Cross-dressing

Our weekend plans include our neighborhood's famous - infamous?? - annual Beaver Queen Pageant which is a drag queen show/party in the park/fundraiser for a local river shed.  I was joking with my girlfriends that I'm not sure how to explain what a drag show is to my kids.  And then this afternoon on a playdate, I realized that I don't need to explain drag shows or cross-dressing, because really, they are just the slightly more racy version of the childhood imaginary play that goes on at our house all the time.

 Exhibit A:  My smallest cross-dresser

Message from Ella: My Brother  Dash in a Cowgirl  Costume

The Duck

We are on vacation in the Outer Banks with my uncle Hank and my folks for a few days of beach fun to kick off the summer.  Like many things with kids, going on vacation with them is simultaneously way more fun than vacationing without them and also way more exhausting.  Fortunately my parents and my uncle are possibly the most generous folks ever with the time and energy they give to the kids so we are all having a lot of fun. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I've called my uncle Hank "Uncle Duck" because he does a pretty perfect Donald Duck voice that entertained me to no end as a little kid.  My own kids also find his duck voice hilarious, especially since we are in a town actually called Duck.  

All four of us Cohens are staying in one big bedroom, and in classic kids-on-vacation fashion, our usual 7:30 wake up kids were wide awake at 5:45 am.  Ella crawled into bed with me and Josh, and Dash   apparently heard her get up because he immediately stood up in his crib and started stage whispering "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?" I finally answered him and he loudly asked "Where is the Duck?"  Ah, another generation of Uncle Duck lovers. 

Farmer's Market

It was unseasonably cool this morning, in the low 50s, as we set out about 8 am for our weekly walk to the Farmer's Market.  When we arrived, Ella asked for her favorite Saturday breakfast - a freshly baked chocolate croissant from the Loaf stand - and gobbled it up.  Shortly after finishing it, she came running over to me and said "Mommy, for dessert, can I have..... a sausage and egg biscuit?"  She might have had her meal and dessert reversed but she at least knows what's good eating.

In other news, we somehow managed to spend four hours at the Farmer's Market today which is definitely a personal record.  So many friends, so much music and entertainment, and just a beautiful day to be outside.  Our only error was in not putting sunscreen on the kids who now have lobster red faces from all that fun in the sun in Durham's Central Park.

Teacher love

Before Dash started school, if I could have dreamed up a description of the most loving teachers imaginable for a group of toddlers, I don't know if I could have described two people as wonderful as Dash's teachers this year.  These two women were most definitely called to bring out the very best in toddlers.

The class end of the year party was this morning, and it was amazing to watch the room of 8 two-year olds happily singing, playing, eating, and carrying on with great glee.  Especially so when I think back to the first few weeks of school when the wails coming out of the room at drop-off were heartbreaking (and also a little bit comical, I will admit).  Eight kids all boo-hooing at the same time?  I had to hand it to the teachers who were calm and cool the whole time.  And as they promised, these little babies back in September, a few of whom weren't even walking well, most of whom weren't talking much, and none of whom were potty-trained, turned into full-fledged kids by May, running, chattering, and some even potty-going.  Mostly, they are a bunch of good buddies and I can't wait for them to be together again this summer at camp and next fall when they move up to the next class.  We'll miss these teachers enormously but I have a feeling we'll never go past their room without a hug.

  Love from Ms. Bern, his favorite dance partner

Love from Ms. Rosalie, his partner in silly jokes

A daily activity: Dash and Rosalie chatting through the window before school opens.

Kindergarten shots

This is a girl who just got 3 shots and did not like it one little bit.  I think she cried, screamed, squirmed, and generally carried on in great misery more for these shots than all of the others received to date combined.  I promised her frozen yogurt after her appointment, but she told me through her tears that she couldn't stand up to walk into the frozen yogurt store after getting all those shots in her legs.  So a drive-through milkshake it was.  Fortunately, no more shots until age 10.

Five year old

Ella is loving being five.  Whenever we see people we haven't seen in a few weeks, she  says to them "I don't know if you know, but I'm five."  

She also loves to write notes to leave on my desk for me.  This one from earlier this week was especially fabulous.  I AM excited!

Happy Mother's Day!

A perfect Mother's Day which of course must end with cake.