Lucy's Birthday (Or Too Much Ice Cream)

Lucy' birthday party was at an ice cream place near her house. 20 kids (mostly 4 year old girls) making, sampling, eating and decorating ice cream!



The kids all got name tags (see Rudy's original way of wearing it?) and got to make ice cream (oreo). They added the ice cream mix, then added the oreos to it.

They then each got to make their own waffle bowl (to be filled later with a sundae) and then they sampled any and all the ice cream they wanted. And many sampled them over and over again. Here is the birthday girl.

Next the kids got to practice using decorating bags and then everyone helped to decorate Lucy's cake.

And then the kids got to eat a sundae of their making, after sampling all the flavors so they knew which was best. They also got to pick a flavor to take home and got a pint of it. Here is Rudy with cotton candy ice cream with gummy worms.

Then the kids ran around some more - there was this sand volleyball court, a tetherball, and a moon bounce. (thanks, Bill, for taking this picture after I asked you to HOLD my camera!).

Going back for more of the ice cream - trying to drink the last few drops of it out of the waffle bowl (maybe he didn't realize he could actually eat the bowl!)

Crazy cousins- the big boys - silly faces...

... and a (sort of) nice picture.

Rudy sampled all sorts of ice creams that he usually would have rejected - coffee flavored, with nut, pistachio, etc.

Paige was an eating machine at the party - she sampled fruit,chicken nuggets, and even some cake.

Unexpected Playdate

Yesterday Paul was gone all day for work and I didn't know what Rudy and I should do. It was overcast so it was hard to decide whether to plan an inside or an outside day. I posted on facebook asking if anyone had any suggestions of what to do. A short time later I got a text from a friend saying she had to work few hours, and was going to take her daughter with her, but she would be happy to drop her off with us. I quickly accepted. I know two kids can be more work, but for the most part, it prevents Rudy from needing my full attention all day.


Once Rudy knew Sanai was on her way over, he paced the house until she showed up. At first they played separately but right next to each other. Sanai had a blast playing with Rudy's geo-trax and Rudy played with some of the games Sanai brought. Then they decided they wanted to watch the movie Sanai brought. They actually sat and watched most of the movie, and even had lunch while finishing it.

After the movie, we decided to go to the park. Sanai brought Rudy's new jump rope and practiced her jumping.

Both kids played on the swings (Sanai told me this one would keep her safe - it's a good thing she is so much lighter than Rudy so getting her in and out was easy!).

Rudy wore his pirate mask.

And then Sanai spotted a butterfly. And for about 30 minutes the two of them tried to chase and capture this butterfly. It never flew more than a few feet away and would try to eat some grass before they came running at it again.

Then they decided to try to catch it, but all we had was a jump rope, so they tried to lasso the butterfly.

After the butterfly finally flew away, we took out the soccer net and played soccer. The rules of this game were kids against grown-up and the kid that was the goalie, moved the net around to help the other kid score. Lots of fun!

After the park we went to get some ice cream.

As you can see, Rudy is a mess, as usual, and Sanai has not a drop of ice cream on her!


At home again, nothing like a little jealousy and competition to encourage writing skills. Sanai was using the writing pad and writing words and sentences to me (she does a great job with primary spelling), so Rudy decided he had to try. He could get the beginning sounds so it was a good start.

School Days

Let's start with the picture from September of Rudy's first day of Pre-K.



And here is his last day.

Thursday was his "moving up" ceremony. The theme was Future Stars. He was apparently too cool to wear his sunglasses over his eyes.

Receiving his certificate from the priest.

After the ceremony, Rudy didn't want a picture with his teachers, he wanted one with his eighth grade prayer partner. He is a sucker for girls with long hair!

The star says Paleontologist, but during the ceremony when they had to say what they were going to be, he said "police". He later told me he's going to do both jobs, although Paleontologist is usually his answer.

A rare family picture.

Rudy and Grandpa enjoying juice boxes.

Rudy and his classroom aide, Ms. Rose. He started out the year LOVING his teacher because she was young and had long hair, but they just didn't click during the year. However, he talked about Ms. Rose ALL the time.

Later we went to dinner at Friendly's to celebrate Rudy officially being a Kindergartner. Here he is with his grandparents.

Then keeping his eyes closed for a picture with Grandmom...

... and the same with Grandpa.

Yep, my Kindergartner is still a messy eater - see the hot fudge on his neck?

The Many Faces of Rudy J

We had another busy weekend. Saturday we went to Vincie and Andy's for Noah's birthday party. Andy's aunt brought airplanes for the boys to play with.

The three big boys had some video game time.

Face #1 of Rudy : Anakin Skywalker

Noah opened his presents.

And of course there was cake.

Right before we left, Rudy sat down next to Randall and told me to take his picture.

Face # 2: Rocking out to Abba's Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight). I have a video to be posted later.

Today was our church's annual outdoor service and BBQ. There was a moon bounce and games and face painting for the kids. Can you see face 3 taking shape?

Face # 3: Batman

The egg race

The crab race

After going home, taking a bath and removing the Batman face, Rudy went to a birthday party for a classmate.

And again there was face painting.

Face # 4 : Spiderman

This party was at a local place I'd never even heard of before. There were 3 rooms - two had arcade style games (which required no tokens or money) and one had a big play set. They were all decorated in a jungle theme, with rain forest lights flashing occasionally. It was a neat place.

Rudy and 2 friends from school, in disguise.