1.5, played golf in the backyard for another hour.  Graham followed Jack around, carrying his golf club and trying to imitate Jack's every move.  They were both completely entertained. 

Graham and his ball.

Trying hard to hit it.

Big boy and little boy, playing together.

Thanks for sharing your kids Lindsey.  I'll babysit anytime!

For Anna and Josie

Well, my kids would like to have a place to post pictures of themselves for Anna and Josie to see, so we've decided to have a blog too. Here are a few things they've done lately, on their own, and inspired by their cousins. JACK just wrote his own name, and he's helping me write this blog. This weekend we worked at the store all weekend, painting in the kitchen, and moving things around, which kept us all busy. It was a rainy weekend, but that didn't keep my kids inside. This is a picture of the two of them scooping water out of their wheelbarrow and then carrying it to the mud puddle they made. Yes, that's right, I said they made their own mud puddle. I discovered this when Jack came inside saying, "Mom, can you come turn off the hose?" They made quite a puddle next to the back porch, which they were calling their pond. If there's not enough rain to make a big enough puddle, Jack has apparently discovered how to make his own pond to stomp around in. He's a creative boy. I was trying to take a surreptitious picture of the two of them, so it's far away. I hate to interrupt when they're playing happily together. Today they built forts, inspired by their cousins. Here they are in their respective forts: About the title: My friend Lindsey calls Jackson and Caroline the Fikelings, so since I intend this blog to be mostly about them, I thought it was an appropriate title. In honor of her, here's a picture of Lindsey taken last Friday morning, reading to the Fikelings and to her daughter Marilyn (and to Marilyn's baby brother, to be born in July or August). Thanks for your witty nickname Linds!