New chapter

Yesterday J and B moved back to DC and I moved back to Ann Arbor. We parted ways in such a hurry (their car service never showed up and they had to take a taxi to the airport). 

I'll be traveling down to DC for the next two weekends to work with their new nanny some as well as wrap up things with the kids. 

This week I start my first teaching job at Washtenaw Christian Academy. I'm teaching elementary social studies this fall as well as a few other things. I'm beyond excited to FINALLY be in a classroom. I'm not sure yet if I'll keep a public blog for my teaching experiences. I definitely will keep some sort of journal/reflections, but I might keep it more private due to privacy rights of my students. 

I hope that anyone who has followed my adventures with Mat and Oliver has enjoyed them. I'll continue to post here as I visit and keep in touch with them. 

FaceTime is going to be a MUST

Matilda's 4th birthday

Mat and B made the cake all by themselves!

We all wore Minnie Mouse ears! It was a Mickey/Minnie party. 

Natural History Museum

Turns out that there is a Cape Cod Natural History Museum in Brewster. Last Tuesday, grandpa Door and I took the kids to a children's theater production of the original "Dinosaur Pirates from Outer Space." It was actually a really good show!

Afterwards we had pizza for lunch and headed over to the museum. It was a rainy afternoon and therefore a perfect time to explore a museum!

There were honey bees

And snakes! Mat said that we should bring her Grammy here to scare her with the snake! Hah 

"Show your mama that you're having fun"

The tidal pool was awesome. So many camouflaged creatures. 

These are the harmless jellyfish that live in Cape Cod bay. 

It was a very busy day. 

Changes

Last week I accepted a classroom position at Washtenaw Christian Academy in Saline, MI. I'll be teaching 2nd, 4th and 6th grade social studies and science as well as 6th grade math. 

It's a lot to wrap my head around, but I'm excited. 

Matilda... Is not so excited. She knew that I wasn't going to be her nanny while she is in DC, but she was under the belief that I would resume being her nanny when she moves back to Ann Arbor in 2 years. 

I keep telling her that I'll always love her and I'll always be her friend. 

We painted a bocce set!

Oliver LOVES playing in the sand

Rain, Rain Go Away

What a rainy day. Yesterday it rained from dawn til dusk. At times it rained with such ferocity that water was getting in between the French doors. 

In the morning we went to see a local children's production of The Jungle Book. 

My best friend is here visiting for the weekend and she helped me with the kids. In the afternoon we played "band" and did art projects. We also worked on thank you cards from Mats birthday. 

B had her first week of her new job this week. It's definitely something she is passionate about and it'll be exciting to see her get things accomplished. 

As for me, it's the weekend so I'm about to go lay on the beach all day!

Normalcy?

Life on the cape is less than normal. Between the jobs numbers being released today, textbook deadlines, and supervising the move of their things to DC, J&B have bitten off about all they can chew. 

As for me, I'm just trying to get things organized. B's parents are staying with us until Wednesday and they have been a huge help with the kids. This has enabled me to continue unpacking and get the laundry going. I have also made several trips to Stop&Shop and the library. 

Starting this coming Monday, B will be commuting to DC a few different times to  begin her job with Obama's CEA. That's when things will hold the potential to be crazy, but with teamwork, we'll survive. 

Tire swing!!

Oliver really loves swings

JUMP!!!

There was a pig at the library!!

Oliver eating beets while enjoying Matilda's dancing. 

Matilda and her Grammy 

Maui Photos

When we were in Maui the family had family photos taken. They are beautiful. Here's a few of them. 

My work family

Matilda with her Aussie cousin Brooklyn

Ros with all of the W. grandchildren

Stunning photo of Matilda 

The whole crew

NBER 2013

We are in Boston for this year's NBER conference. We spent this morning with Jill, the new nanny for DC and then all took a 2-hour nap this afternoon. 

Tomorrow we plan to spend the morning at the Boston Museum of Science and don't have any specific plans for the afternoon. 

Matilda was having lots of fun cooling off at a nearby playground. 

Spending some quality time with Jill

Bath time!

Helen took Matilda out for dinner so Oliver and I parked it at Whole Foods. All of the fresh, organic purée and breast milk that I brought with us had to be thrown away because the outlet the fridge was plugged into didn't work. Oliver will be experiencing his first store-bought baby food tomorrow. 

Birthday Parties!

This weekend we celebrated Mat's 4th birthday with her Ann Arbor friends on Saturday and then she attended Aoife's birthday party on Sunday. Both were a lot of fun. 

We rented a jumping bounce house castle

Aoife's party was at a local jump house venue. 

She climbed this many times

Vida is super sweet

Matilda nearly ate the pepperoni pizza that was initially placed in front of her. Thankfully she didn't. 

Hold your breath

Wow what a week this has been. Today we are interviewing what is technically our 5th nanny candidate. It's actually been quite helpful in the chaos to have another set of hands play with the kids while I work on setting up for the birthday party tomorrow. 

Mats birthday isn't until August 31st, but we wanted her to have a party with her Ann Arbor friends. It's going to be a circus theme. I'll try my best to take lots of pictures. 

Community Helpers Camp

For this week of the summer (June 17-21) Matilda was doing two different camps. In the morning, she was doing a swim clinic at Goldfish Swim School. In the afternoons, she was doing a Community Helpers Camp at My Urban Toddler. She loved both of them and definitely learned a lot!

She does relatively well waiting her turn

 

 

Playing fireman with the boys after class

 

All lined up to see the fire truck!

 

She loved it

 

On day 3 they learned about construction workers. This was a dumptruck

 

On day 4, the last day of camp, they learned about Policemen

Oliver loved playing every day during Matilda's camp

He loved the toys

 

Hopefully this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience