Italian Dinner Night Through Rosemary’s Eyes

A few weeks ago we read Papa Piccolo as our Five in a Row book for the week. It was one that I wish we could have gotten into more since it’s set in Venice, but it was just a busy week (which is pretty much the norm for us these days). We did manage to have an Italian dinner night with bruschetta, homemade pizza, and tiramisu as part of our week though.

We had Pizza Margherita (which we’d learned about in co-op too) and a white pizza. I didn’t make the dough from scratch. That came from Publix.

While I was getting the food ready, Rosemary enjoyed taking some photos around the house. I thought it was really interesting to see our home through her eyes.

This is Sheep. Rosemary LOVES Sheep.

Our school clock.

I need to put a picture of Charlotte up there…

Rosemary’s handprint from when she was about a year and a half old. I love this. I should probably have Ben’s and Charlotte’s done too through Jilly-beans.com.

At dinner, I got the camera back for a bit.

Rosemary wanted to be the “Rock Star Queen” while she ate her pizza. I think she ate two pieces that night, which is unheard of for her.

Ben enjoying his pizza.

No pizza just yet for Charlotte.

Enjoying some tiramisu.

Ben enjoyed his too.

After dinner, Ben propped himself up on the couch with one of the catalogs that has flooded our mailbox in recent weeks.

He looks like such a big boy!

Charlotte at 10 Months

I am having a hard time believing that Charlotte is just two months away from being a year old. I’m just trying to enjoy the last few months of our littlest one as a baby. I know that too soon she’ll be toddling around.

This month, Charlotte has mastered crawling then sitting. She’s pretty coordinated. Neither of our other kids were crawling this well at her age so it’s interesting and new for us. She’s also super great at pulling up.

We’re adding a few table foods. Anytime we have something that we think she can handle, she gets some of our food too.

And she’s still a great sleeper.

Her temperament is just as sweet as ever. Such a darling.

Daisy Investiture

Rosemary officially became a Girl Scout on November 7, 2011. Grandma and Grandpa Peine were able to make it up to Gainesville for the ceremony.

Sporting her smock. Soon she’ll be fillin’ it up with patches she’s earned.

Each girl held a flower then added it to a vase as her name was called.

Charlotte enjoyed some time with Grandma.

Rosemary even had a line for the ceremony. It was, “Use resources wisely.”

She got a special Daisy certificate.

Our Girl Scout.

Now you know who to call when you need some cookies.

Explorations V

The next day, we headed to Lakeland and met up with Jonathan’s parents at Explorations V, a children’s museum in downtown Lakeland.

We spent a lot of time here too. The kids had so much fun exploring all the different areas.

This time, Charlotte hung out in the wrap.

Riding in the fire truck

One of the favorite parts of the visit, the trip to the grocery store. Both Rosemary and Ben enjoyed filling their carts then checking out.

Rosemary also got to forecast the weather here.

There was also a stage set up with dress up clothes that the kids enjoyed. We explored the basement and second floor too and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

After Explorations V, we headed over to Giordanno’s for some pizza then spent the night with Janice and Richard. The next day we had lunch with Tim & Michelle’s family before heading back home. It was a quick time away, but we had a great time!

Orlando Science Center

We planned to head to SeaWorld while we were down in Orlando for our long weekend, but the weather was really rainy. So we found coupons to the Orlando Science Center and headed there for the day.

I remember going to the Science Center a lot as a kid, but had only been the the new one once and that was over 10 years ago. We ended up spending several hours there and had a really great time.

If you stood in front of this screen, butterflies would land on your shadow.

Ben in the plane

Rosemary too

Charlotte hung out in the stroller

We headed down to the first level to see the alligator feeding.

Ben in front of a sugar sculpture

Touching a baby alligator

Inside the hurricane wind tunnel. It was hard to open your eyes, and the only thing blowing was wind.

My dad and Jonathan in the wind tunnel. I went in it too with Ben and Rosemary.

Rosemary – future meteorologist? She really liked being on the TV!

So did Ben!

We had a really fun time there and I think there’s a lot more to do as the kids get older.