The Swing

Anyone wanna come over for a swing?

   Our friend Dan took this photo and I wanted to add it to our last post about Reed's birthday party.

Reed's firsts and his 6th

First day of kindergarten. A little late on the first day of school pictures, but here he is in his new classroom, wearing his favorite star wars shirt.  He loves kindergarten, and especially loves the python named Sylvester who resides in his classroom.  The hermit crabs, fish, lizards, frogs, and tadpoles, are pretty great too.

Another first... the first lost tooth!  A very big day around here.   He lost it at school and brought it home in a little box, with great pride. Yes, the tooth fairy did come, and he said he's going to keep the gold dollar that she left forever.

Happy 6th Birthday Reed!  We had a party in the back yard.  We roasted hotdogs and marshmellows, and played on the zip line, tramp, and the new huge swing Dad and uncle Brian put in the Oak tree.  When it got dark we had fireworks too.   As the kids were swinging around the roasting sticks, I wondered whose bright idea it was to equip 7 boys with swords at dusk.  They had a great time, but I am glad that we didn't poke out any eyes, burn any fingers or toes, or catch the trees in the back yard on fire from the fireworks.  Oh, and for those of you who don't have a 6 or 7 year old boy, and are wondering--is it a jack-o-lantern?--is it a spider? --what is that?   The cake is a "bakugan" ball, which is all the rage right now for Reed and his friends.  Also, this is the second batch of cupcakes and cake.   The first batch was finished at 11 am, which was well in advance of the party.  I was feeling very good about not rushing right before the party.  One should be very careful with those kinds of feelings.  Several hours later, the cake which was placed on top of the fridge to keep it out of reach of Marlie (who will climb on the table), fell out of balance when the door was open and shut by my unsuspecting husband.  The cake flipped over, along with the cupcakes, face down on the floor.  I should have taken a picture of that view of the cake.  Thankfully it didn't happen right before the party, and I had time to pull a cake together with a little learning curve from the first cake.

Lainey, with her roasting stick ready to go roast her marshmellow!

Yellowstone Trip

Okay, here's the classic picture with the family in front of the park sign.  We had to take it.  We took this trip back in July.  We drove up from Utah and we were so glad that we did.  It was so beautiful.

Reed with his cousin Brookie at Old Faithful.

Reed getting tired after a long day at the park.

On our way back from Yellowstone we went by way of the Grand Tetons.

We took a boat ride across Jenny's Lake, Wyoming and then hiked to see the falls.  The kids turned out to be great little hikers.

 

Our next stop was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What a cute little town!

The kids thought it was cool when Doug told about how he and his cousin Dave played guitar and banjo  in front of this very arch back in the day.   Apparently they made some good money until the police came and told them they couldn't play there.  A stagecoach driver invited them to play on top of the stagecoach so they played on top and rode around town.

Marlie's First Birthday

On August 7, Marlie turned 1 year old! The kids were excited to celebrate her birthday. Reed said "Wow, she's finally an age". He was also excited because he knows that his birthday comes next in the family birthday order. Marlie had no clue as to the meaning of the day, but she did learn that in this family the tradition is that she gets to eat an entire chocolate cake all by herself, if she can! This is taken when she was just about finished. The kids were still pretty wound up that day. We had just gotten home from out Utah trip and we were still out of whack. I had a hard time getting all three of them to sit still enough for a picture.

Lainey taking a little liberty and having a little bit of cake too.

Back to before she ate the cake. We sang her happy birthday and she loved the lit candle.

She wanted to grab the flame, and wasn't sure about our requests for her to blow it out. She'll have to get that concept next year!

She got very upset at Reed for pulling the candle with the cake attached away so that she didn't burn her fingers on the flame.

But, once she got to dig in to the cake she was happy and gave us a great cake filled smile fit for a first birthday picture!

Marlie, we love you! Its been a great first year with you in our family!

Lainey is 3!

In July Lainey had her 3rd birthday. Lainey was glad she could have her cousins visiting from Utah, and her South Carolina cousins there to celebrate with her. Dora is a favorite these days, but so is Ariel, the little mermaid. Dora is much easier to draw with frosting, so Dora it is! We love you Lainey, and are glad you are in our family!

Dad's gig at the Marine Corps Museum

Here's a little clip of my Dad playing trumpet. When we were up in Virginia this June, his band "55 in Overdrive" performed at the the Marine Corps Museum. I love seeing my Dad get involved with the folks in their "Senior's Only" neighborhood. I am impressed with how great he sounds in his solo break!

Mischief

What do you get when you turn your back for 30 seconds and your 3 year old gets hold of a pen, and her 11 month old sister?

A lot of scrubbing for Mommy and a time out for Lainey.

Live After Five

I'm going way back to late May for this post. In Greenwood, we have a regular concert night in the center of town. Live After Five features live music of different genres throughout the summer. We have only made it to one this summer, which is a shame. This week was a Motown group and the kids had so much fun "getting down" to this music. They had free face painting during the band's intermission, which the kids loved! Playing at or in the fountain is also a must for any visit to "uptown" Greenwood.

A few summer shots!

We've had such a whirlwind of a summer! Fireworks, water slides, picnics, a family reunion in Virginia, cousins from Utah came to visit, a family reunion in Utah, a trip to Yellowstone, Jackson, and more to share. Here's a few photos to get things started.