Raincoat Twins

It rained most of Sunday, ruining our pool plans, but Abby and Ella made the most of it.

Wearing Daddy's Glasses

Can't be good for the eyes....

Fairy Cookies

Abby has been itching to try out the "Fairy Cookbook" that Aunt Barbara sent her. We finally broke it out and attempted these butterfly fairy masks. Abby especially liked the free reign to coat her cookie with every variety of fancy sprinkle, candy and frosting.

Summer Fun, part III

Sprinklers!

Summer Fun, part I

Fun in a hammock:

Renaissance Fun

The Virginia Renaissance Festival is camping out near Lake Anna for the month of June. (Yes, that is the Lake Anna located right next to Bumpass, an actual city in Virginia). Seemed like a good weekend excursion, so we headed out there with the kids. Turned out to be pretty good, as Ren Fairs go. Abby got to make her own rag doll:




And was excited to meet the queen:



Benji was significantly less excited to meet the queen, who fell into the general category of "stranger":


She's definitely better seen from mommy's arms:


After such an esteemed visit, Abby decided that she absolutely had to have her hair braided. Luckily, there are nice ladies who will do that for you:


Here she is half-done:



And all the way done:



Benji seemed most amused by the festival map, which he studied carefully:


After a hard day of pointing at the map, he was ready for a break:



Abby says she wants to go back to the festival again next weekend, but I think we are all Renaissance'd out for this year.

Camp!

Abby started camp this week, and boy was she excited. She especially likes the fact that she gets to go in the pool every day. Here she is getting ready for her first day of camp:

Big Sisters

On Sunday, Alex and Steph welcomed their new addition - Sophia Jane Lamy - in the wee hours of the morning. Julia was besides herself with excitement, and Abby seemed to get caught up in the spirit. Julia was particularly excited about her new "big sister" t-shirt, which led Abby to go on a hunt for her own big sister shirt. I had placed it in the "too small" pile, but declaring that it still fit, Abby donned the shirt so that she and Julia could show that they were both big sisters. Here they are mugging in their gear:



Note that they also both have skirts, green headbands, and sweaters tied around their waists. This standardization is very important.

Greensboro

We used Abby's time off to visit our friends Steve and Deb in Greensboro. Abby enjoyed Aviva, who is almost two, and Benji thought the two girls were very amusing.

Here they are playing in a band together:



Abby had enough, but the younger kids regrouped to make more music:



The girls, together enjoying the sun:

Goodbye Levana, part Two

After a slight delay, here are the rest of the pictures from Abby's last day of school, including her "graduation ceremony." The kids did a stirring rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (they voted on the choice of song), and then each received a certificate from their teachers. The ceremony was followed by a cake they baked (and decorated) themselves. Looked like the coat of many colors.....

Abby dressed up, with her nails done to match, to celebrate her last day:



Getting her certificate:



Shaking hands:



Benji, trying to get in on the action:



Always helpful, Benji appears to be giving direction to Adelaide:

Feeling Purple

Goodbye Levana!

Today is Abby's last day of school, and next year she is off to Kindergarten! We'll have a "moving up" picnic in the park tonight with her classmates, and some will be in camp over the summer, but for some this is our last day to play together.....

Playmates

Abby and Benji have gotten to the point where they will play together for stretches of time. It is very fun to watch. This morning, Abby spent an hour hiding in her "castle" while Benji stormed it (i.e., climbed on top of it), with both occasionally breaking down in giggles. They seem to enjoy spending time together, except for the occasional complaint from Abby about being "slimed."

Build-A-Bear

Abby has been begging to go to build-a-bear for the better part of a year. We finally agreed to make it a prize for keeping her room clean for a whole month. She reached that goal last week, and we hopped over to the mall so she could build her bear (er, monkey).





Here she is with the final product. Yes, that is a monkey, covered in hearts, wearing a bikini and riding a surfboard. She chose all the parts herself... it is quite a piece of work.

Treasure Hunt

Abby's class went on a special treasure hunt. They began by drawing maps to a surprise destination. Amazingly, not knowing where they were going did not hamper their ability to draw a map of how to get there. Next, following "the pink line" on the map, they took a walk through Lee Park (which Abby calls Leaf Park):




The kids spent some time exploring the cannons (good for sitting on), before taking off for their final destination....





Gelato! Oh, the excitement.





Here is Abby holding her map. I think she is trying to figure out how to get home.





Before leaving, the kids had one more surprise....a tour! Shockingly, what is behind the scenes at a gelato store is .... freezers. Who could have guessed?

Ballet Hispanico

For the last theater trip of this school year, Abby went all out. Her class went to see Ballet Hispanico, and Abby wanted to look "the prettiest yet." Here she is showing off her ensemble:

The Teacher

We are trying to get Benji accustomed to eating some finger foods, but he has not really taken to it at all (unless you call gagging an act of enjoyment). Trying to help her little brother, Abby spent much of the dinner hour "modeling" how to eat sweet potato chunks for Benji. He did not make any progress on the eating front, but he sure thought that Abby was funny.

The cupcakes

In a fit of insanity, I decided that my last official act as Abby's soccer coach should be to make "soccer ball" cupcakes for the kids' last game. As is typical, this was a lot more work than I thought it would be and consumed much of last night. Here is how they came out:



Ok, not a work of art, but kids love cupcakes. Unfortunately, I might have wanted to spend some of the time checking the weather report. Here is what it looked like this morning:



That's pouring rain, in case you can't tell. Needless to say, the game was canceled. Anyone want a cupcake?

All ready for winter

Stymied by my refusal to buy her snow boots for the mild Charlottesville winter, Abby decided to fashion some of her own from waffle blocks. Here she is modeling them for the camera.

Miss Manners

As a surprise yesterday, I picked up Abby from school and took her out for ice cream. Here she is displaying the technique that daddy taught her for "finishing up" her sundae (also works for cereal and soup). I am pretty sure that Emily Post is turning over in her grave, but Abby was pretty pleased with herself. Note the chocolate smudges between her eyebrows and on the bridge of her nose.