Kindergarten Growth

Pip's first book.  Not a dry eye around here.

Pip at his kindergarten Growth celebration.

Song #1

The pledge of allegiance

Song #2.  Note how animated my man is.  And how he continues on through the harassment!!

Silliness

This was apparently a video Pip was in music class.  He came home and explained it to Vivie.  And this is how they later interpreted it.  What the video was actually about, I have no idea.

Pip reads

His first bedtime book, a personal classic.  All the way through!!

Zoorasic Park

I heard the Franklin Zoo has a special, temporary exhibit for animatronic dinosaurs.  Pip's been watching Jurrassic Park lately and can't get enough.  When we mentioned this he nearly lost his mind with excitement.

Here we are waiting to get into the zoo.

Pip wanted to speed see every other exhibit.  Forget the mandrill!  Let's go to Zoorassic Park!  Phil gave him  the map to the zoo and showed he where we were headed, after that he was consulting it regularly to make sure we were on track.

Finally, we found it.  All of a sudden, Pip had second thoughts.

This was the first dinosaur, and Pip got an immediate case of rigor mortis.  His feet would not move.  His knees were locked.  No more smiling.  We tried to tell him (again) they were only robots, not real.  But he wasn't budging.  I finally had to lug up his stiff body and carry him through.  Terrified.

He's heavy!  So Meg got the boot from the stroller, Viv went on my shoulders, and Pip got the stroller.

Somehow logic prevailed only when it came to the plant eaters.  These dinosaurs were deemed perfectly safe to stay and chat with.  Vivie even gave a wave and had some nice conversation.

Not to fond of the mega-croc trying to ambush us.

Triceratops, also a plant eater, was our buddy too.

Meg was the only one who would get within the sightline of the TRex.  And Pip and Viv were not happy about it.  Get her out of there Dad!!

I had to sprint past that nasty Rex.  Pip and Viv would only glance back at her once we were a safe distance away!

Thankfully, there was other stuff to see.  Meg liked the giraffes.

Viv got a lollipop for surviving the dinosaurs.

I gave the zoo another $8 to fling me around in this contraption.

Pip's dinosaur "treat" was a dig toy.  He made short work of it.  I remember when these took days to excavate.  This one was clean without 30 minutes.

Eli is Four too!

Our good friend Eli Brown turned four in June and we went to his party at Clark Park.  The party was relaxed and fun and happy and perfect.  I think I am done with crazy jump house whirlwind parties.  I'm going this way next time!

Here Vivie is doing the limbo!

And Pip surveys the scene.

He spent nearly 100% of his time at the party by the pond, trying to catch sunfish in his net, squirting water, and building rivers and ponds in the sand.

Vivie climbed the super slide.

Can Collector

Our new cat security system requires that we leave the door to the basement open.  Meaning Meg can get to our recycling.  Never one to pass up the opportunity to push things here and move things there, she came up with this little game to keep herself busy.  

She also does a similar game with the kids chairs on the deck.  

Beauty

Vivie with her Pop Bead jewelry from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Matt.  I can never get over how pretty she is.