The Old Timer's Cup

The weather is gorgeous here. We were lucky enough to spend hours outdoors last weekend at a fiddler's convention a few miles north of here. During the afternoon, while we were waiting for the evening action to start, I spread a blanket out under a tree for me and the kids to pass the time on. We had a marathon read aloud session with the A Little Princess. Sylvia, Gus, and Millie had an easy time entertaining themselves.

Sylvia was kind enough to share her Ringpop with Millie.



Millie and Gus were kind enough to "help" me rest.



And everyone had a good time dancing once the music began!

Happy Fall Y'all

We spent the weekend at the festival that the Arts Council puts on in our county every year. It was so nice to be outside in the cooler sunny weather.

Sylvia's Shots

As promised, here's more of our exciting adventures...

I let Sylvia (or Sylviva as she occasionally insists on signing her worksheets) have at it with the camera while I was getting my hair trimmed.

There's Gus horsing around.



If you look closely you will see my sister-in-law's head in the mirror. Good shot Sylviva!



Here's our pile of stuff on the floor.



Hmm, I'm not sure what Sylvia was going for with this one.



And there's Gus horsing around some more.

Day Out

Rex had the day off recently so we went for a little adventure. First stop was lunch.



I found a hat in the coat closet that was just the right size for Gus and it matched Rex's new hat as well. He loves that it matches, but he refused to let me take his picture with it on.

Millie was more compliant.



Next stop was haircuts.

Still trying to get Gus with his hat on....




There, finally, I got him.



Stayed tuned for the continuation of OUR LITTLE ADVENTURE.

Honk, Honk!

Whew! These things are pretty hard to steer.

Summer Harvest

We've had a couple of blueberry picking sessions lately. I can pick about 5 quarts in an hour and 15 minutes. At $4 a pint for organic on sale, that's quite a savings! I definitely owe my sister-in-law a dinner or two. When ya coming over Kelly?

Shopping!

I stopped in an antique shop recently. I rarely have time to browse and when I do I hardly ever find anything worthwhile (in my price range at least!). But this past weekend must have been special. Here are my favorite two things I picked up.

First up is a chicken dish. As I was about to pay, my sister-in-law saw it and said that she and both her sisters had one. It must be a family thing.



Number two is a cast iron baking form. It's a little rusty but it was only $5. It's nothing a little steel wool can't fix.

A Day at the Pool

This was a good boundary busting trip.


Millie took her first ride on a crab.


Not only did Gus finally get in the baby pool but he got in the big pool as well.


And Sylvia put on some goggles and considered putting her face under water. For a split second.

A Day at the Lake

This has got to be one of my favorite swimming holes. It's a small lake at the top of a mountain. There's a clean, sandy beach and calm, clear water. And lots of shade too.



The bath house was built in the early 1900s.


Sylvia actually waded out up to her neck. I think she even got her face wet. Accidently of course.



It was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Gas Calculations

Rex made up a list of places we regularly drive to and then calculated the round trip gas expense for both the truck and the minivan. Interestingly enough, from driveway to driveway my parent's house is exactly 100 miles from our house (according to Google Maps). It's a $40 roundtrip in the van. Yikes! I kind of wish I didn't know that. I guess you guys will just have to move closer.

Rex's daily commute runs him $.91. A trip to the grocery store costs me $2.36. A ride up to the family farm costs $9.28 in the van and $12.37 in the truck. I'm guesstimating that a trip to our favorite bakery would be about $2.75. So that turns a $4 loaf of bread (which already makes me cringe) into a $6.75 loaf!

But with 3 children I tend to stay home as much as possible anyway. Looks like these kids are saving me money!

Our Happy Father's Day

My parents and one of my sisters drove up to help celebrate. We decided to picnic at one of our favorite local parks. But not without first stopping by our favorite local bakery and then our favorite local coffee joint. I love the days we do that.


Sylvia surprised and delighted Rex and my dad with her personalized story books. Both of which involved eating cakes.


Gus got a few more birthday presents.


Millie ate some cake.


And we all took turns paddle boating.

What a great Father's Day. Over the past 5 years that Rex has been a father, we've honored this day at some nice restaurants around town. But I think it's safe to say that this one tops the list of favorite ways to celebrate. Locally of course.

Park Timidity

I took the kids to the park on Saturday to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. Millie got her first swing ride. We all enjoyed the sunshine but my children are timid park goers. You would expect a child to get to the playground and be ready to burst out of the car and run to the jungle gym. Sylvia and Gus tend to hang back and watch the other children. They take their time getting used to the place and gradually get into their own groove of play. And Sylvia is definitely the most timid of the two. Although I value her observance, I feel she would benefit from a healthy dose of rambunctious courage. If I could just get her to go down the twisty slide a time or two I'd probably have a hard time getting her to stop. I remember the same situation for myself as a child. I had a hard time taking the initial risk and doing something new and somewhat scary. But once I got the hang of it, I would become quite adventuresome. For instance, my dad basically had to throw me into the water during a beach trip around the age of five. And not long after that I spent more time than anyone floating on the waves and begging to be tossed in again.

Diversions

We celebrated Millie's 5th month birthday outside. Sylvia made the cake.

Last weekend I decided to do something diverting since Rex had to work. We went to the train table at Barnes and Nobles. Next we had lunch at Moe's (one of the fast but fresh Tex-Mexy joints that have popped up everywhere) and finally I was convinced to treat everyone to ice cream at the place next door. Gus got ice cream all over his face so I was preparing to wipe it off before we left. I grabbed a napkin and moved a chair behind me. As I was beginning to sit I heard the metallic crash of the chair hitting the floor, but it was too late. I crashed with it, Millie in the sling and all. Luckily, no one was hurt. Luckily, we were the only customers! Millie didn't even wake up.

Field Trippin'

1 set of parents over for lunch + 1 trip out for coffee and desert + friends over for dinner, a little music and some wild play time amongst the children + one truckload of unwieldy trash taken to our friend's temporary dumpster + one truckload of toys brought back to the house from said friends + getting lost in an unfamiliar city + spending the morning at a free range arts and crafts museum for kids + lunch at Chick-fil-A + story time at a friend's house that we've never been to before + 1 clogged toilet + 4 baths for Sylvia alone...all in the last 36 hours = ONE TIRED MAMA! (+ a few chocolate macaroons). Things went rather smoothly and I really had a great time, but I'm looking at an early bed time tonight. And I don't feel guilty about skipping the homeschooling day at our local science museum tomorrow (don't tell Sylvia!).


Here are some pictures from the Arts and Crafts place. It was truly wonderful. It's about 45 minutes away, so I only wish it were closer (like in my basement!). The place was laid out with several different stations each with a different medium (paint, clay, paper dolls, trash to art, weaving, etc) for the kids to explore and it was so informal, they could mix mediums as they pleased. Honestly, I would love to go there sometime sans children and let my own creativity flow!

The Children's Museum

Well, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to place the pictures and I need to get downstairs to wrap some presents so this is just going to have to be okay. I took the kids to the Children's Museum today. This is one of our favorite places around town. We met some friends for the Spanish circle and then spent a few hours wandering the museum. The bulk of the time was spent in the Arts & Craft room. That's our friend Georgia holding the little Santa and Elf she made while sporting her new self fashioned crown. I also wanted to get a shot of the dress Miss Sylvie wore just because it was made by me. The children's all round favorite (and the adults' least favorite) part of the museum is the grocery store. If you look closely at Gus' cart you will see some fruits and vegetables. So they played around their for awhile and after I put three carts worth of groceries back we spent a few trifling minutes in the doughnut factory and at the play kitchen before it was time to go home.