30th Birthday Vacation

Twelve years after their fateful meeting beneath the hallowed waffled ceilings of their alma mater, Mr. Incredible and his college roommate reunited in Arizona to celebrate their 30th birthdays with their beautiful families.


There was plenty of time for lounging by the pool:


And for getting our feet wet:


Skinny dipping is always a good idea when you're under 2 years old:


The boys with their boys after a round of golf...watching the British Open of course:


For those who needed a rinse, the sink did the trick:


Future college roomies meet and become buddies right away:


They were ready to jump into the deep end together:


Poolside snacks were provided by an obliging Grandmom:


D-Man provided the music:

Still partners in crime...perhaps they were looking at this:


Group picture in the desert (apparently Dash likes his uncle better than his parents):


And a photo with the gracious grandparent hosts:


Bubbles help take away the sting of grabbing a cactus:


The Incredible boys share the same hat designer:

We're Back!

Details to come from a special 30th birthday trip in which Dash grabbed a cactus (Hand Hurts!) and met his future college roommate.

And Here He Is!

His mom sent me a picture of the little guy with chicken pox. Poor little buddy! He and Dash have a lot in common; however, this is an area in which it would have been better for Baby P not to follow in Dash's footsteps!

Spotted Babies!

I have just received word that my dear, sweet godson has the Chicken Pox! So sad for this 10-month old little guy! Please say a prayer for him. Dash got the chicken pox when he was 6 months old. As a first time mom, I was very panicked seeing my son covered in spots. Dash did not seem overly uncomfortable. We just spent a weekend splashing away in an oatmeal bath. Mr. Incredible concluded that the episode was much harder on Mommy than on anyone else. Since I had been debating on the chicken pox vaccine anyway it meant that he didn't need to get it.

Here is Dash covered in spots at 6 months old!!

IMPORTANT SIDEBAR UPDATE!!!!

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Did you catch it?

Is Mr. Incredible really 30?!?!

At least I can remind him how good the 20's are (being half a decade younger and all).

Happy Birthday Love of My Life!!

3-Part Cards: Inexpensive and Easy

I ran into Target last night and the $1 display that Target always has right inside the door had flashcards, puzzles, books and other educational things. Since I had just perused the latest copy of the Montessori Services catalog, I looked to see if I could make some Montessori materials from the $1 bins.

I am not sure where we will end up coming down on the quality versus expense scale for Montessori materials. I swoon over the Nienhuis catalog, but then need to be revived after looking at the price list. I will probably try to make as much as I can, but this is partly because I come from a crafty family. I am used to jerryrigging to accomplish things inexpensively.

You can easily turn 2 sets of the Target flashcards into 3-part cards. It works out to about 2% of the cost of buying the unlaminated cards from Montessori Services (less than 1% of the cost of the laminated ones). You can also buy the images online or download them for free from Montessori Materials and print them yourself, but even that would be more expensive than these cards considering the cost of printer ink and paper. And of course, printing them would take a lot of time.The "First Words" flashcards used lowercase letters whereas, unfortunately, the "Insects" cards did not. There are facts on the back of each card. The "Dinosaur" cards have the meaning of the names, which is a ready-made way to introduce Latin roots to little guys!

A trip to the hardware store should be enough to gather materials to make your own wooden 3-part tray. (Alternatively, you could just divide up a shoebox lid.)

Dash has loved matching activities since he was 15 months old. Grandmom colored these large pictures for him:
Dash also liked matching colors:
Mr. Incredible thinks the boys are ready to bypass these simple activities and gave them something more challenging to try:

Also, be sure to check out Katherine at Life in the Onion Dome's posts on curriculum planning if you are interested (see left sidebar: Curriculum Planning)!

Cannonball in the Baby Pool!

Three little boys were playing peacefully in the mouth of the whale this weekend until Dash realized that he could make a really big splash.
It is possible to do a cannonball in a mere 4 inches of water.
His little buddy was a bit frightened by the experience! I would feel the same way!
He did recover from the shock with a little comfort from his Mommy.
Jack-Jack was remarkably unfazed by Dash's cannonballs. I suppose that is that is just part of being a little brother.

Aquarium Pictures

Our 4th of July Weekend Adventures took us to the Aquarium. Since this blog is partly for me to record the activities of our family for my own benefit, I must note that it was not all I had hoped it would be. I grew up going to Sheed Aquarium in Chicago, and this didn't hold a candle to it in size, scope or quality. There were no "touch pools" and very few interactive displays. So it will be quite awhile before we return.

On a positive note, Dash now knows how to say "sting ray" and "manatee."Jack-Jack starting at the waterfall:
Dash trying to pet the manatee:

My Meez

My Meez...

If you could add a two year old hanging by his ankles from the playground in the background it would be more accurate:Mr. Incredible wanted me to make a fun one, too. Here's a flashback from my days of downhill ski racing:

Since Momo Asked...

Yes! Jack-Jack can sit up! He just needs a bodyguard because our little linebacker Dash thinks he is a tackling dummy.
And, though not through yet, Jack-Jack has his first teeth coming and spent most of the weekend chewing on Mommy's finger.
We had a mini-vacation at home as Mr. Incredible had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off for the 4th of July. We had two pool parties, a trip to the aquarium and 3 other playdates. Pictures of the fun week to come, but for now I think I want to cuddle up with a frog blankie and take a nap like Jack-Jack.