Poor little Sleep Lord! He’s been taking a lot more afternoon naps lately. We’ve tried putting him to bed earlier, as well as wearing him out in the evening. But he just can’t manage to sleep past 6:30, or 7:00 on very unusual days. So afternoon naps are a thing again.
And so are headphones! He’s really taken with Yen’s noise-canceling Bose, which he started wearing because he says Yen’s new lawnmower is too loud (it’s not – it’s an electric that makes a cute litte hum as it goes along munching up grass).
He doesn’t listen to music in them, but in this series, he sure looks like he’s having a dance party.
Meanwhile our usual party animal is chilling on the couch, reading about Rutiodon.
That hammock is still in our living room! It’s a permanent piece of indoor furniture now. I haven’t decided whether to get one for outside yet.
Wow, Easter feels so long ago! I got baskets for the kids and hid chocolate around the living room and kitchen. Mina, by the way, is wearing Halloween tattoos for the occasion. (“I’m an old salty bear!”)
Grandpa helped Mina reach eggs in high-up places.
Relaxing with Ba Noi. Mina does love cuddling and reading!
I got Linus some fancy Easter egg stickers with little rhinestones. He bedazzled his shirt with all of them.
As always, we wanted to visit the Public Garden during the tulip bloom. We also learned that there was going to be a Japan festival on the Common that morning. What we didn’t count on was rain!
Mina insisted on wearing this parka. We had no idea that she’d turn out to be the most appropriately dressed of all of us. Linus, meanwhile, was a man-about-town in his blazer.
The swan boat ride started out so well, and then the rain came in!
We hopped off the boat and hid under the bridge until it passed, then continued on our journey.
The kids have been enjoying their Halloween costumes regularly. Here’s Linus using Mina’s old witch cape to be a vampire.
These are fangs.
Mina wanted to be a cat and tried out here scary face. It wasn’t too impressive.
Linus is getting a little closer…
She can’t help being cuddly.
Cat, cow, unicorn!
Co Ba got the kids a pop-up book for Peter Pan. They absolutely love it, but I’m always worrying that it’s not strong enough to withstand their enthusiasm.
The kids’ favorite game continues to be Travel. They pack up their luggage, pile it onto the couch (which is the plane), and then they choose a destination. Often Mina is going to Cincinnati and then on to Florida, while Linus goes to London or Texas.
They’re sensible little packers! When I’ve taken apart the luggage before, they usually have a wide range of clothes.
We’ve been visiting the Acton Arborteum more frequently since we moved. It’s particularly beautiful in the spring. Take a good look at Linus’s boots, because you won’t see them again. He lost them in the parking lot of a store in New Hampshire.
I can make Yen c ome out from behind the camera, but I can’t make the kids smile!
The trail goes past a little pond with some interesting infrastructure for Linus to examine.
We always stop and admire this tree, which is a Weeping Katsura. We’re planning our new landscaping, and would go for this but it’s too sensitive to drought. In fact, an arborist wrote a column in our local paper recently saying that not only have we moved to zone 6a in the past decade, we are quickly heading for 7b and should plan ahead!
We hadn’t been to the Harvard Natural History Museum in a while, so we decided to head over for a visit one rainy day.
Mina did a lot of pointing.
Major milestone: Linus can fully see over the glass cases to examine the minerals now! Mina still has to enjoy the woodwork unless one of us picks her up.
Since viewing Coco, the kids are now excited about Mexican culture – including the language and their approach to honoring ancestors. There’s definitely an ofrenda in our future.
“More cereal please!”
I loved this: Linus took the blocks out of this container, had me add a strap, and turned it into a drum. This after we saw a parade of Revolutionary War re-enactors.
Um, yoga? I’m not sure.
We found a new place to hike in Nashua, but I forgot to bring the kids’ jackets. Linus borrowed mine and looked rather like Harry Potter.
They’re eating graham crackers, by the way. Snack of champions.
We meant to pose for a photo, but I ruined it with my constant, “No! Don’t climb! You’ll fall!”
Yen managed posing a bit better.
Just a typical Sunday morning breakfast! Queen Elsa is particularly good at breaking eggs.
Linus is off again! Not sure where this time.
Mina put together this smashing outfit.
Pants optional.
Totally unprompted hug!
This may be a hug or it could be an impending attack.
Linus got hungry one day, and I didn’t deliver a snack quickly enough. He took matters into his own hand by digging into the travel pack and settling into the mudroom for a snack.
I’m pretty sure he’s designing a new roller coaster.
We took a mini vacation in the Berkshires last weekend. It was meant to be much longer than a single night, but we were NOT impressed by the hotel.
The kids kept saying they wanted to “climb a Berkshee!” so we found a little mountain for them.
I’m always so impressed by how well they handle the terrain.
The kids both wanted to carry backpacks with snacks and water. You can imagine who ended up carrying them. Up ahead you can see that I’m already carrying a jacket.
After the hike, we moved on to Naumkeag, a Trustees property that’s long been on our hit list. Linus was way too cute insisting that his umbrella would work best for keeping the sun off his face.
Whoa, did they know Linus was coming???
I was surprised (and very happy) that they allow picnicking everywhere, and even provide blankets. Not sure why Mina wanted to lie downhill, though.
Wait, where are Mina’s pants? Well, she got a little excited about the balls floating in the fountain and fell in. I told her that wet clothes are an excellent way to stay cool, but she wasn’t having it.
Surprise! We managed to meet up with Kevin, Stephanie, and their adorable Leona. It was our first time meeting her.
Here’s Mina back at home, uncharacteristically still.
And Dr Nana opened his office to give Ba Noi a checkup. Looks like her appointment went better than mine: I ended up with a headectomy, handectomy, and tummyectomy.