Civil War Game Day at Kidstop.  (Which is incredibly weird to me - not just the name, or how incredbily excited Bennett was about this day.  Wait until you read how to play...)  This game is played using socks - long socks.  You fill the socks with flour, and throw them at each other.  Bennett needed the perfect patritic attire, and wanted to wear an American flag as a cape.  I told him  I thought we had a flag towel somewhere...  He (of course) had a better idea.

Enter Ricky's swim trunks.

And yet again, we wonder "what would we do without Ricky???"

I love Facebook memories.  They pop up on my page, and it makes me think I should post more - just so 3, 4, or 5 years from know I can get a blast from the past.  Here's one of my favorites.

 I remember this day vividly.  One of the few tantrums thrown by the boy.

All good in the hood.

Finally - North(west) bound!  It's been forever, we missed the bunny visit, and missed Grammy and Grampy even more!  The weather did not disappoint (albeit a bit windy), there was fishing off the dock,

practicing parking of Dora,

fort building in the woods,

and brand new fancy scooter driving on the drive!

 Cheers to the Rose-iest summer yet!

Hey - here's an idea!  

Let's invite our friends over, play tetherball, have a campfire, get 40K steps and have daddy stay up the latest, listening to Meaner play Johnny Prine.  

We've never done that before!

Harper came home from her field trip to St. John's University.  She told me all about her nature hike and how I needed to "search her for all kinds of ticks."  She even had a giant sticker that reminded me to begin the search.

"Mama.  I actually had a tick.  But one of the teachers, whose not really a teacher, just a helper teacher on field trip days, she got it off me.  It was a BAD tick, Mama.  The worst kind.  It. Was. A. BOY. Tick.  Those are the worst kind!!"

Yeah - gotta watch out for those boy ticks, Harps.  They are the worst.

The day the music died.

Reason #10 - Mrs. Hurdt

Harper has completed the weekly handwriting sheets for kindergarten and graduted to weekly sight word tic-tac-toe boards.  Her favorites include typing and playing word games on the "big computer" and side walk chalking our steps.  Like Bennett, she likes to complete her entire assignment in one sitting - thus having nothing on her "to do" list.

Kindergarten concert night! We've been counting down the days for months, swinging back and forth from excitement to a stomach ach. There was the thought that a solo part was manditory, but that was quickly squashed with an email and confirmation from Mrs. Hurdt. "No, Harper, you are not required to have a solo part". (But, Mrs. Hurdt did thank me for the message because solos are usually given to the kiddos who can read - and H has turned into quite the reader!)

The perfect outfit was selected the night before. The morning of there was some talk of an upset tummy, the minutes prior to departure  the hair unquestionably stacked. We were ready to go.

The nerves crept in as we walked down the kinder hall, but drop off went ok. As soon as the curtain opened, I knew sweet harps was not comfortable. Not at all. 

My heart ached as Harper sang through her tears, wiping them on her white sweater. She made it through 4 songs (the longest songs ever sung by 5year olds). Then, the heavens opened, and Mrs. Hurdt swooped in from stage left. Unbeknownst to anyone in the audience, Harper exited the performance. I met her in the hall, and she buried her face in my arms. 

Mrs. Hurdt smiled, gave her words of encouragement, and told me H said it was just "too much" (and she had to go to the bathroom).

Sweet shy little Harper. I told her how brave she was, and how incredibly proud of her we were, as she sang through her nerves. And, I am so proud. What I didn't tell her was that I didn't even think she would make it up on the stage, so I consider it a win. A heartbreaking night for mama and daddy, and a stressful one for H and the boy, but still a win.

Two more days.  You can do it!!

Saturday night we went to bed with no plans for Sunday morning (quite possibly because AP and AM stayed up until after 2am, talking about fly fishing...).  When the sun arose that morning, plans changed queickly.  It was decided that yard work needed to be done, and today was the day.  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and after a breakfast of coca-cola and donuts, the troops were assembled.  First, we dug up all the dead plants and old mulch from the gardens.

Then, a trip was made to the local Home Depot for some fresh mulch and flowers for Harper's fairy gardens.  While we were away, Rick hopped on his tractor to thatch the yard.  Upon return, I bagged up all the dead grass (which was a lot of bags...  pretty sure I had to dump the mower after 2 rows, over and over and over).  While I mowed, AP and B mulched.

After their job was complete, Andy took over the mower, and I planted with the girls.

About this time, Boo Boo showed up and announced she was taking the kids to get their hair cut.  Harer asked to ride along, for a trim (and a "stack in the back").  Pretty sure this was the most difficult job of the day - lugging 3 kids to the haircut place, and then the pizza parlor.

After a qucik pizza lunch, and a shower, it was time for baseball.  And, the mental preparation for back to school tomorrow...

That may take awhile.

Reason #7 PME was a good idea - Bbones and I got to attend the same field trip to SCSU!  

Third graders were invited to the BLEND Expo - with booths set up encouraging healthy living and choices.  

It was fun to explore with the kids - and to see Bennett is his school element.  He even walked up and gave me his infamous one armed hug.  Just when I couldn't think they day could get much better, Ricky informed us that we would be using the french fry maker,

and...  wait for it... wait for it... AP said the tetherball pole was ready for some action,

and we ended the night with smores around the campfire.

 Omgoodess - if this is any indication of our summer days & nights - I can. not. wait.