Two Saturdays ago was the girls' dance recital. As usual, they did a fantastic job! Here we have Luci, Drew and my niece, Sonja.
All the dances they did were great, but the ballet continues to be my favorite!
This little cutie-patootie is Brynn (the shortest one). Dean used to work with her dad. She is from China as well and is turning out very much like Drew! Very tiny, hair taking forever to come in! She's adorable...and you'd never guess that she is 4!!!
Luci and Sonja center stage. Drew opted to sit out the finale since she had been plagued with nausea, vomiting and a fever since the day before. She was a trooper, though and smiled through her misery on stage! We're so proud of her!
Drew's birthday party was scheduled for the Friday after her birthday after school. Unfortunately, I got a call from the school nurse. She came home with a fever and vomiting. So we postponed the party until she felt better. By Sunday she was back up to snuff so we commenced with the festivities. As usual, she managed to walk away with quite a haul! Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Dan and Aunt Tina and my mother all gave her Visa debit cards (the thing she asked everyone for!) for her trip to DisneyWorld this December. She also got movies, DS games and jewelry from us, Uncle, Papa and Julie. Here she shows us her gift from Uncle, the Twilight movies. This is her latest obsession and she has declared that she is on Team Jacob!
Uncle's girlfriend, Sarah, gave Drew a Jacob blanket. Drew has slept with it ever since! She took it camping and waltzed around the campground with it draped around her shoulders! Too funny!
As much as she loves that blanket, though, the favorite gift was a 10 gallon aquarium! Both girls have been begging for a tank for a couple of years now and I finally caved! We set it up about a week ago and yesterday went to the pet store for 4 fish. The shop clerk recommended we start with just a few fish until the biology of the tank is regulated. After a couple of weeks, we'll gradually add several more fish. For now, Drew picked out a Giant Daniel which she named Gilbert and a Marigold Swordtail she named Bubbles. Luci picked out a Scissortail with only one eye that she named Lily and a Bloodfin Tetra she named Cherry.
Uncle's pet!
The cupcake cake she picked out...Ballerina Barbie!
As I mentioned before, my chorus won First place in our category and also the Most Improved Chorus at our recent regional competition. The members of our chorus have decided to rotate possession of the trophy and plaque for 2 weeks at a time. I got to go first! Here are our hard-earned but well-deserved trophy and plaque atop my dusty piano!
We've been doing a lot of yardwork since Mother Nature has decided to be nice to us with gorgeous weather! Dean put me to work in one of the Bob Cats. Here I am moving boulders to be placed in the front yard near our sidewalk. They are now in place, but I need to landscape around them and add some plants. I'll be sure to post pics when we're done with that project.
It was a little intimidating at first, but once I memorized the direction of the foot pedals, it was rather easy!
A week or so ago, Drew's brownie troop took a walk on a local walking trail to celebrate Jamboree on the Trail. Here are the girls who participated...plus tag-a-long Luci!
The highlight of the month had to be our first camping trip of the 2010 season! We went to Wellesley Island State Park! Four families joined us this year. We had Dean's parents, Dan and Tina and the kids, Scott and Sue S. and their kids and Randy and Sue C. and their kids. It was, without a doubt, one of the most fun camping trips I have yet been on! The school district used no snow days this past winter, so they gave them back to the kids. One of them was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, so we arrived on Thursday. On Friday, we took the kids to the nature center and the trails. Here is one of our traditional photos that we get every year. Comparing wingspans of birds.
For the first time since we have camped there, the butterfly house was open!
The butterflies were actually quite friendly and allowed the kids to hold them!
Here, we have Nate, Sonja, Dean, Drew, Connor, Max, Randy, Luci, Sue C., Makenna, Darien and Jeb. Missing are myself, Tina, Sue S.(all 3 of us were taking pictures), Scott, Dan and Grandma and Grandpa.
After the nature center excursion, a trip to the park was in order!
My third child, (aka Dean) trying to sneak up on Jeb.
Beautiful little Makenna. Check out those eyes!!!
Dean, Luci and Sonja catching the slow ride back to our campsites!
Drew chases Jeb, but soon.....
The kids chase him back! Kids just love him! He's like a big kid himself!
Remember me mentioning about the big kid thing??? Randy shows off the abs! Ok, so he was just walking by and didn't realize my camera was going off! Hee hee!
Dean and Drew catch a ride in the back of Randy's truck. On the trip to the center, Dean was actually in the back of our truck, but we had removd the tailgate to make it easier to hook up to the fifth wheel. Anyway, I got pulled over by park police...I guess you're not allowed to ride in the back of a pickup without a tailgate! Who knew? The guy was really nice and didn't cite me for it...nor did he cite me for having 4 kids in the back seat! I was sweating it for a minute!
After the park, the hot weather prompted a quick swim in the kiddie pool we set up on Scott and Sue's site. Luci gives us her best hula dance version!
Saturday was sidewalk chalk and paint day at our site! Uncle Danny draws a line around Luci.
Kids from neighboring sites all came to join in the fun!
Sue S. takes her daughter, Darien for a skate.
Luci loves her bike! Also worth noting...Sonja took her training wheels off during this trip! She had been making great progress last summer, but needed some refresher time back on the training wheels to build her confidence!
Sonja tries out the skates!
Dean takes Drew for a skate around some of the loops!
Since we had so many people with us, we decided to initiate a kickball game in the field across from our sites. The kids loved it, but I think the adults had a better time!
Pitcher Scott gets beaned in the chest with the ball several times throughout the game!
The campground's beach wasn't open yet (damn state cutbacks!) so we took the kids into a little town on the island. It's a beautiful little community with well-kept Victorian houses and manicured lawns. The perks of living in an association don't outweigh the cons, though, in my opinion! If I want to cut a damn tree down on my own property, I shouldn't have to get permission from anyone! Anyway, there was a public swimming area...not much of a beach, but the kids enjoyed it anyway! Drew wades out a little.
Fearless Luci wades out a lot! Neither of them needed the floaties since it was so shallow, but I always feel better if they have them on!
Nap time for Dean and Drew.
The "beach" was actually just a big pile of sand on the ground. Nate volunteers to get buried!
Then Jeb...
Drew and Max...
And Luci! I think they all got buried at least once!
After the beach, we hit a playground.
Ahh...is there anything as relaxing as a campfire?
Luci gets snuggy with Grandma.
And Sonja gets snuggy with Sue S.
The girls warm their bums by the fire!
This camping trip was a real eye-opener for me. I had so much fun, way more fun than usual, and then I stopped and realized why. For the past several years, we always camped with certain people...people who kind of dragged me down. I was always worried about this friend getting along with that friend. I was worried about keeping certain people happy and tiptoeing around people's quirks and personalities. This year, those people are now out of my life and camping suddenly became an absolute joy again! All of my remaining friends get along exceedingly well with each other and I'm no longer the middle man! It's an incredibly liberating feeling! I am sooo looking forward to the rest of my camping trips as, even with hitches here and there, I know I'll always still have fun without that added burden on my shoulders! We are planning an adults-only weekend at another campground in two weeks and I cannot wait!! As much fun as I have with the kids, I'm looking forward to spending a weekend without them! Papa has volunteered to watch the kids for us...THANK YOU PAPA!! I'll be sure to post pics from that trip...though I may have to censer a few! Hee hee!
Today's Quotes:
True friendship is seen through the heart, not through the eyes. ~Unknown to me
In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends. ~John Curton Collins
The only way to have a friend is to be one. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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