Month of May Part 1: 5 Year Old, Boys' Plays, Family Field Trips, and BABY GIRL!

All right!!  We're in May!  We had lots of activities going on this month, so I had to do a two part deal to this post.  Otherwise, you would be scrolling through pictures for a loonnnnng time!  (I had to upload and go through about 660 pictures if you catch my drift.)
The month of May was an important month in our family because our big boy Alex turned 5 years old!!  It was a month full of celebrations!

Here's Alex at his school birthday celebration.  He brought watermelon,
nut-free cupcakes, and juice boxes for his special snack to share with friends
that afternoon.  This kid loves to party.

Alex and his classmates chowing down.

"I'm five fingers old today!"

During the weekend of Mother's Day, we decided to plant our garden.

Alex and Joseph planting some veggies into
our itty bitty garden.

This tiny bit of land helps to produce some really delicious
cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and basil.

In mid-May, the boys and I met our friend Shikha and her adorable son Rohan in Boston Common for a play date.

We had to stop by the carousel first, of course!

Rohan and Shikha on the carousel.

Me and the boys.

Then, we made our way over to the swan boats for a ride in the public garden.

Alex and Mommy selfie!

Mommy and William selfie!

It was so sweet, I looked over and saw that Rohan
and William were holding hands during the swan boat ride.

Then we walked around the public garden and made our way to the Make Way for Ducklings statues (of course).

William and Alex riding the duck statues.

Afterwards, the kiddos played on the playground before we got a quick lunch before school.

William, running around.

"Wheeeeee!"

William greeted Alex at the top of the structure.

Alex kept a good eye on his little brother while they were playing.

Iiiiiiiiiiiiit's show time!!  William's Petit Jardin class put on a play called "Par La Fenetre" (by the window) on May 8.  In the play, William was a deer who had a small house in the woods.  All of his woodland friends knocked on his door to be asked to be let in because the wolf was coming.

A little bear knocked on William's door. 

William's line was,
"The wolf is coming, the wolf is coming!  Come in!  Come in!"
(He liked squishing the fluffy belly of his deer costume.)

The little bear came in.

Next up was another woodland friend knocking on the door.

William, "The wolf is coming, the wolf is coming!!  Come in!  Come in!"

The next animal to knock on the door was a frog.  William, for some reason
did NOT want to let this child into his "house" during the rehearsal
and threw quite the fit.  We all crossed our fingers and hoped that
William would be friendly during the play.

*Phew!*  Crisis averted!  The frog was allowed in the house this afternoon.

Next came an owl.

And a skunk.

Uh oh!!  The wolf arrived and wanted to come in!!
The animals acted frightened.

SURPRISE!!!!  The animals were throwing a surprise birthday party for
the wolf!!  All of the woodland creatures sang, "Happy Birthday" to the wolf
at the end of the play.  It was very sweet.

All of the kids took turns "blowing out" the candles on the birthday cake.

After the play, the students of the Petit Jardin class sang a few songs
for the families.

After every song, William would turn and look at me and Joseph
and say, "Clap, Mommy and Daddy!!"  :-)

Our little deer owned the microphone that afternoon.

He's a natural!

What a cutie!

Alex sat next to me during the play and
was SO proud of his younger brother.

After the play, William went back to "his house" and danced around in it.

Alex joined in.  :-)

The boys, dancing their little hearts out at the end of the play.

Watch out world!  The Franses boys are out to steal your hearts.  :-)

I had to get a good snuggle in with our "dear" little deer.

Joseph, Alex, and William the deer.  :-)

On May 9, we took a family trip to the Franklin Park Zoo as a little birthday excursion for Alex.  We hadn't been to the zoo since late fall, so it was really nice to trek over there and visit some animals.

Joseph, showing William a sloth.

The boys, feeding some ducks.

Tractor time!

Time to feed some budgies!!  We got two, tiny seed sticks, held them out, and the budgies swarmed us immediately!  They were quite hungry and even nibbled on our fingers a bit.

The boys were cracking up the whole time because
the budgies were everywhere!

And climbing all over us!

Joseph and the boys, getting ready to ride the carousel.

"Yee haw!"

My gorgeous roses and home made gifts for Mother's Day!
I'm one lucky lady.

On May 9, 2015, Alex turned 5 years old!!  He was very excited because he got to open his presents from his grandparents while William was napping. 

Alex, getting ready to open his card and present from
Nono and Nai Nai.

Oscar loves to help unwrap presents.  Alex is used to
this by now.

Joseph and Alex with his Lego kits.  Alex LOVES to play
with Legos and gets really creative with his designs,
but also enjoys kits as well.
Thanks Nono and Nai Nai!!

Now it's time to open his present from Grandpa and Mama B.
(With Oscar's help, of course.)

Joseph, Alex, and Oscar's curious little head,
ready to set up the bed tent that he got.
Thanks Grandpa and Mama B!!

Our happy 5 year old!!  He wears his age as a badge
of pride and will gladly tell ANYONE who comes across
his path just how old he is.

Later that evening, we took the boys out to dinner to celebrate Alex's birthday.  We went to The Butcher Shop in Boston which is a really spectacular restaurant that has delicious charcuterie and other delicious dishes.  Alex said he wanted meat for dinner, and that is precisely what he got (along with other things, of course).

Our big birthday boy, ready to dig in!

William, sitting very nicely and waiting for his meal.

Alex approved of his birthday meal.

So did William!  The other patrons at the restaurant
were astonished at how well behaved the boys were
and how MUCH they were able to eat.  We're lucky
to have two boys with adventurous appetites.

Afterwards, we went to Emack and Bolio's for ice cream.  This was the first time that the boys ever had large waffle cones all to themselves.  They were super excited.

Alex with his sprinkle waffle cone and chocolate
ice cream.  He ALWAYS wants chocolate ice cream
and rarely tries any other flavor.

William, of course, got the same thing as Alex
and couldn't wait to gobble it up.

Check out William's face in the aftermath of the
chocolate ice cream cone!  Hilarious!

Alex remained squeaky clean.

Alex, getting ready to blow out his candles as we
sang, "Happy birthday!" to him.

I love seeing his dimples and excitement in his eyes as he got ready
to blow out his candles.

Go for it, big boy!

"Hooray!!  I'm 5 years old!!"  I love his reaction.  He is always this
exuberant and happy.

For Mother's Day, we met Joseph's cousin Ilias out for brunch at the restaurant Commonwealth in Cambridge.  Their food is sooooooo good!

This was on the brunch menu!  I cracked up.

We decided to order a cinnamon bun while we
waited for our food to come.  It was HUMONGOUS!

Mmmm!!  Biscuits and gravy, topped with bacon and eggs!!
A brunch that truly rocked my world.

William, on one of our walks, blowing the fuzz
off of a dandelion.  I love his little lips in this picture.

Blow, big guy, blow!

Now it's time for Alex's play!  His Grand Jardin class put on a play based on the book "The Umbrella."  It was set in the rainforest and Alex played the role of the snake.  He was very excited and did a wonderful job!

The rainforest set for the play.

Alex, as he came out of his classroom!  What a funny guy!  He was
so proud and so excited to do the play.

Alex gave the introduction of the play to the audience.

Bravo, my love!!

"I’m Chiquita banana and I’ve come to say,
Bananas have to ripen in a certain way
When they are flecked with brown and have a golden hue
Bananas taste the best and are best for you
You can put them in a salad
You can put them in a pie-aye
Any way you want to eat them
It’s impossible to beat them
But, bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator
So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator."

Alex with all of his classmates.

"Bonne nuit,
Cher trésor,
Ferme tes yeux et dors.
Laisse ta tête, s'envoler,
Au creux de ton oreiller."

Translation:

Good night,
dear treasure,

close your eyes and sleep.

Let your head, fly away,
the hollow of your pillow.

Alex's line:  "I hope it doesn't tip over.  I can help them anyways."

"Will you be a friend of mine
A friend of mine, a friend of mine?
Will you be a friend of mine
And hold hands with me."

Alex's line:  "Let's go!"

"Working together it's a snap
No arguments or things like that
Working together you will see
It's much more fun in harmony."

Alex, to the left, in the green shirt with the snake hat.

"Coco le perroquet
Avait le hoquet.
Il mangea un briquet,
Picora un bouquet,
Avala un ticket…
Malgré ce traitement
Complètement dément,
Coco le perroquet
A toujours le hoquet!"

Translation:
Coco the parrot had hiccups.
He ate a lighter, pecked a bouquet,
avala a ticket...
Despite this completely insane treatment,
Coco the parrot always has hiccups!

(Google translation...I'm sure there was something
lost in there somewhere.)

"When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'd be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath I'll stick it out 'til the end
Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)"

Afterwards, there was a dance party!  (Alex's favorite part.)

Alex and his classmates singing a song.

Our little snake after his performance.

Wonderful job, darling!

On May 12, Joseph and I took all of the kiddos (dog included) to Beaver Brook Reservation to do a little hiking and kick around a soccer ball.

Joseph and the boys at Beaver Brook Reservation.

Oscar, William, Joseph, and Alex (further ahead)
crossing a small brook.

The guys, kicking around a soccer ball.

The boys loved "exploring" the woods.

Me and the kiddos at Beaver Brook Reservation.

Alex is such a ham!

He's showing off his big, strong muscles.

What a goofy guy!

Alex, with his birthday gift from Daddy and Mommy.

He was very excited to get his new watch, since we're practicing
telling time.  (Just digital for now, but the watch has options to do
analog.)

One morning, William woke up really early, so I
snuck into his room and brought him downstairs
so that Joseph and Alex could sleep in.
I made myself a cup of coffee and was going to
take him downstairs with me into the basement
so we could play and hang out.
I just thought he looked so cute in his pajamas and
was clinging to his monkey lovey.  Love this kid.

The boys, riding their bikes around in the driveway.

On May 13, Joseph accompanied me to my doctor's visit.  He unfortunately has been so busy that he hasn't been able to accompany me to most of my visits.  However, he made it to the most important appointment - the one where we found out the gender of baby number 3!!
The nurse that did the ultrasound was incredibly thorough and took about 45 minutes to analyze every aspect of our baby.  She took pictures of all of the organs, measured the length of the bones, etc.  The whole time, we were sitting there thinking.....okay, okay....SO WHAT ARE WE HAVING??!!  We were on pins and needles waiting for her to tell us, until finally, at the end of the appointment, she told us that baby number 3 was indeed a girl!
We were so overjoyed to find out that the baby was healthy and was hitting all of the milestones, etc.  Joseph and I were also very excited to discover that we would be having a little girl. 
As soon as we got out of the doctor's office, I told Joseph that we needed to make a quick pit stop by the hospital's gift shop.  I wanted to get a little something to help us announce to our family and friends what we were having, so I chose these adorable ballet slipper socks.  I had always adored seeing the little girls in Alex and William's baby classes wearing these, and I couldn't wait to get a pair for our little girl.

As soon as we got in the car, I put the socks on my
baby belly and sent the picture to all of our family and
friends.

That next morning, I took this following picture of the boys in order to announce to our friends and family members on Facebook:

The boys were so excited to take this picture.
They're both really happy that they're going to have
a baby sister soon.

The kiddos playing at Newton Center playground.

The boys on a bumpy slide at the playground.

William having a swinging good time.

Alex, in his formal attire, having "breakfast at the diner."

The boys at their "diner", ready to have breakfast.

Woo hoo!!  What an exciting first half of the month of May!  We loved watching our boys perform in their school plays and were overjoyed to discover that we would be welcoming a baby girl in the fall.  The next half of the month of May for us was equally exciting.  That'll be the next post.  ;-)
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki