Berry College - Before Lunch

Even though we didn't get to the campus until after noon, we drove around for a little while and got the kids running around to blow off some energy after the long car ride.  Mean mommies.  We made them wait another 45 minutes to an hour before we had our picnic lunch.  The kids had fun running, exploring and finding sticks!

This big tree was a perpetual fascination for the kids.   They all hugged it and tried to climb it.  Repeatedly.

Chloe couldn't jump quite high enough to reach the branches or get a foothold in the fork.

The boys didn't tire of trying to climb up.

Owen didn't mind posing from his tall perch. (Notice the mohawk? after two years of asking, I finally relented. but only once school ended!)

We also had grumpy boredom, displayed through picking and throwing weeds in a huff.  We obviously were not doing what he wanted to be doing.

Chloe didn't want to let go of this stick that was bigger than her.

Although not in focus, I love the look on Alex's face.  He's about to deliver some Kung Fu Panda moves!

LOVE watching the Youngling stay close to his Momma!

The exposure was blown on this shot, which made the kids appear almost transparent.  They look like little running ghosts here to me.

They seemed to be contemplating their smallness in comparison to the grandness of this entryway.

We tried to get the kids to sit down and pose.  I think this was the closest we got with the majority looking towards the camera.

Then we had pretty mixed results as to who was looking at us.  I'm hoping Tabitha had better results than me. :)

And then they were gone....

The kids had fun running up and down these dark, stone steps.  I think they had fun scaring themselves. :)

I love this little cutie patootie!  He is a whirlwind of non-stop energy.

See?  They had fun scaring themselves.  And, well, um, er, I don't know why I was focused on the bricks and not this wonderful expression.  But you get the idea.

The lighting was absolutely awesome just inside this tall foyer.

note: their faces are fairly clean and not covered in cheese curl crumbs.  yet.

LOVE Chloe's expression!

Hey Chlo, where'd that bedhead suddenly come from? ;)  And get that look out of your system now because we're gonna have problems if I see that when your seventeen.  I'm just sayin.

She's totally basking in the light.

I wonder how long she will keep this golden blond hair.  It is growing fast this summer.  She asked that I not cut her bangs anymore so they can grow out to be as long as the rest of her hair.

I told you the kids had fun running, right?

Always running.

The kids took a little break in the shade under the bleachers around the baseball field.

Look at his cheek and you will see my boy is smiling.

At this point he was done smiling and just wanted to eat.  Can you tell?

If she's like her brother, this golden will darken in the next two years.  I think we have at least one more summer of her hair being so light.  At least after she comes home from one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes after spending a month up there.

This girl loves cheese curls almost as much as her mommy.  If she loved them as much as her mommy, she would have made sure not to waste those little crumbs on this rare occasion of eating them. :D

The boys kicked the ball around a little as the girls finished eating lunch.

And I was able to calmly photograph this strange looking bug once he was flung to the ground from my head and screaming.  What do you think of those tusks?  Yikes!

Berry College

My friend Tabitha and I drove our four kids up to Rome in North Georgia on this Sunday morning.  We had planned to do this the previous weekend, but then a 60% chance of rain scared us into rescheduling.  On this morning, we had only a 30% chance of rain and it sprinkled on us on/off throughout our drive up.  The sky looked ready to open up with buckets and sheets of rain, but it never did.  It was a muggy day, but we all enjoyed each other's company.  And we were thankful for the cloud cover so we weren't scorching in direct sunlight.  

The next post will have kid pics, but this one will show you parts of the campus.  I did not attend this college and do not know the names of the buildings.  So I will only post pictures for you to see without any titles or much talk.  

Driving into the campus, we read a sign that forbade touching/handling of the fawns to help eliminate does from abandoning them.  We thought that was curious.  Until we drove farther and saw dozens of them grazing openly in a field.  I was driving and didn't get any shots.  But this one crossed the road not too far from us.

Merry Go Round Fun

Todd had a tennis match this morning in another neighborhood.  The courts were surrounded by tall trees a good fifty years old and there was a wonderful playground right in the middle.  One of the few that still has a real merry-go-round that hasn't been removed in fear of liability law suits.  The kids have no memory of ever seeing a merry-go-round before.  But I remember one at Blanchette Park in St. Charles that I absolutely loved when I was a kid.  It was the source of much fun, running and laughter.  

They had so much fun running around the merry-go-round!

Hopping on and off as they pushed it as fast as they could go.

They took turns pushing each other.

And worked together running to make it go even faster.

There wasn't any arguing.  Any.  None.  Nada.

There were a couple of falls and then they were dragged a few feet as they hung on.  But surprisingly, no tears.  Just muddy knees.

I love it when they have so much fun together and just play.

When they are effortlessly the best of friends.

Owen and Todd played a little volleyball together with the green bouncy ball.

And Chloe made a new friend.  Do you remember when it was so easy to make a new friend?  To walk up and just begin playing with a complete stranger?  I wish it were so easy to do as an adult!  Chloe played with this little girl for several hours and never learned her name.

The kids also rested and watched Daddy play tennis.  They cheered him on and encouraged him with every shot he hit.

This was a fun morning out.  The kids played hard.  They watched their Daddy play tennis.  They laughed.  And there was no complaining, whining or arguing.  It was heaven. :)