Paige and Kids came

So, this is crazy that I don't have many pictures, but Paige and her kids have been here the past couple weeks and we have been able to see them a few of the days that they were here, so we have totally enjoyed hanging out with them too! For any of you who wonder who Paige is... She has been my best friend since I pretended to sneeze, "AH ah ah... CHoo" and threw french fries at her at lunch in the first week of fourth grade. Despite my crazyness, she befriended me. We've been close ever since.

I love when she comes because it is so great to have such a comfortable friend around! We just get each other and it's easy and fun. Plus, the kids, Erin and Victoria and David and Christian pair up really well too. Anya and Grant are too little still, but maybe they'll buddy up in the future. I can't wait till they move back to VA!

Anyway, what we have done together during this trip-
playing here, babysitting Anya, playing at the park, Stony Point Fountains,Tale of Despereaux,
Short Pump Mall, and Paige and I just got to go out alone, so we went to Mexico Restuarant and ate fried ice cream and chips and salsa. We have had a fun time and I could kick myself for not taking pictures. Maybe I will add a few old ones instead. Ha ha! Watch out, Paige!(You got lucky- our scanner is in storage.)

Here are the few pictures I took at Rockwood.

Aloha Summer!!

School's out for the summer! Yea! The year has flown by and Kindergarten has been great! We have really enjoyed the year, but we are just excited to have Victoria home for a while. She is exited for the break too.

Off the bus with a smile

Aloha!

Christian and Grant and I came to the bus stop wearing leis. It was fun to give them to all the kids and tell them "welcome to summer!"

About half of the kids from the bus stop and some younger siblings in the front row. So fun!

We came home, ate lunch, and looked through lots of papers, a great report card, PALS scores, artwork, and books Victoria made.

To welcome summer reading we gave Victoria a book, Junie B Jones:First Grader book, Aloha-ha-ha. We are excited to start the summer reading programs through the school, Barnes and Noble, and the local library.

Then, to make it really feel like summer, we went to the pool to play. We even went to Friendly's for dinner.

We are so very excited that summer is here! Can you tell?

Christian's Joy School Graduation

We had a fun time at the Joy School graduation at our house last week! We enjoyed a sweet and simple cookout before the graduation.

Cake and ice cream make them joyful and in Christian's case-ready to make a funny face.

Some of my favorite former Joy School graduates were in attendance and looked as cute as ever.

Christian and Sam in their caps! Such smart cute boys. I got to present Sam with his diploma and report card.

Laurie was such a smart sweet student too!

Drea presented Christian his report card and diploma. He was so proud.

The graduates sang two songs, "I've Got Joy!" and the"Joy School Pep Song." Both were pretty cute.

Teachers and Students

I am so thankful for Drea and Melanie for teaching Christian with love, patience, and high expectations at the same time. He loved his teachers!

Laurie, Sam, and Christian were such good students this year and we are really proud of them. It is fun to see how much they can learn and grow in a year. It was fun to teach Joy School again. It reminded me how much I really like the program. I am excited to teach Grant in Joy School in a couple years. But for now, Congratulations, Christian! Great job!

Lemonade Stand

Last summer V wanted to do a lemonade stand and I didn't help her accomplish that goal. Honestly, I felt some guilt over it, we kept putting it off to long. Well, I would have been a lame mom if I didn't finally help her do it. She asked if we could do it when the cousins were here. We did it and had a lot of fun!

Victoria and Donovan came up with the company name, the price, and the signs.

Cousin's Lemonade, 50 cents.

After the signs were ready, the kids made the lemonade!

We decided that where the golf course crosses my parents street would be the best place to sell. It was a really hot day, so we were pretty hopeful. Janelle and the big kids and I got into the van, drove down the road, and set up shop.

It took a little time to sell the first cup. The kids entertained themselves anyway though.

Then finally they sold a cup to a nice lady in a car! (She is a couple years older than me and was a friend when I was younger, but she looked like she had no idea who I was when I called her by her name.)

V with the first dollar!

Lots of cars went by though. It was kinda sad. I have a personal rule to always stop when kids are selling lemonade. The cars driving by reinforced the need for that personal rule. But, luckily, there are still generous people out there and more sales followed.

Donovan's turn to give the lemonade!

Here's a picture of the Cousin's Lemonade Company's favorite customer.

Hey Grandpa! You are off of work. Want some lemonade?

Looks like they made some money.

17 dollars in an hour and a half!

field day fun

V had field day and had a good time. She was buddies with Anna and Maggie. There were water games, a moon bounce, volleyball, target throwing, tug of war, relay races, etc. The teachers did a water balloon toss.

I got to go, but I was assigned to Tug of War, so I didn't get to see much of what V and her buddies did. I didn't take many pictures either, but I had fun helping and I did manage to take this one of tug of war.

Anna, V, and Maggie "PULL!"

When she came home from school, she showed me a picture of her "favorite part of field day."

It made me feel so good. She is such a sweet considerate little girl.

The Joy of family pictures

So, they aren't always so fun to take, but they are nice to have.

These are a few of the pictures I took while the whole Marshall side was in town. Don't blame me for the shadows. I disputed the steps as the location because of the leafy shadows and patches of sun, but oh well. I also didn't do the positioning. They are pretty cute anyway.

cousins

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids

The whole group

Mom and Dad

Craig, Lorel, and Ella

Matt, Janelle,Cameron,Nina,Howie, and Donovan(they were smiling at their own camera)Scott and Chrissy's pics are on their own camera too.
Us (not terrible, but we don't love it. We'll try again another day).

the kids, we will definitely have to try this again! Pretty funny, eh?

More River

We went up to the river again the next weekend, after V got out of school on Friday. Danny couldn't go because he had to be at his school's graduation in the morning. Victoria and Christian slept in the bedroom with Howie and Donovan. Little sleepover. They didn't get too much sleep, so they were tired at a few points the next day...But the rest of the time they still had fun...

with the hose,

playing chase, (he caught her)

being goofy,

fishing, (Matt would probably fish all day if he could.)

pretending to fish,

and throwing rocks.

We all had fun. Grant and I left early to get back to Richmond for my friend Gina's wedding at 4:00 that afternoon. Thanks mom and dad and everybody for watching V and C! They had fun!

Kindergarten Water days

The kindergartners had a fun day where they could wear bathing suits under their clothes and play outside in the water. I was excited because I got to go "help." I pretty much just got to watch and take pictures. It was a chilly day, but they had a ton of fun anyway.

Noah, Aiden, Brayden, and Jacob

Christopher

Emma, Maggie, and Victoria

And once again...

Bathtime getting better

Why would Grant not like bath time? Hmm?

I'm kidding! Actually, he didn't mind baths for the first month or 2 of his life, but then he became scared. He did not like lying down in water, so we bathed him in the shower. But, he has tolerated/enjoyed his baths again lately and we are thrilled! We think that having Christian in there helps, even if he does pour water on his head.

He puts toys on his head too.

I just think Christian is cute.

OK, this isn't the best quality picture ever, but I got a picture of him splashing so I had to post it. (He had been afraid to touch it really.) He will have lots of water exposure this summer though, so I think he is going to learn to really love it.

Rainbow experiment

Victoria did this experiment at school and thought it was pretty neat, so we tried it again here.

Pour some milk in a bowl.

Add a drop or 2 of red, yellow, and blue food coloring to the outside of the milk at even increments. (like the points of a triangle.)

Then add a drop or 2 of dish soap in the center of the bowl.

Wait a little bit and see what happens.

It looked pretty neat.

Fun experiment with the color wheel!

Let's take the party outside!

After we had a cookout and cake and ice cream inside, we headed outside for fun in the sun! In no particular order...

water balloons!

Scott,Chrissy, and the girls canoeing to the island. How cool is it that there is an island where the creek hits the river? We have had lots of fun exploring that island. My favorite find was a live horseshoe crab that Danny and I found two summers ago.

Grant and Cameron played next to each other. I bet they'll interact more next year.

I am thankful to have good parents.

Donovan and Victoria had a creative idea- selling balloons. Pretty cute!

All of the kids over 2 went on wave runner rides. Looks like Nina was excited. Thanks, Danny!



Could Matt catch the wave runner if he jumped off the dock? Nope. Sorry Matt.

GG stayed in the shade while she watched her great grand kids. I was lucky to catch this picture.

I lounged on the water for a few minutes, then took kids on the tube with me and Danny pulled it in quickly. They thought it was pretty fun.

Cheeky little Nina

I spy with my little eye...

A fun day.