Tommy & Lucy & Grandma & Nana

The kids had Veteran's Day off while their parents worked so Grandma and Nana took a joint outing to the Academy of Science.  Here's Nana's report and photos:

We all had a fun day yesterday at the Academy of Science.  They both had fun catching bugs on the screens and watching the pendulum, running around outside, climbing on the "cats," having lunch and snacks from our bags.  We went downstairs and were lucky to come upon a lecture with a scuba diver inside the large fish aquarium.  It really was very interesting and also interesting to see how Lucy and Tommy kept moving up to better seats, eventually ending up in the front.

We left the Academy - which was getting pretty crowded and walked to the car which Barbara had parked by Stow Lake.

We were treated to a most interesting walk to the lake - first at the fountains, then past some "perfect spots for a performance."  Tommy and Lucy gave a couple of impromptu performances - which were adorable.  Tommy stood in front of Lucy to be the closed curtains and then jumped down for the curtain opening.  He took a picture of Lucy by the fountain and then wanted to take a selfie!

Many coins in a fountain

Striking a pose - photo by Tommy 

A very fun day!

School Picture

I didn't order all 3 of these shots, but I couldn't resist this 3-picture collage that seems to sum up Tommy pretty well…

2nd Grade - 2013

Try to Remember...

I missed some fall events…


Tommy made it to the school spelling bee again

Lucy's school got some new workout equipment

Grandparents Day at Hilldale

Getting measured for his tux

One last trip to Great America for the season

Tommy passed his Toy Story toys onto Lucy.  But before he did, he made sure to make this addition.

Cali and Finn came to Hilldale so Tommy could tell his Animal Care class about his dogs.

This...

and during a walk through JC Penney, she exclaimed "Those are my letters!!"  So someone is probably going to have a purse addiction (which is better than the alternative products currently spoiling the names Lulu and Lucy)

By some miracle of scheduling, this happened.

Aunt Barbara came to town

and we had a half birthday!

Keeping Busy

October was delightfully busy with after school activities, a couple of weddings (well the same one really), and a lot of driving around from place to place.

Some highlights of the activities:
 Both kids are taking dance classes at the studio near our house.  Lucy is enrolled in a Ballet/Tap combo class like last year and both kids are taking Musical Theatre with Miss Katie.  Lucy took a workshop from Miss Katie this summer and loved it so much that both of them wanted to sign up for the school year.  The class is half dance and half singing with a whole bunch of personality thrown in.  They are prepping for a winter performance of Christmas songs and then will perform in the big recital in June.

With Lucy mostly sticking to dance this semester, Tommy did swimming at school during PE and after school one day a week and is now taking lessons at SI.  He has made tremendous strides in his swimming and now believes that he can in fact float.

This was HUGE!

Finally, he also participated in Mini-Hoops through Park and Rec and really enjoyed his first basketball experience.

Judging by this pose… Lucy will NOT be taking up Field Hockey.  Yikes!