Tish, Morgan, Melina, and Elliott: Birthdays, Processing, Marching for Science

Hi Friends and Family!

It's been another whirlwind of a few months. We took to the streets to march for science and a few weeks later discovered the awesomeness that is Olympia's Procession of the Species. We stopped by the Procession Studio for several weekends in a row prior to the Procession and the artists there helped us make an awesome Peregrine Falcon costume for Melina. This is a fun time of year for us because the kiddos just had their birthdays! Elliott turned 2 and Melina turned 5.

Melina - you are 5 going on 15! You delight us with your wit and kindness. You love telling stories and making up songs. You are so good at telling us how you are feeling and what you are thinking about. You love drawing. Your favorite things to draw right now are houses, underwater scenes, and portraits of your friends. You ask us So Many Questions! I love the insight into your world that your questions reveal, sharing with you what I know, and the way your curiosity helps us all to see the world a little differently. Where did Leia get her Boba Fett suit? Where do bugs go in the winter? How do babies breathe inside their mama's tummies? You love dancing! Both by yourself and around the house as well as in your class. You are so excited to start Kindergarten next year. You love playing "guess the animal" where we ask each other Y/N questions about animals "Does it... have scales? Does it eat plants?" etc. Your favorite animals are Orca, Snowy Owl, Lynx, Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey and Red Panda.

Elliott- we blinked and our baby turned into a big boy! You have so many words! Your favorite phrase/word right now is "Wassat???" and you ask it about everything! You also say "Myself!!" a lot - you feel very strongly about trying things with NO help. You say "Thankum" for Thank you and "Tay-po" for potato. You have a belly laugh that is utterly infectious. You clearly have a sense of humor and you love cracking us all up with your silliness. You are still working on spatial/body awareness: I see you try to put on doll clothes or fit your body/toe into a tiny toy truck. You call Melina "Mina". She calls you "Zooeys" (we have no idea why - but she has been calling him this since you were very small). You love sleeping with lots of animals and dolls in your crib! You give them awesome names, sometimes with help from your sister. Your two dolls are Miss Clavel and Baby Donut. You also sleep with Tofu (a bear), Kiley the racoon, Seal and of course your lovey, Owl. You call the air conditioner in your room a robot and and sometimes it makes you feel scared - you tell us: "Scared. Robot"

Marching for Science in Olympia.

At the Procession art studio.

Look at these wings!

Making the falcon head-dress.

Testing out the costumes! Elliott wore Melina's owl Halloween costume from when she was 2.

We found some other bird head-dresses in the Procession Archives - we needed to be something that flies, so that we could march in the Air section.

We walked with our Monarch Butterfly friends! Elliott loved pushing the wagon.

So many amazing costumes and floats.

Next year I think we will have to be in the water section!

Kelp!

We maxed out our wagon's capacity! It was a wonderful day.

Elliott discovered the mousie costume! Handed down from the cousins and much loved by Melina when she was his age.

Urban hiking in Tacoma with Rob, Elizabeth, June, and Delia.

Planting a tree on arbor daywith Governor Jay Inslee!

Art time at home.

Poking around in the creek.

Hanging out with Henley and Gabe.

Easter!

The sun finally came out and we busted out the water table. Apparently it's much more fun to sit IN it.

Melina calls this her Research Rock.

On his birthday! Happy 2 years old big guy!

This is one of my all time favorite drawings of Melina! Notethe deep sea habitat at the bottom with the angler fish, the subtidal habitat with jellyfish, kelp and fish, and intertidal habitat with lobster, anemones and sand dollars! (she also does awesome barnacles and snails - after my own heart).