Last weekend we drove down to Ashland in southern Oregon to meet up with Grandma Pat and Grandma Sue! Brielle was really excited to get double-grandma attention.
The small hotel room was quite cozy for us, but the kids enjoyed playing in a new environment. 
Traveling with little ones is always tricky with trying to fit in naps and control noise levels at night. Kraig and I didn't get much sleep, but we did really enjoy the trip and were even able to fit in a Shakespeare Festival play ("Taming of the Shrew") while the grandmas took care of the kids. We were very proud of how well they did on the 5 1/2 hour car trips. Brielle is at a great age where she's usually completely happy as long as she has paper and markers for drawing.
Traveling with little ones is always tricky with trying to fit in naps and control noise levels at night. Kraig and I didn't get much sleep, but we did really enjoy the trip and were even able to fit in a Shakespeare Festival play ("Taming of the Shrew") while the grandmas took care of the kids. We were very proud of how well they did on the 5 1/2 hour car trips. Brielle is at a great age where she's usually completely happy as long as she has paper and markers for drawing.
Ronan had a little bit of stranger anxiety at first, but he pretty quickly warmed up to the grandmas and delighted them with his smiles and laughter.
Ronan also got to enjoy an early birthday celebration! Grandma Pat and Grandma Sue got him some wonderful gifts, including toys, clothing,...
...and a very stylin' hat!
Brielle and Ronan both loved the music-playing birthday card, which Brielle opened over, and over, and...over. Ronan is really drawn to music and dancing, so he was delighted when Grandma Pat danced to the card music.
Brielle was a good big sister, helping Ronan open and enjoy his gifts.
The grandmas got her a gift of her own, as well as a fancy skirt when they took her out to the farmer's market.
The weather was beautiful (but actually really hot). Ashland is a great place to walk around, with really good shops and restaurants.
We were so glad that we were all able to meet up at such a fun place and see each other again.
In other news, Brielle started attending Spanish immersion school in May. She'll be attending daily starting in September, but the school had an opening for her to go in twice a week for May and June, so we decided it would be good for her to have that introduction before their summer break. Brielle really likes "Spanish school", and I really like how friendly and warm the staff are. The teachers only speak to us in Spanish (even though they know English) so I've been making an effort when I have time to brush up on my Spanish skills. Brielle says a few things in Spanish, and at other times she uses a made-up language that sounds a lot like Spanish. She'll continue at "regular school" with Ronan until Spanish school starts again in the fall.
At the end of the school year, the Spanish school had a Festival and Graduation event where the kids dressed up in costumes and danced. Brielle's group dressed up as little roach doctors and danced to "La Cucaracha", which was really cute and fun for her.
Part of the festival involved each child going up to a microphone on the stage and stating their name and age in Spanish. Brielle had been sick during the rehearsals, and of course she just started learning Spanish, so we had no idea what would happen. I thought she might get "shy" and say nothing or maybe even refuse to go to the microphone. Amazingly, she did step up to the mic, and after a few moments, she spoke. She was supposed to say, "Me llamo Brielle y tengo cuatro anos", but she said...something else. I guess it was Spanish-sounding gibberish, but it was quiet enough that the audience might have thought that she actually introduced herself, and they clapped. It was kind of funny, and at least she didn't say, "taco burrito".
After the Festival the school staff and families met up for a picnic in a park.
"Camera...mine!"
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