ClydeFEST

a few weeks ago, we had a grand outing with Just Jonas and Aunt Maggie at ClydeFEST, an art festival for children.

 Clyde is known for making 'critters' out of wood

 my friend hazel and her family were there too - Lucy (hazel's middle child is the girl in the green - she fit right into the fam)

 working together, Jonas and Luci painted an awesome penguin that we now have hanging proudly on a post on our deck.

 apparently I am Italian. I talk with my hands.

Kai wrote this beautiful message to Luci after the day:

The best moment was while we were watching the Bouncing Bulldogs, a jump rope team. They gave a show and then some of the jumpers came out to recruit volunteers from the audience. The girl next to you was selected, but you weren't. You didn't care. You just followed her up to the stage and waited for your turn to jump rope. We're not sure that they were looking for everyone to come up and join in, but it didn't matter- you were definitely going to jump rope. 

So, you are standing there in line, waiting to jump rope. I think this bravery came a little bit from your recent desire to host shows for us, but this time you had a large and unfamiliar audience. We were impressed that you were up there at all.

I turned to your mother, Jonas, and Maggie and said you had never jumped rope before. I was worried that it wasn't going to work out- that you wouldn't be able to do it. You were wearing a cute little shirt with flowers and three necklaces, with purple clips in your hair.

The first kid was a pro, she had obviously done this before. The next few kids jumped rope just fine. Then it was your turn. They told you to start jumping and you did. You had the rhythm down perfectly and the girls turning the ropes did great working with you. It was awesome. I was so proud of you. You jumped straight through your turn without messing up, necklaces flying everywhere, huge smile on your face. It's probably just that I'm your Dad, but the crowd was cheering hard for you because you were so adorable.

I told you afterward how proud I was of you, but I doubt it really sunk in today. Maybe when you read this later, you'll understand a little. When you have your own kids, you'll completely understand. I mean, you got up in front of a large crowd and performed a show doing something that you had never done before. You were so brave and so adorable.

Life's a Circus

PawPaw treated the family to a trip to the Cole Brothers Circus - the largest circus under the Big Top.  When PawPaw was a young boy he went to see the same circus and got asked to participate in the show, so it was very special for him and for us to experience the show together.

Gardening Gals

Some photos I took last weekend of the girls helping plant marigolds in the front yard and Ruby with her new bubble mower, that she loves!

a few leftovers from March

 Ruby and Jack are close pals.  Ruby loves to yell 'Sit' at Jack and to climb on him.  She also looks out for her buddy and will bring his dog dish near where we store the dog treats in attempt to get us to give Jack some goodies.

 Luci loves the scooter she got at Christmas time.  Ruby just likes to wear a helmet.

A common sight these days - Luci and her friend Ashley dressed up in princess gear. They like to trade dresses.

 On Good Friday, Kai took the girls to the Museum of Life and Science for a dinosaur egg hunt

 The 'tower of power' that my mom sent for Easter - it had a lovely assortment of goodies that we are still making our way through.  Luckily Luci is still at the age where we can convince her that 3 jelly beans is a more than adequate dessert.

Spring Fever

The girls were on 'spring break' from Good Friday through last Wednesday.  I took Monday off to spend the day with my two beauties and it was absolutely gorgeous outside. We started the morning with some painting in our pajamas, then a quick trip to a nearby nursery where there are some farm animals to say hello to, and then we spent most of the afternoon playing in the sand at Jordan Lake.  It was a wonderful day!