For starters...what's not to love about this...(other than Russell is missing)David is here visiting for a bit so we took him to our favorite beach. It was windy, but the temperature was perfect! People were even able to take their shoes and socks off. It has become a tradition to build a boat out of trash found on the beach and then sail it in one of the streams near the beach. After it has set sail, R.C. gives "the call" and we all bomb it with rocks and try to sink it. It's really very fun. Don't believe me? Come visit and we will bomb a trash boat together. You will love it!

We decided to take another beach trip, a day later, and head to Cape Cod. It was a beautiful drive, but a bit chilly. We enjoyed the beach, but were really looking forward to a cup of nice hot coffee for the ride home.

We made it out to Provincetown, and walked along the beach and found several crabs. Everyone found and held at least one. We also found a live shrimp, some sort of sea worms and more sea gooseberries.

Once again we were able to go barefoot. Max was brave enough to wade in the water a bit and he didn't think it was too cold.

It's great having David here helping R.C. get ready for his show this week. The boys also LOVE having him around. They have come up with several names for him, and he has introduced them to Gumby. One afternoon we (I say we because I was sitting there talking, but I really didn't help "create" anything) spent time making Gumby, Prikle, Goo, and someone else but I forget the name, out of clay.

In other boy news: Russell has been taking several "quizzes" so I can determine if he retained ANY information from this school year. I was very pleased with how well he did. The only thing that tripped him up was the state that Mt. Rushmore is located in. Other than that, he is ready for 1st grade! We are still in session for a few more weeks, but it is going to mainly be review. One thing that Russell is interested in now, that is not required for kindergarten, is map reading. He LOVES to look at maps and tell the streets that intersect and how to get to a certain place if you are here or there. He doesn't always find the most direct route, but he does find a way that will get you where you need to be if time is not an issue.

Maxwell has been obsessed with mazes lately. I print out several mazes each day so he has something to work on while I am working with Russell, but he is done so quickly that it doesn't work out how I would like. He is also working on writing his name and other letters. Max has yet to get rid of his dancing bugs. He is getting quite good at keeping a beat, and LOVES to be recorded while dancing. Both boys are into Where's Waldo books right now also. We have checked out all I Spy books at least twice and all Seen It books at least 3 times from the library and then R.C. remembered Waldo. We looked through, and conquered the first 2, not we have to find a library that has the other 4...maybe it will go on our summer to do list...

R.C.(along with the other first year sculpture grads) has a show opening on Thursday night. It should be really great and I'm sure he will post pictures and information about it later. I don't know what more to say about what he is doing in his studio other than he works stinkin' hard there! I have said it before, and I will say it again, I just don't know how he does it! The hours alone would kill me, not to mention the hundreds of pages of reading, papers to write, art to make, working a TA job, lectures to attend, and not to mention patting 2 little boys heads. It's crazy!

That's all that has been happening in our home the last week. Earth Day is tomorrow and I had planned on taking the boys out to pick up trash around the neighborhood, but it is supposed to be very rainy. We may have to wait until the weekend, when it is supposed to be 80 degrees.