"If I had my druthers I'd go fishing"

Keith and Zack went camping with Mike and Camden on Wednesday.

They fished.
They got dirty.

They burped a lot.

And they played with fire.

It was classic male bonding.

Without the strippers.

"Well, Hello there Good old friend of mine"

Constance came to visit last week and brought her two adorable kids Maximus and Savannah.
It was so fun seeing her and meeting Miss Savannah. We had a great visit where I promised her that I would never tell her kids about the time we got pulled over twice in the span of 45 minutes while driving her VW bug. And that she flirted her way out of the ticket. BOTH TIMES. That conversation concluded with my wavery rendition of, "Did you ever know that you're my hero..."

"Won't you let me meet you at the pool"

At the pool on Tuesday, I discovered that my children's personalities can be well summed up by how they play in the pool.

Ryleigh swam laps. I lost count after twelve.

Zack cannon-balled off the side and did kicky/splashy underwater somersaults.



Kendall practiced her S.I. swim-suit pose and swapped perfect summer sangria recipes with a new friend. They're playing canasta on Thursdays.

"I can go the distance"

Franklin Elementary School had it's annual Jr. Olympics last Thursday and Friday. Mrs. Shelbourne's class came away with a bunch of ribbons; two from Ryleigh.

She won third place in the frisbee throw and second place in the running long jump. (The blue ribbon is from Running Club where she voluntarily goes to school early on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and runs until the bell rings. She finishes just in time to shake out her perfect hair and skip to class to start her morning education. This is about the same time I have removed the last booger from my eye.)

Ryleigh and her friends spent time preparing for each event by braiding each others hair and playing hand slapping games. I also think there was a period of time when they said, "No way!" and "I know, right?" to each other while rolling their eyes and putting their hands on their hips.

Drew, Jessica, Leesiah, Kimberly, Ryleigh & Reina. Cute. I know, right?

"When you were only startin' to go to Kindergarten"

Zack's final day of preschool was on Thursday of last week. He thought long and hard about his perfect graduation outfit and came up with this, which I have decided is the sartorial equivalent of a mullet:

Business on the top,

party on the bottom.

His teachers:

Mrs. Witherspoon

and Miss Houston.

Zack's best friend from school, Alfonso.

Chanelle & Cheyenne. Can you guess which one had a year long crush on Zack?

Kendall's TUBS teacher, Miss Sara, was there, too. Kendall LOVES Miss Sara. Their mutual love of animals (especially dogs) makes them kindred spirits.

Congratulations, Zack! You had such a fantastic year and we are so proud of you!

"Look at me, I could be centerfield"

Zack's first season of coach-pitch baseball ended this week.

Wednesday night was the awards banquet (pizza, natch) where Zack was awarded the "Slugger" award 'cause Homie can hit.

This is the video he and I made for the team. It's rated "G" with no gratuitous violence or swear words. In other words, it doesn't reflect our real life at all.

"Celebrate good times, come on!"

We went to "Celebration Park" on Sunday.

Keith and I had a great time telling Kendall, "Hey! Check out the hole in the ground...closer...closer..." and then standing back as the water squirted her in the eye. Good times. Good times.

"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks"

After Zack's baseball game on Thursday, we met some friends at the Sixty-Sixers game.

Somebody caught a ball and gave it to Zack, because, honestly, could YOU resist him in this uniform?

Thanks Pete, Alicia & Palmer!