Thursday, May 31, 2012

Tropical Storm Beryl

Tropical Storm Beryl rolled through last weekend and brought a lot of rain to our area.  Most of the rain was light, but it was steady- perfect for playing in.  The kids were so excited to get to run around and get wet.  It's certainly cheaper than a waterpark.                     
                                       

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial Day Picnic

"Dedicated to the memory of the men and women from Pierce County who fought in all the wars of our great nation to preserve and protect the freedom and peace we all enjoy."  -City Park Memorial


For the past two years, the kids and I have kicked off our summer by having a picnic on Memorial Day.  The kids always look forward to the picnic, and have been anticipating this year's outing for several weeks.  Even though the weather on Memorial Day was iffy thanks to tropical storm Beryl, we decided to carry on and made our way to City Park.  City Park is a memorial park that honors men and women from Pierce County who have served in the armed forces.  After eating our sandwiches- which was an adventure in itself as the food kept trying to blow away- we visited the various memorials located within the park and we talked about why we celebrate Memorial Day.  We even took a moment to look for the names of all of the "Walkers" who served in WWII on that memorial plaque.  Unfortunately, our fun was short-lived as it started raining (again).  Still, we had a nice time and celebrated the holiday in a meaningful way.  
 

 

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Recital

 All of the girls at Olivia's dance studio have been working very hard this year, and their hard work paid off at the studio's recital last weekend.  I have to say that I was thoroughly entertained.  Although all of the recital participants did great, the three that I was there to see were Olivia, Ava, and Claire.  The first up were Olivia and Claire.  They are in the same gymnastics class and had a "circus" themed number.  After a few moves as a class, each girl got to show off their moves individually.  It was a really cute routine.  After the circus number, Ava's gymnastic class did a cheerleader-themed routine.  Let me take a moment to brag on my niece Ava.  She is an amazing gymnast.  She is one of the smallest girls in her class, and she can do more moves (well) than most of the other girls in her class.  There were even some girls in the middle school class that didn't look as good as Ava did.  Tumbling is definitely her "thing".


 

Once the gymnastics routines were over, the tumbling matts were moved, and the dance routines began.  Olivia had two routines: a ballet and a tap.   She is one of the girls who remembered the routine the best, so she was front-and-center for both dances. Both dance numbers used music from "The Little Mermaid" and were choreographed accordingly.  After Olivia's final performance, she was surprised by flowers from her daddy.  He's so thoughtful. 

I am very pleased with Olivia's progress in her dance and gymnastics this year.  It was rough going at first.  Back in the fall of the year, she would pitch a fit becasue she didn't want to go to her lessons each week.  I had to remind her frequently that she had put in to take these lessons and that we were going to finish what we had started.  Her attitude improved significantly during the spring, and she's recently been asking to go to lessons- even on days that are not her designated day.  I asked her if she would like to take dance and/or gymnastics again next year, and she responded that she'd like to take both and add baton.  I doubt that that the baton thing will happen, but it's good to know that she likes what she's doing.

 

 

Sunday, May 13, 2012

"Rainbow" the Irrigation Gun

A few weeks ago, Gigi and Papa watched the kids for me.  While the kids were there, they got to go to the corn field and help turn on and play with the irrigaiton gun.  They must have had a good time, because I have heard about "Rainbow" (that's what they named the gun) ever since.  They have been asking me and asking me to go out to the farm so that Papa could turn on Rainbow and they could play in the water.  Well, they got their chance this weekend.  It turned out to be a win-win-win situation- Gigi and Papa needed to dig potatoes, I wanted the kids to start doing some work on the farm, and they wanted to get under the gun.   After digging the potatoes, Papa cranked up the gun, and the kids had a blast playing under it.  I got so tickeled because they would run across the field chasing the water.  At one point, Olivia even ran around the entire field trying to keep up with it.  They were very dirty when we left, but they had a great time.  I remember playing with the irrigation gun when I was young, and I'm glad that my kids get to experience this, too.
 
 
 



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has definitely sprung here in Southeast Georgia, and the flowers are in full bloom.  Here are a few of our annual pictures taken from the field at the end of our street.