Anabelle's graduation pics + trip to LR

Here are some of the pictures from Anabelle's Kindergarten Graduation. I'm afraid I must admit that Heath and I had a difficult time seeing this as a monumental event but so many people talked to us about it as if it was that we felt compelled to treat it as such (really we kept thinking of that line from "The Incredibles" were Bob says "they keep coming up with new ways to celebrate mediocrity...") It was in the gym which was really hot and Heath had to take Ava out early because she looked like a wilting flower. All in all, I thought it was very sweet. There really is nothing as cute as seeing your 5 yr old sing "I've been working on the railroad" with all the hand motions along with 200 other 5 and 6 yr olds.





Seriously, how cute is that?


I think the video is in an earlier post.


Early this last week we went to visit my sister and her family in Little Rock. It was really fun. I love my niece and nephews so much and always love to see them.
This is Liza. She likes apple sauce. She is a really happy baby.


This and Alice, my older sister, and me and also it looks like some herbs. Alice is older, but I'm taller and I think if we got in wrestling match I would win :)


We went swimming at their neighborhood pool and this is how things went down when we got back- it was pretty close to supper time but there no supper yet and the people were getting restless with the chex mix we gave them to try and appease them while they waited. As you can see, delaying supper for 4 children 5 and under who have been swiming can lead to climbing on the table in revolt.

We went to the zoo and this was almost the last picture I took. I got some animal pics but this one is my favorite. its very telling.

Another Hiking Adventure

It was a great time, but the pics don't exactly convey the full range of emotions experienced on this outing. The mile hike down to the waterfall was fine. We rested there while listening to the flowing water and drank Yoo-hoo and ate bananas. Paradise was restored for a brief time.

Experienced and shrewd parents will be wincing right now, though, because you will have realized that I have committed a cardinal error of parenting: giving the fun snack only half way into the hike. I knew this was a mistake as I was doing it, but that is how it happened. ("The good I want to do I do not do...")

The mile back was, to use good Christian language, an opportunity for developing more patience and character and all that good stuff you would rather avoid. I had to carry Ava back the whole mile because she said her legs couldn't move anymore. Anabelle had to go #1 "real bad" so I took her behind a tree but I couldn't get her to assume the right position, so I told her she would have to hold it. About 1/4 from the end Ava started crying and repeating, "I have to go poo so bad, I have to go poo so bad..." Right before we got back to the parking lot, both girls said, "I never want to do this hike again." Like I said, the pics don't tell the whole story.

I am happy to say that both girls were able to maintain control over their excretive systems until the proper facilities were made available to them, and I was able to maintain control over my nervous system the whole time (well, most of the whole time).

Another Family Graduation