Taste of Summer

Pittsburgh (and the rest of the East coast) had our first heat wave of the year last weekend, and we enjoyed being outside, pretending it was July. We went to a playground we don't usually visit and a nature preserve on Saturday. The toads in the pond were mating and gave us quite a show. Miles was fascinated, watching them "play leapfrog."
I got to play ultimate on Sunday with a group of women and George and the kids filled up the baby pool in the backyard. Ruby threw some sidewalk chalk into the water, which led to a new artistic endeavor and Miles' creation of "Soakman" a superhero who wears a bathing suit and paints his arms and face with wet chalk. He probably has a super power, but I've forgotten what it is.
They also decorated the doodle bug (the ride-on toy) with chalk and then washed it off in the pool, over and over. The two kids actually had a joint operation going on for a while. It was nice to see them working together.

Easter Lessons

Well, one lesson we learned this Easter is that Ruby likes chocolate! Also, she doesn't like to have chocolate taken away from her! I made the mistake of putting some foil-wrapped chocolates in some of our plastic eggs. Other ones had animal crackers, which Ruby loved finding too. But once she discovered the chocolate, it was a trick to sneak it away.
Miles learned that Easter brings some pretty great presents. It was almost as exciting as Christmas morning when he found his Lego Star Wars set (Thanks Oma!) and his toy Millenium Falcon with Han Solo, R2D2, and Chewbaca figures (Thanks Bridget!) He got some other cool stuff too (Thanks Erika!) but those were definitely the highlights. He played with his new Legos all day and was excited when he figured out he could combine them with his other Legos....so cool! He loves his new action figures too and told me last night that he likes his new Millenium Falcon because it doesn't break when it crashes, like his old one did. We repaired that one a few times with tape but it eventually just became too damaged. It was a plastic pie container (clamshell-style) from the grocery store (Thanks Stuart, for the pie and the container!)
Ruby is on day 7 of antibiotics for her first ear infection, and is finally getting better, sometimes, at taking her medicine. I wish it came in chocolate flavor!
We had a great visit with my parents and my niece Ronni. Miles loved playing with her and has asked when she can come back for another visit. Thanks to mom and dad for the many Easter treats and for all the dish-washing and drying! It was nice to sit and relax after dinner for a change.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

New Friends! Ruby and I have made some new friends through our various outings and activities, and we finally formed a playgroup with a few of them. We met for the first time last week and hosted our friends here yesterday. Watching them grab toys from one another, completely ignore each other, and then come together for snack time brought back fond memories of our first playgroup meetings with Miles and his friends. I'm hoping we can add a few more moms and kids (just not quite enough chaos, otherwise) but I'm glad we finally got this going. It's nice to have a set time to spend with friends every week, and to see the kids learn to get along--hopefully!
Old Friends! While Ruby was at "school" this morning I had 2 of my "old friends" here for tea and coffee cake (we missed you though, Barbara!), and the chance to see one friend's new baby boy. The coffee cake (rhubarb ripple) did double-duty, playgroup and "mom's morning in" and will serve as dessert tonight too.

We've had several friends move away from Pittsburgh for one reason or another, and it's never easy to see them go. My outgoing children seem to have no problem meeting people, so for now I can depend on them to complete my social network. Miles asks every day to have a friend over or to go to someone's house, so I've been working hard to schedule in lots of social time for him--he just can't seem to get enough!
Ruby has her own way of being social--wondering off! She recently left my side to join a school group touring the aquarium. I noticed she wasn't with our small group of friends and went to look for her. Sure enough, one of the chaperones had noticed her and was helping her find her way back to us.
My two social butterflies--wonder what they'll be like as teenagers!