Charlotte's Web and Teddy Bear Picnic

While the big kids enjoy the last few days of day camp at Belle Meade... Abby and I... Free movie mornings at Regal... we watched Charlotte's Web. Too cute! It was Abby's first time at the movies. It was a bit loud and a bit much for her. She's a lot like her librarian mom- not into loud noises! We lasted longer than I thought... 25 minutes! but Templeton the Rat was what did it in for her in the end...

Rappahanock Co. Library Teddy Bear Picnic today...

Petting Zoo... Abby loved this pot bellied pig. It reminded her of Wilber.

Brave until the guy told her to "relax" and then she lost it... big crocodile tears... I was the only mom who had to walk around w/ the pony... but she got it together and enjoyed it for a few minutes!

She brought three bears... and a pocketful of play mice... but guess who had to push the stroller?

Father's Day Pictures

Pops came to visit for Father's Day weekend. The kids painted a ceramic bowl for Adelaide (who stayed at home... thank goodness...she's 95 lbs now!) They had a great time playing with Pops. Abby made him go for a jog with her in the yard... it was HYSTERICAL! She really pooped him out.

Patrick took Pops to lunch at Foti's and then they tried to get the house power washed, but couldn't get it started. We worked on the porch and the shed (adding boards for a loft for more storage) and the girls played doctor with Pops. Pops helped with an Abby bath and story time, but she was too excited having him around to actually fall asleep.

Happy Father's Day!

We made a special Father's Day breakfast for Pops and Patrick... whole grain muffins, hand picked blackberries and fruit cups with strawberry whipped cream. For presents, Abby made Patrick a necktie and an imprint of her "tootsie rolls" (aka her foot), Margaret got him a book from Williamsburg and AP made an undershirt for his "daddy doll!"

The "daddy doll" is a beanie baby that I found many years ago before we even had kids. It looked JUST like Patrick in his t-shirt and boxers (his "uniform.") When we adopted the big kids, Margaret took one look at it and said "Kak Papa" which means "like daddy" in Russian! AP 's gift took the cake... he sewed a tiny white undershirt (the kids call them "micas" ...it's Russian for undershirt) for his little mini-me. We took the kids to a program at the library... the kick off to the SRP. Margaret got to help the performer who was teaching kids about beaches and sea life.

The big kids have been swimming everyday so far this summer at their day camp, Belle Meade. They take a shuttle to Rappahanock Co. and the camp is in a beautiful setting by the Rapp. River. They've hiked Old Rag and have a camp out on Thursday night. I've been taking Abby to the pool as well so she gets to swim three days a week. They're all little fish!

First week of summer and already hit "CJ's twice..." So far we've tried peanut butter, tutti frutti, cheesecake, and pistachio nut... yummmmm....

The start of summer!

Margaret chose a slip and slide from Target with her Christmas gift card from Nana.

It's been occupying the children wonderfully!

Mixing colors was great fun for Abby! Glad I thought of it... I can get some tasks done while she experiments...

A beautiful princess... with croup, Fifth's disease and a sinus infection all week... still cute as a button though!

Sat. morning at the Farmer's Market leads to an impromptu Lunch at Foti's... yummmmmmm....!

A visit to Knakals to get some treats for the soccer picnic... couldn't resist eclairs and cupcakes too...

Burning off the cupcake calories with a ride down Main Street on her new "big girl bike!"

Gathering some water bottles for a bike ride...see, all the paint Grandpa Mac took off the porch? Now we have to caulk it and stain it... hopefully before the Fourth.

Grandma and pa Mac watched AP for us last week b/c he finished school on Memorial Day and needed something to keep him busy while the rest of us were finishing the school year. They had a great time, canoeing, swimming, biking, movies, Darien Lake, Red Wings game, etc.

Then Grandpa Mac brought him back to VA and back to reality! He stayed a few days and helped us blast the paint off of out porch so we can stain the cement floor to look nicer for our new sidewalk. When he wasn't working, we went to CJ's soft serve and had a cookout.

A rare friendly moment between the big kids... something to work on this summer...

Margaret and Abby with their new Zhu Zhu cage...

Slideshow of our photosession with Dorie Howell for The Littlest Heroes Project

http://slideshow.doriehowell.com/hero/