Meeting Uncle Randy

Samantha has been in North Carolina for the last two weeks visiting her Aunt , Uncle, and cousins up there. On Wednesday we went with Amanda to Georgia to pick her up. We came back with an extra child, Josh came back too. This was Kathryn's first chance to meet her Uncle Randy.
Where we met them was at this strip mall and behind it was a water cooler in the shape of a giant peach. I tried my hand at an optical illusion. I could not get their hands placed just right. But it is still cute.

Thursday night the kids wanted to spend the night at our place. Remember those tents they played with before. This time they choose to sleep in them. Josh is in the bus and Sam and Kathryn are in th one laying sideways.

Saturday the kids wanted to go to the pool, so they pooled their money and we set off. On the way I saw lightening in the sky and knew that they were not going to let us in the pool so We talked it over and decided to go to the cheep seats and see Horton Hears a Who and then to Chuck E Cheese to play. It was a lot of fun. Kathryn did not want to go to CEC to start off with because she was afraid of being hurt again, but we talked it over and once we were there she was fine.

Sunday afternoon the kids were feeling restless so I encouraged them ( pushed may be a better termonology) to go outside and run off some energy. They found the Croquet set and had a blast hitting the balls all over the yard.

It truly is wonderful to see these three together. They have been like peas in a pod the last few days and with no arguing. It has been amazing.

The Doodle bug went fishing with daddy the other day and look what she caught. Dad said it took all of his persuasive powers to get her to stnd still long enough to get this pic. She wanted nothing to do with the fish once she caught it. She is a lot like me in that respect.

Stitches out

Just to let everyone know Kathryn had her stitches taken out yesterday. She was so nervous about it , but afterward she said " mommy, it was just a pinch and a tug and then it was all done.

Afterward we went to The Mary Brogan Art and Science Museum. Kathryn's friend Grace was moving on Wednesday so while her parents were busy with the movers I took the girl to the museum. This first activity is a bowling ball attached to a string. You pull it back and when you let it go the pressure pushes a tennis ball high into the air. The bottom two floors are science. The girls had the opportunity to experience electricity in it's may forms. This was solar power. On the second floor there was a room that had a sandbox with many types of shells, sponges, starfish and clams. the girls played at this station for about 30 to 45 minutes. I guess I need to get them into a sand box more often. The sand was not sticky enough to build a castle but the girls built towers out of the shells and poured sand over the top to make their own sand castles. On the top floor is the art museum. The topic was early american folkart. There were a lot of sculpures. I thought they were very cool. There were some that were carved out of drift wood. Those were the best in my opinion.
After we left the museum we were sitting outside and I was blowing bubbles that the girls were chasing. These are touchable bubbles. You can catch them on your hand and they won't pop. They are so much fun.
Here Kathryn and Grace are "holding" up the fountain. I was trying my hand at optical illusions in my photography. How did I do? We left soon after this and headed back to Gaces new house to see if they were done. I was amazed at how much the movers had finished. There are many boxes to unpack but the furniture is all in place. All in all it was a wonderful day.

These are my baby owls. They were hatched yesterday. This is their proud mommy. I got her from the Tallahassee Museum Zoo.

Their names are Strawberry, Chocolate, Brownie, Peach, and mommy is Whooty.

2 stitches

Friday started off like most any Friday we went to the library for Summer Reading with her friend Grace. This summer they are taking a trip around the world. Each week they are talking and reading about a different continent. Last week was South America and this week was Africa. Since we covered all this during the school year this is all a review to her.

Their project was to trace their hand ...... and then to decorate it with lines and swirls.

After we left I took the girls to Chuck E Cheese. Kathryn was given a gift card for her birthday and I though this would be a good time to use it. Nice air conditioned, in- door activity. Our Chuck E Chees has been completely redone so there were lots of new games for the girls to explore.
This is one of them. while on the pony you lean and move his reins left and right to guide him. Makes me wish for an adult version, at least then I won't have the fear of being thrown off.
The girls played for about an hour and a half, ate some pizza and got their prizes, but they were still not ready to leave so I told them they could play on the climber. They have been on it many times with no accidents...
...but this time as they were chasing each other Kathryn tripped and ran head first into the basketball game. They called the EMT's and everything. Because it is a head wound it looks worse than it really is. They put a bandaid on it and advised me to take her to our doctor for stitches. She wound up up getting 2 stitches. I did not realize how strong my 6 year old is until they came at her with the needle to numb the area to put in the stitches. It took 2 nurses and myself to hold her down while the doctor numbed her up. After the numbing agent took effect she was good as gold. The doctor told her no bath's for 48 hours and she had to relax for the rest of the day. She watched movies and played with her Little Pet Shop friends. She had a slight headache after the numbing agent wore off but she has said that her head has not hurt since. Praise God no concussion.

Saturday she was even feeling well enough to go to Lowes and make the tape measure project with daddy.
Today we removed the bandaide and she can get it wet. She is very nervous about getting it wet. We go on Wednesday to get the stitches out.

TENTS

Kathryn had Jushua, Samantha, and Grace over to play yesterday. Talk about a delima how to keep a boy and three girls entertained. They began by dividing Kathryn's room into zones and everyone had their own "apaprtment" . Then they discovered Kathryn's pop up tents and created a city in the living room.

Joshua is in the " living room" and Kathryn is in her room. the firetruck was Joshua's room.
The tunnel connected them to a smaller tent.
Samantha and Grace made a fort with my dining room table and a sheet.

They really played well together. They even cleaned up together and then went outside to play on the swing set. It was a good day.

Kathryn's friend grace invited her to VBS this week. The theme was pirates and being a hero for God. This first picture the children were outside for recreation games. This is Kathryn's group. Ms. Courtney ( my helper ) in the back, top row Rusty, Jacob, Larkin, and Jack. Middle row Kathryn, Joshua, and Abigail. Sitting on the steps are Carson, Dakota, and Grace.
This was bible stories and the group is chasing off the Minonites.Stomping on a clay pot( styrofoam cup), blowing their horns, and waving their torches.

Jushua's visit

Joshua, a cousin from South Carolina on Tom's side of the family, has been visiting next door for the last week. Kathryn, Sam, and Josh have been having fun in the pool.

An interesting find

As I was sitting at the computer tonight my usural friends the frogs were keeping me company on the window. All of the sudden I hear this noise like something tapping on the window. I look up and this guy if fluttering all over my frog friends. The frogs were not happy but they did stand their ground. It's hard to tell in this picture but this guy was about 4 to 5 inches from wing tip to wing tip. Tom called him a luna moth. I just thought he was too cool.