(*Realized I never posted this pic. Your bit o' history for the day-- if you know what this is!)

Hooray for first days...now with TWO kids! 





My favorite photographic tradition, the "coming of age" demonstration!



(So the first pic of B and the last pic of C represent the exact same age!!)

And....after the bus dropped off two happy students!!!

Today marks a return to school for the boys (someone is starting his 18th year!) and a start for a certain Kindergarten girl!!   It's also the day I try to get myself on a more disciplined schedule (heading to Jazzercise as soon as the kids get on the bus!) and, sadly, a day where the rest of my free time has to be spent working on a task that I took on without realizing just how stress-inducing it would be.  Alas, we must all march onward in the face of fear, right?!

When the BG got up at 5am, I had every intention of going right back to sleep...but apparently I have enough swirling around in my mind to make that impossible.  So I "caught up on my bidness" (as we say, aka perusing all the websites) and, after reading all the news (aka gossip) from overnight, I finally decided it was fitting to send us all off on this adventure with an early-morning giggle.  Or maybe some "keepin' it real" unkempt appearance that will make you feel better about yourself?!  Ha.  Eh, I'll take my chance with the small batch of you who still read these electronic pages.......this is post #2,432, by the way!   :-)

Five years ago, there was some boot camp going on around here:

August 26, 2011

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Miss C stepped on a stool in the kitchen and, in their matching shirts and now-similar height, I couldn't resist taking a few snaps:

...scootering:


...watching friends ride their wheels:


...outdoor dancing:


...PIZZA (and Antipasto salad):


...more playtime with friends:


...ice cream:


 ...statue teeth-brushing:


 AND....drumroll, please...this little one's first time at a nail salon!


Showing off her cute fingers:

The kiddies had lots of fun wandering the downtown street while we were in Corning.  There was hopscotch:


Looking for leprechauns:


Showing how happy she would be if she could eat everything in the window (well, if it were real):


Tango-ing:


Posing in the square:


AND even the makings of a side-by-side comparison!

(ETA: just realized at 9:20am that the publishing didn't go through more than an hour ago when I wrote this...)

What's more fun than playing on a swing set?  Playing on a swing set with some other Corning progeny!!

...Grammie is here!

This video is from last month but I just realized it never got posted.  May it bring you a chuckle on this day!

(and, frankly, for all things. Thumbs up every time!  Ah, the phases of childhood!!)

Way back 1.5 weeks ago, in the morning before company arrived later in the day, we spent some time at COLLEGE.  The B-man was the right age to participate in a study in the Cognitive Development Lab about mathematics instruction so he did that and then we wandered around a little bit.

With Testudo, the Terrapin:


Joe Cool finally found an ACTUAL "Student Union"!!


Visiting with a famous grad and his even more famous sidekick:


And finding a combo of the turtle and frog inside!


In other news, we walked into the campus convenience store inside the Student Union and they had one of these crazy machines.  Though we didn't try it out because we were headed to lunch, the B-man decreed that he now wants to go to college there.

Who knew it was easy as showing him a machine that makes milkshakes??!!

A few of the gourmet markets around here sell little chunks of cheese. One local store calls its selection "lunchbox cheese" and these wee pieces are a great way to sample new varieties of yumminess without having to buy a big old chunk at $19/lb or whatever.

Our huge win from the BG's birthday dinner:  KoKo's Coconut Cheese!   HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

And it deserved some morning crafting!


(You'll notice he's pretty much already rolled around in the red ink pad; even after I spoke with him about that, two minutes after this pic was taken, he put his leg right on top of the blue ink pad.  Sigh.)

Our resident crafter went to town!


Along with wrapping up all kinds of "presents" (aka stuff from the house put into boxes), she also made him a wrapping paper placemat and made us all wear party hats.


Annnnd...apparently not one single person at the first day of football practice told him Happy Birthday so whew!  We made it unscathed, even WITH my Facebook post yesterday morning!  Ah, the continued balancing act of marriage between one who likes to keep things private and one who likes a little public enthusiasm!   ;-)

We drove by a miniature golf course en route to Gettysburg and that led to the decision that we should find a local place to play for a Saturday activity.  Turns out there's a course not too far away and we took it by storm bright and early!

The kiddies had never played before so there was some instruction needed:


Posing with some sort of tree monster:


The "longest hole in the world" or some such:


And, while Big D escaped photos, I did want to show that he and his mad golf skillz prevailed!  (If this pic also happens to make clear that I won the back 9, well then, that's fine, too....)

We retraced some American History on Friday morning!


Visiting with Mr. Lincoln:


The observation tower with stairs that made my leg muscles hurt for entirely too long:


Perching on a cannon:


Checking out a battlefield:


The gang in "Rapunzel's Tower" (according to the kids):


 Aaaaand.....some found treasures:

(As soon as Miss C put on her hat and waved her fan, she said, "Helllloooo, Dahling!" in the most hysterical way!)

The kids had quite an active day yesterday:  in the AM, we took Big D and Kathy to the nearby park for some scooterin' (scootin'?) and general exploring.  Then, after lunch, the BG went with those four to an indoor adventure place that is like one part trampoline park and 87 parts Ninja Warrior/Parkour/Climbing:


By the time we went to dinner, therefore, it was okay for them to take back in a *few* creamy calories...


...to go with their fluffy dinner (that stared back at them)!


HAPPY FRIDAY!