Grandma Vicki Arrives!

Owen had soccer practice and Todd was coaching, so I took Bean with me to the airport to pick up Grandma Vicki.

She waited very patiently on the floor at the top of the escalators from the trains.  For over 30 minutes, she waited patiently.  Who knew there would be such delays on the tarmac?

I think they were both pretty excited to see each other.

I love the flying hair.

By the time we got out of the airport, Friday night rush hour wasn't too bad.  We met our guys at our favorite Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a late dinner together.

The kids did a good job eating their dinner and earned a tootsie roll pop.

Not sure what they liked better.  The lollipop or the fact that their tongues turned red. 

Soccer Practice

Another evening of soccer practice and it was a bit chilly.  And windy.  Someone was flying a kite at the other end of the soccer fields.

Chloe was working on homework she brought along and snuggled up in her jacket.

Even the coaches looked a bit chilly in their long sleeves before practice really got started.

The colder temps didn't bother our boy.  He's all about playing soccer, regardless of the weather.  This boy is already HOT!

Chloe tired of doing homework and started a hunt for four leaf clovers.

She has the best luck of anyone I know.  Every clover had four leaves.  :) At least when she was holding them.

Belt Ceremony

The kids were so excited for this evening.  It was the night to get their new color belts.  Chloe was just called and ran up fast.

Saying thank you.

Gosh this girl has a low bow!

And a big thank you to the parents after all the orange belts got their yellow belts.

She had to inspect it closely once she sat back down.  There was a new stripe on the belt already for great attendance.

Owen was really excited to upgrade from his yellow belt...

to a camo (camouflage) belt and couldn't get up to the front fast enough after his name was called.

The students shake the hands of all the instructors after receiving their new belt.

Owen was really checking out his new belt.  Not only did he get a stripe for attendance, he also got an extra stripe for outstanding performance/testing called a Top Gun stripe.  What an honor!

First bow to the instructors.

And then bowing to the parents.

This is where Owen was acknowledged for his Top Gun stripe.

Look at the big smile on this boy's face!  He was so proud of the new belt.

I love that he was looking over at his sister as he was sitting down so he could show her his new belt.

After the belt ceremony, we went out to dinner with friends from karate.  Chloe latches onto their youngest daughter every chance she gets!

A Birthday Party

After we got back from the creek, our friends left and the kids changed clothes so we could walk down the street to our friend Nate's birthday party.  He turned eight.  Kelley managed to avoid mingling with adults by sticking her camera in kids' faces.  That worked out well.

Owen and Chloe were both close to the action, singing loudly and helping blow out the candles.  They had an insane amount of fun all day long.

They were disappointed when it was time to leave (shortly after the cake was consumed) because they didn't see anyone else leaving and the majority of the kids were all still there.  But both kids walked back home nicely without complaining, arguing or crying.  And they were praised to high heaven for that, too.  :)

An Afternoon at the Creek

After karate, some of our friends from Tae Kwon Do came over to hang out.  Our kids were thrilled to have a new playmate for the afternoon and loved getting to lead the way on our nature trail.

Chloe and I had been here the week before, but this was Owen's first time.

The kids were excited to go wading in the water where our small creek met up with a much larger one.

Chloe and Kara climbed up on this log and had fun swinging their legs.

All of the kids had fun throwing the tennis ball for Duke to fetch.

And Duke had fun bringing it back for us each time.

The water was pretty clear and easy to see to the bottom, even though it doesn't look like it much in this picture.

Kara was a total water bug and was wet from head-to-toe, swimming around next to Chloe as Chloe waded through the water up to her shoulders (because she was squatting as she walked).

These girls were starting to get a little cold (because the water wasn't the warmest), but they had so much fun!

When they got too cold, they both got out to sit in the sun and warm up.  Kara is ten years old, but there didn't seem to be any age difference between these girls as they played together.

This boy just had fun, being in the middle of everyone and playing with Duke.  This was later said to be one of the best days of his life.

Morning Out with Chloe

We had gone out the night before for dinner and there was some form of inequality that resulted in the hurt feelings of the girl child.  There were discussions on sharing which fell on deaf ears.  There were tears.  And there were promises of making everything right the next morning.

While the boys were still sleeping, I swept Chloe out of the house and told her she could pick any place she wanted for breakfast.  I was hoping for Waffle House, but would have been happy with IHOP.  First she said she wanted to go to Dunkin Donuts, but then settled on Publix for their doughnuts and juice.  She was excited to pick out her own doughnuts and changed her mind from eating at the gazebo in downtown Woodstock to eating inside Publix.  Because that's what my Bean does.  She routinely changes her mind.

After pulling out her first doughnut, she had to stand and stare at employees while they worked.

She would have been content to eat her whole breakfast standing and watching.

 I asked her to come sit with me and she used her listening ears and good manners.  Yay for good manners!

She kept watch over the parking lot.

And she enjoyed her chocolaty doughnut.

After breakfast, we ran to Trader Joe's for groceries and stopped at another Publix on the way home so she could pick out a special balloon (the main reason why there were tears the night before).  She was thrilled to find a Hannah Montana balloon that was almost bigger than herself.

This balloon has since been transported back and forth, between the house and soccer fields.  It has lived in her bedroom and her tent.  Three weeks later, it is still afloat.