With little supervision on vacation

One will wear her shirt backward,

and the other will inevitably put too much chocolate syrup on her ice cream.

Our New Neighborhood

Trees to climb

Ponds to fish in

Woods to explore

and a playground to climb

Funny Face Pancake

It was funny alright.

But we never really found the face in there.

Thankfully only Nicholas and I like cherries, so Elaine was happy to share with us.

Yet Somehow

Jumping off of this,

not terrifying at all for Ben.

Boating

Riding in the boat,

super fun

for everyone.

Riding out of the boat,

a little too terrifying this year.

Well, except for this guy,

and this one too.

The Game of Life

There was no minivan option for Ben, who had a set of twins, followed by a set of triplets.

We didn't laugh too hard.

A little swimming in there too

Wherein daddy got a little competative with the swim artwork.

Elaine stopped midway during her second race to announce to all onlookers that she didn't want to do it. And this ended the competitive part of her swim season.

Alida on the other hand, announced that she loved the races, hated the practice.

They make a complete swimmer when put together.

 And at the end of the season the girl in the second lane from the left there, with the great dive, took MVP for the five and under group. 

We missed the trophy presentation, but she was tickled when we made sure to pick it up on our way out of town going in some direction we were going.

Contant Movement: June and July 2013

We rode a train across the country leaving from Jackson, Mississippi.

We took on Chicago.

We hit Minnesota.

We stopped in Houston to see some mummies.

(and I swear that looks like a vampire child on the left.)

We saw the neighborhood fireworks finally on our third holiday in Houston.

Patric went fishing in the Gulf and fought a shark for 45 minutes. 

At least this is the tale he tells.

Then we really moved (or we're moving this week rather).

We sold the Houston house somewhere in there, and we're off at the end of the week to take on Montgomery, Alabama.

...where all they care about is a swimming pool. 

We've assured them there is a community pool in the new neighborhood.

And somewhere in there, I found a little time to take a work trip to Africa.

While Patric took the kids to Kansas for Father's Day with the Stubers at the farm.

It's still up in the air whether Internet connectivity is worse in Africa or Southern Kansas.

Happy Sixth Ladies

When we asked what you wanted for your birthday, all you would say was a party.

So party we did.

One white cake; one chocolate cake.

We bounced,

we ate,

we aggravated all mothers with a mess of silly string.

What a long, wonderful trip we've had these six years.

Happy Birthday Elaine

Happy Birthday Elaine, my shadow.

You are a delight, and you are a girl through and through, and you are intuitive.

We made an attempt to play Clue as a family the other night.

When Ben accused Scarlet (your character) of doing it with the candlestick in the library, you fell to the floor in tears exclaiming that we got you, you did it.  It was so convincing, I had to double look at the cards to see if maybe it had actually been Scarlet (which it wasn't).  Look out teenage years.

Happy Birthday Alida

You are fierce, and you are independent.

I am continually amazed by you.

In the past year, you have mastered Kindergarten, climbing trees and riding a bike.

When your sister started riding her bike before you, you got frustrated.  A week later you walked your bike down the street after shunning any help.  Half an hour later, you rode yourself home with a huge smile on your face.