Happy Birthday, America!

Happy 4th of July! Bike Riding

hike at ocmulgee - Alex fell and skinned his nose! check out Rudolph in the next several pictures. poor thing.

Ice Cream Treats

Mommy's fever has been over 103 for about 36 hours, now, but she needed to get out of the house! Heck, that is only 5-7 degrees hotter than the weather today in Macon! Eek!

More sparklers in patriotic PJs and cowboy boots!

(We have been celebrating all week! Here are some practice sparkler and undies pics from Monday)

Goal!

Will is going to coach a soccer team this fall through Upwards Soccer. Evan just misses the age cut-off, but if his Daddy coaches the 4-year olds, I think they will let Evan play! In preparation for the assessment in a few weeks, Will and the boys have been practicing drills in the backyard.

The most difficult part of soccer season will not be dealing with 12+ preschoolers; Daddy will have it easy, comparatively. It will be impossible to keep Alex off the field!

Thanks to Gramie and Bapa for the soccer goal! We love it!

Tenure & Promotion!

It is official! Today is the first day of Will's tenure and promotion.

Here are the letters to prove it!
Congrats, Will/Daddy. We are so proud of you!

Better Than The Couch

Although the trampoline was wet from the pitiful 1/10th" rain we received, jumping on it was even better than sneaking illegal jumps on the couch! The kids are getting really good at jumping with both feet (Alex) and jumping for height (Evan).

Slalom

How many slalom-skiing grandparents do you know?

One Hot Cowboy

Last night we went for a walk, despite the fact that it was over 90 degrees at 6:00 pm. Evan insisted on wearing his cowboy garb. At least we talked him out of wearing the knee-high boots! Alex was content with his monotone athletic look, which was much cooler.

Pool party!

The Stewarts came over this morning for a few hours of fun in the pool. Baby Vince is growing up so fast, I can't believe it. Here is a shot of him sporting Elmo sunglasses, sitting in his Mommy's lap.

Savannah and Evan played really well together in the pool, trying out all sorts of new stunts -- backwards sliding, belly-flop sliding, the works! Alex got into the action once he awoke from him nap, as well. All that fun wore out the kids, which was an added bonus. Evan napped for almost 3 hours, and Alex for about 2.5. Yay!

Our day-trip to Atlanta

We spent yesterday morning at the Zoo with my friend Amy, whom I know from our days at McMaster-Carr in Atlanta. Her boys, Jacob and Owen, are just older than our boys, making the kids ages 1,2,3, and 4. The boys loved playing together and I really enjoyed catching up! (I think that the last time I saw her, I was 6-weeks pregnant with Alex! Time flies.) Unfortunately, my camera was freaking out, but here are some of the best pictures.

After the zoo, we made a high-speed run to Ikea, where I left spending less than $20; it was a record. We hit the outlet malls on the way home, but that was a bust, as well. Thanks to my patient boys who waited in the car as I sprinted in and out of stores!

Emmy & Christian visit us!

Here are more pictures from our fantastic weekend together: day 2-3 pictures (goofing around Macon).

I sobbed like a baby as they pulled away on the airport shuttle this afternoon. It is so wonderful to have our extended families around. And it is so difficult to say goodbye as folks leave....

Daddy is HOME!

Welcome Home, Daddy!

And thanks for the new shirts!

Air Jordan

I picked up a trampoline from one of my MOPS friends. Bapa put about 75% of it together, but the last few springs were impossible without several sets of hands! Once Will returned home, he and Christian finished the job. The kids had a difficult time waiting for Mommy and Aunt Emmy to get off the trampoline so they could have their turns.

Zoo Atlanta

Aunt Emmy and Uncle Chris are here for the weekend from New York. Their flight landed 2 hours before Gramie's departed, so we had a small reunion at the airport! Then, we went straight to the ZOO, where we were able to spend a few hours before it got too hot or too crowded. Here are our favorite animals from today's visit:

Evan: Meerkats

Alex: Zebras

Chris: Gorillas

Ani & Emmy: Pandas

We are looking forward to another trip to the zoo next week to catch up with one of Ani's old friends from McMaster-Carr. In the meantime, we have a terrific weekend planned with Emmy & Christian, starting with a hike at Ocmulgee in the morning! I'd better get some sleep first....

Happy Birthday, Bapa!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad/Bapa!

Here is a little birthday celebration video for you.

Love, Evan, Alex, Ani, Emmy, Christian, and Will (in absentia)

Gramie & Bapa visit Macon

It has been wonderful to have Mom and Dad around. Dad left on Tuesday and Mom stayed until this morning. I know they will be terribly behind in their work when they return to reality, but we loved every minute of having them here. Thanks, guys -- so much. Picture slide show - click here.

Evan and Alex are getting quite spoiled (no surprise!) between having Nana and Gramps' visit last week, and Gramie and Bapa this week! Plus, Aunt Emmy and Uncle Chris arrived this morning as Gramie left! I'm getting spoiled, too. What a treat to have everyone here to help in Will's absence. I love having extra company around the house. It makes me so happy.

(Will gets home tomorrow night; YAY! We all miss him so much.)

Cooling off in the new pool! Thanks, Gramie!

Enjoying a cone

Playing Candyland

Happy Father's Day!

The movie theater

This morning, Mom/Gramie, the boys and I went to the movies to see Ice Age! (One of the theaters in town offers a G or PG movie every Wednesday of the summer. For $2 each, you see a movie, get a personal-sized popcorn, and a little drink. Why haven't we tried this sooner?) I think the movie had more adult humor than kid, but the boys really enjoyed the whole experience. It was such fun, I created a slide show of just movie-theater pictures: click here.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy/Will! We miss you!
Happy Father's Day to Gramps, Bapa, and Great Grampa, too!

Love you guys.

xoxox

Friendship

Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies.

-- Aristotle

Sportz Quest

We met Grace and Ellen at Sportz Quest this morning, followed by pizza for lunch. The kids had a great time playing and eating together.

Alex couldn't get enough hanging/swinging, and I couldn't stop laughing. What a monkey.

TEN!

Earlier this morning, the boys and I were catching up on the blogs of my friends; yes, we have been awake for some time already! We came across this video of my Godson, Duncan Scott, feeding turtles at a restaurant in Austin, TX. Alex squealed, "turtle! turtle!" Then, he counted all the way to eight, skipped nine, and said ten! This was the first time he successfully moved past two without help.

Good job, Alex!

Ice Cream Buddies

We visited Savannah and Baby Vince yesterday afternoon. We especially enjoyed running in the sprinkler and eating ice cream cones on the front steps! Thanks for a fun play-date, Stewarts!

Catching up

Before I delve into a vacation recap, I want to tell family and friends in Iowa, especially in Waterloo and Cedar Falls, that we are thinking about them. The flood pictures on the news are unbelievable. Everyone, be safe. Grampa, please be careful on your short outings for subway sandwiches! :) News link re: Cedar River -- another link
_ _ _ _
We had eight fantastic days in Daytona Beach. (The town is tacky, but the beach is fabulous!) Will probably set a new AP-Grading record, grading over 1400 exams! While he was slaving away, we enjoyed time at the beach, pools, and vacationing with Dan and Susan (Will's folks), who joined us starting on Thursday. All six of us returned to Macon late on Sunday, and Will left for two weeks in Princeton at 9:00 on Monday morning. Dan and Susan returned to Colorado yesterday, and the boys and I are currently flying solo. So far, so good.

Thanks for all your help in Daytona and Macon, Nana and Gramps! We miss you already! Will/Daddy, we hope your conference is going well. We really miss you, too!

Daytona Beach slide show, click here.

home

home again home again, jiggidy jig. Many vacation pictures and stories to follow.

Will leaves for two weeks in Princeton tomorrow at 9:00 am.

Never a dull moment.

Checking in from Daytona Beach

We are having a great vacation. Will is nearly cross-eyed from reading AP exams, but at 4:15 every day, he runs for the beach to meet the boys and me. Yesterday, the four of us jumped waves for 45 minutes. It was so much fun! I was reminded of the 13 (?) summers we spent in Newport, RI as a family years ago. Every day, Emmy (my sis) and I would ride waves on our Styrofoam surf boards until the board "rubbies" on our legs were too raw for more....

I'd forgotten how much fun it is to dig a hole until you reach water; how sticky your skin feels from the salt-water and sand; how your eyes burn when a wave splashes over your head; how fun it is to collect tiny sea shells. I'm loving every minute. The best part? Seeing huge smiles on two little faces.

As they say, "priceless."


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Of course, we've learned that Evan has developed an allergy to sunscreen (!), it is tricky to sleep 4 in a single hotel room (we are attempting to all go to bed starting at 7:30 pm), and naps are tricky, too... but none of that matters. Time together at the beach and pool negate all of this other nonsense!

Plus, Nana and Gramps arrived today. The week will only get better! yay!

First Ice Cream Cone

Ah, the joy of one's first ice cream cone. Alex didn't believe that he could actually eat the cone. Once he caught on, he wanted "more more more i-me!" (translation: more ice-cream, please, Mommy; I love it.) Evan's technique was to bite off the bottom of the cone first. What a mess, but what fun!

(pictures taken before we left for FL)

Advanced Placement Exams

Will is on day two (of seven) of grading AP exams. Below is the question to which he has been assigned. Yesterday included training on the rubric. Today he begins the tedious work of reading the same answers again and again -- in fact, he will grade about 1200 exams by the end of the week.

Evan, Alex and I appreciate that he does this for two reasons: 1) it pays a little bit, and more importantly, 2) the kids and I (and soon Dan and Susan) enjoy spending time at the beach and pools while on Daytona Beach. When Will completes his grading each afternoon, we hope to hit the water with him, too!

Thanks, Honey.

1. Congressional reapportionment and redistricting are conducted every ten years. When redistricting is conducted,
politicians often engage in gerrymandering.
(a) Define congressional reapportionment and explain one reason why it is important to states.
(b) Define congressional redistricting.
(c) Explain two goals of politicians when they gerrymander during redistricting.
(d) Describe two limits that the United States Supreme Court has placed on congressional redistricting.

ps - if you are dying to know the other three questions, let me know! I have copies of all four.