Here's Olivia on the last day of Pre-K. She wasn't sad at all - she was already wondering who her future Kindergarten teacher would be.
That night we celebrated with pizza and chocolate fudge cake. Yum!
The subdivision pool opened, so we headed down to test the waters. I HATE cold water. Olivia and Brooke couldn't care less. Mark is manly, so he'll jump in no matter what the temp is. We had a good time and have been swimming several times. But, not in the last couple weeks... We finally told Olivia she was really going to have to learn how to swim and she declared she didn't want to. (?!) She's happy paddling around in an inner tube or just hanging onto the sides. She's had lessons, but I wasn't impressed at the progress of the class as a whole - the kids get about 10 minutes of actual individual attention and spend the rest of the class splashing around. They keep telling you to sign up for another round of lessons and happily take your $$. Mark and I decided we can do better on our own. But it seems we do not have a willing pupil - in fact, since she got the news that she'll have to "work" on swimming, she hasn't asked to go to the pool once. We'll just have to take it slowly, I guess.
The Renaissance Festival came back to town, and we had to go. We got really lucky and went on a day that wasn't crowded. Last year we had to sit in line on the road for an hour before we could even park. This year we drove straight in! It was really nice, though I know the vendors must have been wishing for bigger crowds. Here's Olivia and Brooke meeting Mother Goose!
The goose was so sweet!! She would rest her head on your shoulder on command. Olivia loved it, but Brooke just wasn't so sure.
It was a hot day, so I felt sorry for the performers in those heavy costumes. This guy was giving out perfume samples. It smelled really good, but it was a little $$... as is everything at the Ren Fest...
We only watched a couple of the shows, because Olivia and Brooke just didn't have much patience for that stuff. But this girl was very funny and strong. She did a balancing and spinning act, and started out on stilts.
We headed over to see the Lippizaner Stallions. Very beautiful! But the girls didn't want to stay long...
This cute dragon was wandering around greeting the kids. Brooke and Olivia loved it!
One of the things Olivia was really looking forward to was the boat swing. You hop in and have to pull on the ropes, which are rigged above you, to make the boat swing back and forth. You go fast and HIGH! Brooke got all giggly at the butterflies in her tummy! (She was sitting next to me and I was pulling the rope for our side of the seat, so I didn't get a good pic of her.) All the rides are people-powered, since they didn't have electricity during the Renaissance.
No one else was in line after us, so we got to take an extra-long ride. It made Olivia's day.
Mona Lisa of the East!
The display in front of the Museum of Torture. What fun!!!!
While I took Brooke to the petting zoo, Olivia rode the swings. You can see the guy pushing it around in the center of the ride. She loved this, too.
We couldn't miss the Royal Joust! Henry VIII was there, too!
I wonder if these guys ever get hurt????? You can't fake falling off a horse...
The blonde guy with the longer hair was supposed to be sort-of a bad guy, but the guy with the short dark hair was so over-the-top vain, that you didn't really care who won - you just cheered for everything. They'd yell to the audience and get everyone involved. They'd both fallen off their horses by this time and were ready to begin hand-to-hand combat. They save that fight for the end of the day, so we didn't see how it ended.
Olivia was obsessed with doing the Maypole dance. We had to schedule the whole day around making it to the pole on time. The kids gathered, received explicit instructions from the Fairy Queen...
and made a mess of the whole thing. It was a wonder they didn't tie themselves to the pole. But fun was had by all and that was all that counted. If you've ever seen a maypole dance, you know the dancers have to weave in and out, over and under the other dancers. There is NO WAY you are going to be able to get kids this small to do it. Why the Fairy Queen tried so hard, I don't know. She just needed to take it easy.
This year's Fairy Queen was ok, but last year's was better. So there.
Before we left, we stopped to let the kids get their faces painted. Mark HATES face painting. I don't know why, he just does. I think it's cute. Brooke was excited about the butterfly. Very feminine! Olivia originally chose the snake. What??????????? I vetoed that, so she moved on to the cute cat and moon.
A funny side story - they had a TV and chairs for people while they waited for parents/wives to look at all the flooring. There was a little girl watching cartoons, so Olivia and Brooke sat down to watch with her. Olivia struck up a conversation (as usual), introducing herself and her sister. The little girl looked at them and then asked if they were sisters, why did they have different hair colors? Olivia explained to her that Brooke "was from China" - but she spoke very slowly and very clearly, as if the girl was stupid for not understanding this to begin with. That was the end of that. They all went back to watching cartoons.
The goose was so sweet!! She would rest her head on your shoulder on command. Olivia loved it, but Brooke just wasn't so sure.
It was a hot day, so I felt sorry for the performers in those heavy costumes. This guy was giving out perfume samples. It smelled really good, but it was a little $$... as is everything at the Ren Fest...
We only watched a couple of the shows, because Olivia and Brooke just didn't have much patience for that stuff. But this girl was very funny and strong. She did a balancing and spinning act, and started out on stilts.
We headed over to see the Lippizaner Stallions. Very beautiful! But the girls didn't want to stay long...
This cute dragon was wandering around greeting the kids. Brooke and Olivia loved it!
One of the things Olivia was really looking forward to was the boat swing. You hop in and have to pull on the ropes, which are rigged above you, to make the boat swing back and forth. You go fast and HIGH! Brooke got all giggly at the butterflies in her tummy! (She was sitting next to me and I was pulling the rope for our side of the seat, so I didn't get a good pic of her.) All the rides are people-powered, since they didn't have electricity during the Renaissance.
No one else was in line after us, so we got to take an extra-long ride. It made Olivia's day.
Mona Lisa of the East!
The display in front of the Museum of Torture. What fun!!!!
While I took Brooke to the petting zoo, Olivia rode the swings. You can see the guy pushing it around in the center of the ride. She loved this, too.
We couldn't miss the Royal Joust! Henry VIII was there, too!
I wonder if these guys ever get hurt????? You can't fake falling off a horse...
The blonde guy with the longer hair was supposed to be sort-of a bad guy, but the guy with the short dark hair was so over-the-top vain, that you didn't really care who won - you just cheered for everything. They'd yell to the audience and get everyone involved. They'd both fallen off their horses by this time and were ready to begin hand-to-hand combat. They save that fight for the end of the day, so we didn't see how it ended.
Olivia was obsessed with doing the Maypole dance. We had to schedule the whole day around making it to the pole on time. The kids gathered, received explicit instructions from the Fairy Queen...
and made a mess of the whole thing. It was a wonder they didn't tie themselves to the pole. But fun was had by all and that was all that counted. If you've ever seen a maypole dance, you know the dancers have to weave in and out, over and under the other dancers. There is NO WAY you are going to be able to get kids this small to do it. Why the Fairy Queen tried so hard, I don't know. She just needed to take it easy.
This year's Fairy Queen was ok, but last year's was better. So there.
Before we left, we stopped to let the kids get their faces painted. Mark HATES face painting. I don't know why, he just does. I think it's cute. Brooke was excited about the butterfly. Very feminine! Olivia originally chose the snake. What??????????? I vetoed that, so she moved on to the cute cat and moon.
I was lucky to get the picture of the butterfly, since my camera was on it's last bit of battery life. And also because... Brooke had to go to the bathroom immediately afterward and, as she was washing her hands - she wiped the whole butterfly off her face. Sheez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The poor thing only lasted 5 minutes. That's $1/minute.
As I mentioned before, we're having to update the house. The flooring is 15 years old, so the kitchen floor is bad, and the white-ish carpet in the family room is DONE. (Remember Mark was a free and easy bachelor when he bought and furnished the house.) We headed up to a HUGE store in Dalton that has furniture/flooring/etc., to get some ideas and find out what's available. Olivia tried to convince us she needed hot pink carpet for her bedroom. Sorry, babe.
As I mentioned before, we're having to update the house. The flooring is 15 years old, so the kitchen floor is bad, and the white-ish carpet in the family room is DONE. (Remember Mark was a free and easy bachelor when he bought and furnished the house.) We headed up to a HUGE store in Dalton that has furniture/flooring/etc., to get some ideas and find out what's available. Olivia tried to convince us she needed hot pink carpet for her bedroom. Sorry, babe.
A funny side story - they had a TV and chairs for people while they waited for parents/wives to look at all the flooring. There was a little girl watching cartoons, so Olivia and Brooke sat down to watch with her. Olivia struck up a conversation (as usual), introducing herself and her sister. The little girl looked at them and then asked if they were sisters, why did they have different hair colors? Olivia explained to her that Brooke "was from China" - but she spoke very slowly and very clearly, as if the girl was stupid for not understanding this to begin with. That was the end of that. They all went back to watching cartoons.
And somehow, we got stuck in the recliner department...
And somehow, that recliner found it's way into our family room! (But no flooring, though we did make progress in that department.)
Mark has started training his apprentice in the ways of tree pruning.
Olivia did get the limb sawed off, under the watchful eyes of Daddy. She was VERY proud of herself.
Our neighbor, on the lower side of the house, is retired. He loves his yard and spends a lot of time making it look perfect, which just highlights the fact that our yard is NOT perfect.
The strip of yard we own next to his property does not get enough sun to keep bermuda (the grass required by the subdivision) alive. So it looks pretty sad. The neighbor keeps laying new bermuda, but even he has just about lost hope. He "suggested" that we give up now and just throw down pine straw. I agreed at first, but then decided I wanted to do a little better than that. We never go down on that side of the house because you have to walk almost all the way down (our yard has a bad slant) to the street to get around a huge area of bushes. And we only own about a 10' strip of yard, so there's nothing to walk down there FOR. So, first I put down 18 pavers (picture below). Then I leveled them all, so you don't have to walk at a slant.
Then I planted 37 shade-loving ground cover plants, and THEN I threw down 5 bales of pine straw. It turned out pretty good, if I may say so. Hopefully the plants will stop any further erosion. And the leveled pavers actually make it inviting to walk down there. We've even made plans for steps to be built down from the front porch (behind the bushes, alongside the house) so that you can get down there without falling down the yard first. I know the neighbor is alot happier already.
The girls have a butterfly house. You order the caterpillars (5) from the company and they arrive alive in the mail. You let them grow in their sealed container until they attach themselves to the top of the container and make their cocoons. Then you gently move them into the butterfly house and wait for them to hatch. Here is one of the new arrivals.
After they all hatch, you are supposed to set them free.
We set three of the five butterflies free. Two of them ended up with deformed wings and we knew they'd never make it "on the outside", so they will stay with us and live a life of ease in the butterfly house, complete with sunshine and fresh oranges daily. We decided they are our "special needs" butterfies. They don't seem to mind!
If you know me, you know I LOVE thrift stores. While in one last week, Olivia found this Chinese silk dress. It had something sticky (jam?) all over the front of it. Ugh! But it only cost $2.50. Brooke is about to grow out of the dress we got while in China, so I needed one the next size up. For $2.50, I decided I'd take a chance on cleaning it. I put it in the bathroom sink in warm water for about 10 minutes with Dreft and Ta-Da!!!!!!! Like new!!!!! For $2.50!!!!
The dogs on Summer Vacation - they look alot like they do on Fall Vacation, and Winter vacation, and Spring vacation... They don't look like this when the daily thunder storms come through, tho. Lucy does fine, but Smoochy and Jingle HATE thunder. They pant heavily and run around looking for something to crawl into or under. We need the rain, since we've had drought conditions the last 7 summers, but it's tough on these little guys (not to mention the carpet).
Hope you're having fun this summer, too!!!
And somehow, that recliner found it's way into our family room! (But no flooring, though we did make progress in that department.)
Mark has started training his apprentice in the ways of tree pruning.
Olivia did get the limb sawed off, under the watchful eyes of Daddy. She was VERY proud of herself.
Our neighbor, on the lower side of the house, is retired. He loves his yard and spends a lot of time making it look perfect, which just highlights the fact that our yard is NOT perfect.
The strip of yard we own next to his property does not get enough sun to keep bermuda (the grass required by the subdivision) alive. So it looks pretty sad. The neighbor keeps laying new bermuda, but even he has just about lost hope. He "suggested" that we give up now and just throw down pine straw. I agreed at first, but then decided I wanted to do a little better than that. We never go down on that side of the house because you have to walk almost all the way down (our yard has a bad slant) to the street to get around a huge area of bushes. And we only own about a 10' strip of yard, so there's nothing to walk down there FOR. So, first I put down 18 pavers (picture below). Then I leveled them all, so you don't have to walk at a slant.
Then I planted 37 shade-loving ground cover plants, and THEN I threw down 5 bales of pine straw. It turned out pretty good, if I may say so. Hopefully the plants will stop any further erosion. And the leveled pavers actually make it inviting to walk down there. We've even made plans for steps to be built down from the front porch (behind the bushes, alongside the house) so that you can get down there without falling down the yard first. I know the neighbor is alot happier already.
The girls have a butterfly house. You order the caterpillars (5) from the company and they arrive alive in the mail. You let them grow in their sealed container until they attach themselves to the top of the container and make their cocoons. Then you gently move them into the butterfly house and wait for them to hatch. Here is one of the new arrivals.
After they all hatch, you are supposed to set them free.
We set three of the five butterflies free. Two of them ended up with deformed wings and we knew they'd never make it "on the outside", so they will stay with us and live a life of ease in the butterfly house, complete with sunshine and fresh oranges daily. We decided they are our "special needs" butterfies. They don't seem to mind!
If you know me, you know I LOVE thrift stores. While in one last week, Olivia found this Chinese silk dress. It had something sticky (jam?) all over the front of it. Ugh! But it only cost $2.50. Brooke is about to grow out of the dress we got while in China, so I needed one the next size up. For $2.50, I decided I'd take a chance on cleaning it. I put it in the bathroom sink in warm water for about 10 minutes with Dreft and Ta-Da!!!!!!! Like new!!!!! For $2.50!!!!
The dogs on Summer Vacation - they look alot like they do on Fall Vacation, and Winter vacation, and Spring vacation... They don't look like this when the daily thunder storms come through, tho. Lucy does fine, but Smoochy and Jingle HATE thunder. They pant heavily and run around looking for something to crawl into or under. We need the rain, since we've had drought conditions the last 7 summers, but it's tough on these little guys (not to mention the carpet).
Hope you're having fun this summer, too!!!
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