Bows and Arrows and Grilling Out

January and February are those rare months where the weather is cool and pleasant. We took advantage of this by getting a few sets of bows and arrows (Zing brand, if you're curious) for some fun in the sun. They were so much fun that Josh and I later bought additional sets so the four of us could have an all-out bow-and-arrow war. So fun!

We also picked up a $20 grill and now we have little weekend cook-outs. Not bad for a cheap grill!

And some other pictures of what we've been up to:

The boys create their own games all the time. This one involves an ant colony. This was inspired by our real ant farm, which arrived at Christmas.

The boys made presents for Daddy's birthday - an elephant pillow (by Misha) and an ipad case (by Sebby). I made the cake!

Somewhere in there was the 100th day of school, which is a pretty big deal in kindergarten. Below he's wearing the 100 Froot Loop necklace, although he doesn't like Froot Loops. (Hence the expression.)

They won rain hats at their school fun-run, and soon enough they got a chance to use them.

New glasses for Misha!

Off to school, with Harry Potter tucked safely in his arms.

Sebby ready for pajama day.

Misha's Stonehenge project for school turned out really great! I attended their presentation day and listened to his PowerPoint.

Valentines... so fun when you're in school. Less so when you're a parent sending tons of sugar to school!

Misha turns 10!

Happy birthday, Misha! On April 6, our not-so-little boy turned 10. And we're pretty sure he's the best 10-year-old around. 

For his birthday, we decided on a classic party in our apartment park with hot dogs, cake, lemonade, and old-school games like a water-balloon toss, an egg race and a three-legged race. On the evening of the party, we were greeted with swarms of kids. Misha had invited several kids from school, but only two of them were able to make it (Allison and Denise). We could hardly turn away the eager faces of all the kids who watched us setting up, so we welcomed everyone. It was chaotic and loud and crazy - but it turned out quite well, especially considering we hadn't been counting on a group of 15-plus.

We started with an Easter egg hunt, and moved along to a water-balloon toss:

Then the egg and spoon race, using big soup spoons first, then normal spoons:

And then the three-legged race, thanks to some masking tape:

Bubble-blowing:

And onto the food! Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and cake...

Somehow during the course of the all the events, someone had fallen into the cake and left their handprint. 

Singing, cake and presents!

By the time the party was over, it was already quite dark, and we went home to give Misha our own presents: a real Newton's Cradle and a plasma ball. He loved them.

A few other random pictures:

Owning a snake means we get to play with cute little mice, if only for a short time.

Like an ancient Greek play, I will show you only the effects of the violence, not the violence itself: Slither the snake, after fitting the mouse all the way into his mouth with only the tail sticking out.

Here are a few cute ukulele videos. We have really been enjoying it, and Misha has improved greatly since these first clips:

"Happy Birthday, Dear Grandpa" - the first song Misha learned so he could sing it for Grandpa's birthday.

Misha performing "May There Always Be Sunshine" in Russian and English.

Sebby knows some chords too!