Summer Fun

Here are some pictures from the past month or so showing a little bit of what the kids have been doing.

The week of July 4th, our town has a carnival. It's not very big, but it's the place to be in the evenings. The kids were thrilled with all the activity just down the street from our house. Riley was big enough this year to ride quite a few rides. She had a blast and is already planning her list of rides she wants to try at the fair.

Her first solo flight in a helicopter

Riding the BIG Ferris Wheel with Mommy

Colin and Daddy on the carousel

Riley and Daddy on the slide. They both wanted to go again.

We had a cook-out at my folks house the second week in July. Mike, Robin and my favorite nieces were there. It was originally going to be for the Fourth of July but we had to postpone it a week due to some illness in the family. That worked out well because we just turned it into a birthday party for Mom. It was her 41 birthday. . . well, not really but I'm pretty sure I'd be toast if I posted which one it really was. The highlight of the day for the kids was riding Pop-pop and Memaw's horses. This used to terrify Colin but now he requests to go "wide houwses" any time we get within five miles of my folks' house.

Here are my nieces Maria and Maya on Cody. This was Maya's first horseback ride. Judging from the expression on her face, I think we have another horse woman in the making.

Riley is learning a new skill this summer. Her generous mother splurged and got her a new pair of rollerblades. (OK, her cheapskate mother bought her a pair of rollerblades for $1 at a garage sale and even talked her into the black ones instead of the pink ones so that her brother can wear them when she outgrows them.) She can propel herself around the driveway pretty well now, although she is a little frustrated that she cannot yet do spins and backflips like they do on TV.

Thanks to the pads, most falls are funny rather than painful.

"And this is how it's done."

Not sure what she was doing in this shot but it appears she is trying to resemble a bored and surly teenager.

A few weeks ago the kids favorite friends, Ethan and Madeleine, came over to spend the day. This was an occasion to break out the kiddie pool. They played in there until most of the water was gone.

This would have been a cannon ball but since there was only 18 inches of water, Ethan had to settle for a butt flop.

Maddie in awe of a passing airplane

Riley's athletic pose

This was the best shot I could get of all of them in the pool. Naturally the older ones are hamming it up.

Colin and Maddie opted to observe the water fight between the big kids rather than participate in it.