Happy 5th Birthday, Lucy

It's hard to believe, but she's five.  FIVE!

We spent the day in Salem, visiting the cool graveyard..

Because really, what else are you supposed to do with a five-year-old on her Birthday?  Seriously. 

Then we went to the Peabody Essex Museum, where they had an amazing hat exhibit!

Cousin Angela even joined us there!

Then we hit a diner for a late lunch.  It was awesomely delicious.

Now we're heading to Paula's house for a double-Birthday party.

What a day!

It really beats the way I spent November 17th five years ago!

Conversations with Lucy (TM)

We just received lovely news that cousin Elizabeth (Liz) is getting married!  Cheers!  Liz & Luke, we're so happy to hear the news!

We got the news via e-mail, with a photo of the engagement ring that came in Jake's e-mail. Here's what happened next:

Jake: Lucy, do you see that picture?
Lucy: cute!
Jake: That means that Liz and Luke are getting married!
Lucy: [confused]
Jake: Not your cousin, Luke. Luke from the beach.
Lucy: [dawning excitement] Oh!
Lucy: [concerned] Is there a law in this state that says a girl can't marry a girl?
Jake: Nope.
Lucy: Oh! good. I'm going to marry Ruth.

You heard it here first.  They are an awfully cute couple:

Previous Post: Still True

On Thursday while I was having a long day at work, Jake sent me an e-mail with this piece of evidence attached:

In case you're not clear on what's going on there, that's an "Incident Report" from Lucy's school.  When they give first aid (even a band aid), they fill out one of these so the parents know what's up.  In this case, something really was up.  Up Lucy's nose.  She stuck a bead up her nose.  It came out, with some assistance, but no medical personnel were involved.

To be clear, this is NOT a documented problem on MY side of the family.  This is all on the Bridge side. 

Children are disgusting.

On that same long day at work, I attended a poetry reading (I realize that it's a special thing to be able to go to a poetry reading as part of my day's work; I am not complaining about that).  Last weekend, Lucy had announced that she planned to have two jobs when she grows up: a music teacher and a poet.  I was taken aback and delighted.  So after the reading, I bought a book from each of the poets, and asked them to sign the books for Lucy.  I told them about her and her desire to be a poet; I also told them (because they were pretty awesome and fun folks) that Lucy was at that moment recovering from having shoved a bead up her nose.  Kindly, one of the poets wrote in her inscription: "To Lucy: Good luck with your nose."

I look forward to the day when Lucy gets to read the poems and wonders what the heck was going on then.

Children are disgusting

I pause to share a few great moments in parenting.  This Thursday, Lucy was playing with Ruth and Woody at their house.  I walked up the hill to pick up Lucy, and I could see and hear Lucy and Ruth and Woody playing outside.  When I arrived, Lucy and Ruth gleefully told me that they had just eaten a lollipop.  Knowing full well that this is not typical fare at the Kenney household (even on the day after trick-or-treat), I was suspicious, and thus the following conversation ensued:

Bridget: A lollipop? I did you each have one?
Lucy/Ruth: We shared one!
Bridget: Really?  That's kind of gross.
Lucy/Ruth: We found it in the tree!!!!
Bridget: WHAT?
Lucy: It was in the tree!  We saw it and I climbed up and got it and passed it down to Ruth.  And she ate some,  and then gave it to me and I ate some!  We shared!
Bridget: Was it WRAPPED?
Lucy/Ruth (in unison, delightedly): NO!
Bridget: So you ate some poor squirrel's Halloween treat?  Was it, like, half-eaten?
Lucy/Ruth: YES!

So apparently, the children found half-eaten candy in a tree and ate it.  Lucy was very emphatic about the fact that they had SHARED the candy. 

Bridget: Did you give Woodrow any?
Lucy: No!  He didn't want any.  He said it was a squirrel's lolly.

Children are disgusting.  If you need any more proof, here is another conversation, from the very same day.  At breakfast, Lucy began:

Lucy: Mom, what are farts good for?
Bridget: Uh, what?
Lucy: What are farts good for?
Bridget: That's what I thought you said, but I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly.  I don't know.  What are farts good for?
Lucy (laughing): They're good for stinking up a room!!!  I'm pretty farty.

You may recall a post about a previous conversation regarding a misunderstanding of Lucy's pronunciation of the word "thought," which sounded like "fart."  In this case, she was indeed asking about farts.

Welcome to our world.

RIP, Fozzie the Fish

We're having a rough run here.  Once again, one week to the day of arrival, fish #2, a beta named Fozzie, has passed from this earth.  So far, trauma has been slightly less than that of fish #1 (Lulu).  But still, not a good turn of events.  Sigh.