At Esme’s preschool, the kids will tell stories, which the teachers write down into books, and then the kids illustrate. A month or two ago, Esme came up with one called The Flower and the Tornado. Apparently, tornadoes were very popular in her class. Somehow the class decided to put together a show based on the book. (It’s a very student-directed environment. One kid gets interested in fairies, and for the next two months they plan a fairy party.)
We’ve been hearing about this “show” (we weren’t really sure whether it was a play or what) for a while, and all the preparation which goes in to it — the set design, the costumes, etc. Finally, the flyer announcing the play arrives and yesterday afternoon we joined the other parents for its encore presentation. In fact, the play was such a success (and so short) they did it twice. The video below is of the first performance; you’ll recognize our daughter’s trademark cry when one of the tornadoes crashes into her, playing a flower. (Apparently this happened in rehearsals as well. The boys in the class got very excited playing tornadoes. Hmm, 3-5 year old boys getting overly excited and rambunctious. Is anyone surprised?) It’s a bit hard to see, because there’s a bunch of kids, and ours is on the tiny side, but Esme is third flower from the right. (There are 7 girls in the class; 6 were flowers. No boys were. Is anyone surprised by this?)
The play was followed by treats in honor of Esme’s classmate Amelia, who was celebrating her 4th birthday. The kids seemed just as excited about the big cookie cake as their performance. Then we tried to get a picture of the “the girls” (since the 7 girls are way outnumbered by the boys, they tend to stick together, so it’s always “me and Amelia and Sophia and Lula and Ella and Finley and Peyton…”), and hopefully one of the dozen-or-so pictures came out.
GiGi and Grandpa came to visit for about a week and boy was it fun. They had a great time baking and doing art projects with Esme and Brynn. The weather was pretty nice overall, so lots of quality time was spent outdoors. They each even got the chance to go into Esme’s preschool class for part of the day, which everyone (Esme, classmates, teachers, and of course GiGi and Grandpa) really enjoyed. And, as always, when Grandpa comes to visit, there are no shortage of pictures!
At Esme’s school, they have an iPod touch in her classroom, and one of the nice features of it is the built-in camera. Some days, one of the students will get to use it to document their view of the morning at school. A few days ago, it was Esme’s turn. These are the pictures she took. Note note that she was not instructed in any way, just given the camera and told to go to work. She clearly has inherited some photography skills from both sides of the family!
This March was unseasonably warm — the warmest on record in St. Louis, by far — and we took full advantage of it, whether it was hanging out with the neighbors next door, going out for frozen yogurt, going to the Zoo or the Butterfly House, or just breaking out the summer clothes earlier than normal.
This past weekend marked the beginning of the Easter Egg Hunt Season here in St. Louis. We all went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens for their children’s Easter egg hunt extravaganza. Esme had a great time collecting eggs, meeting the Easter bunny, and marveling at all the beautiful flowers. Brynn enjoyed wandering around and petting the bunnies that a local rabbit rescue group brought to the event. The weather was perfect and we had a great time enjoying spring and hunting some eggs.
Below are pictures of the day, plus a video Dad and Brynn took from the sidelines as the throng started the hunt. (And yes, that’s Brynn screaming at around the 20 second mark.)
Dad here. So, today, during nap time, I realize that Brynn has woken up some time ago but is just sitting in her crib. Not that unusual. I go in to get her out, and she is pretty uninterested in getting out of the crib. Okay, that’s a bit odd, but no biggie. So then she starts grabbing at the receiving blanket in her crib and does something I’ve never seen her do before. She was so happy. I was shocked — so shocked that I ran in the other room, grabbed the camera, and came back in, luckily quick enough to capture it on video again. This is the sort of think that makes me love being a parent. Read the rest of this entry »
This past weekend, we visited Washington DC to visit Jeff’s sister Stephanie and her family… including their newest addition, Baby Celia (born Feb 12)! Esme was very excited to meet her new cousin, and hang out with Cousin Ian. Brynn wasn’t really sure what to make of Celia, but had a good time playing with Ian too. The weather was unseasonably warm, combined with cool and rainy, but we made the most of it, hanging out at the Kilpatrick’s new (as of December) house, and visiting the Mall and some of the museums. All in all, a great weekend!
Tonight was a dancing night in the Hinyard-Lash household. Of course, when we tried to get Brynn’s dancing on video (which is GREAT, by the way), she wouldn’t cooperate. However, Esme would, and she showed off the tap dancing routine she’s learning in dance class. Of course, she didn’t have tap shoes on… and was doing it on the carpet… and we didn’t have the music they normally dance to (Whistle While You Work)… so here we present one of the world’s quietest dances. Read the rest of this entry »