The Duck Pond

Before the 100 degree heat wave ushered its way into our lives, we headed to Family Fun Night at the church park. Nashville UCC holds these once a month during the summer months, and tonight's theme was the duck pond.

First, we hit the slip and slide. Robbie thought he owned it and could stand right in the middle. Grant got soaked trying to keep him from being a bowling pin to the older kids. The girls just tip-toed through the water, choosing not to be adventurous and slide down.

A great distraction to the slide - a tub full of water and ducks.  (See how Grant's soaked?)

Aunt Kellie helping with crafts.

Duck hat. (This pose came after I told her to stand normal.....my little fashionista.)

Hi Deanna! Quack!

Robbie saying, "QUACK!" with Deanna's hat on his head.  He only wore this for about 2 seconds, and then took it off and tried to take off her stickers.

The playground kept him very occupied while the older kids did story time and games.

The pinata. Terri's turn.

Deanna's turn.

Sam's turn.

 Poor duck - he didn't make it.


Cousins are always your first friends and remain that way for your entire life.  These two make me smile. (Terri has a whistle in her mouth.)

Overall, a fun night out with the 4 of us. Perfect temperatures for outside fun. And spending time with cousins and family is always a good time.

Karate - Social Butterfly

Tonight, there was a new little girl trying out karate. My social little butterfly went right up to her and said hello and introduced herself. She immediately had to show her "the ropes."  I watched her introduce her to the other classmates, show her how to practice on the pads until class started, and even helped her during warm-ups.  After warm-ups, they did running drills. Zoom, Zoom! Around and Around they run!

Next, they did a balance drill where they had to hop down the mat with a hoop over their foot. The 2nd turn, she made it the whole way. I think her monkey toes held it on a couple off times. She was very proud of herself.

(I did a video of this - but haven't figured out how to upload those to the blog)

Lastly, they did a focus drill where they had to hit a pad before it drops to the ground. She hit 2 of 3 and almost got the third. She took concentrating very serious! Her 2nd turn she punched a bag pretty far (after being challenged by the Sensei to punch the bag as hard as they can) and almost beat the previous "record."

2012 Staycation - Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum

Does anybody else think the word "Wapak" is weird to say and hear?  I do.  Maybe I'm just weird.

We headed north on a rainy day during the week to check out the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

My little astronauts:

Understanding how a rocket orbits the Earth.  Or just throwing an air hockey puck around and around. Whichever way you want to look at it.

 

She's not too tall to become an astronaut in 1959.

Weighing herself on Mars.

Robbie admiring the space ship.

Learning about how much things weigh on Earth, the moon, and Mars.

Needless to say, we crashed and burned.

A good co-pilot to have.  He will push every single button possible for you.

It's a pretty small museum, so that worked best for Robbie.  Terri and I sat through the movie and we both learned a lot about the first walk on the moon.  Terri was even amazed that it was before both Daddy and Mommy were even born.

(And yes, Terri picked out her outfit for the day.)

2012 Staycation - Cincinnati Zoo

The first day of vaction, we headed to the Cincinnati Zoo with Beaner and the girls.  2 adults and 4 kids - we were a little outnumbered.  We all piled in the Pilot (disclaimer: I love my Pilot, and I work for American Honda), turned up the tunes, and headed south on 75.  The perfect weather day to see the animals at the zoo - not too hot, not too cold. 

The funny thing is that all 3 girls showed up in pigtails for the day. Beaner and I didn't plan that at all.  Terri was the only one not wearing an animal shirt because she wanted to wear a pretty dress to the zoo.

At the zoo entrance - Robbie's saying, "Let's go people! Move already!"

We were in the reptile house and he was super excited to see the alligators.  Here he is making faces at them.

Sally the Camel has ____ humps??

Why 2, of course!

Hot gorillas.

The American Alligator - no touching for this one.

So proud, all 3 girls touched this snake.

Drink break!

The carousel.  Terri wanted the Tiger, but it was already taken, so she hopped right up on the zebra.

Robbie was not that excited about the carousel and wanted off immediately.

 The baby zebra.  So cute as it tromped around playing.

He missed the polar bear, which is my favorite part!

Audrey and Terri

He was talking to Audrey. "What up, girl?"

The stork. You know, where babies come from.

He had just woken up from his nap, and we were waiting in line for the train.  He did not want to wait for the choo-choo!

See? He's still not happy to be waiting, but Beaner tried.

We were the caboose.

Robbie was enamored with the peacock.

Watching the giraffe.

Beaner and the girls fed the giraffe while Robbie and I played in the water at the hand washing station.

And one last picture to end the day before heading to the car.

Funny things overheard that day ----
Beaner: "That'd be a bird, right?"
Beaner: "They look like Monkey Skunks!"
Me: "The Stork carries a baby in its pelican beak."

(We're definitely not going to be hired for Zoo curators any time soon.)

The Zoo membership will be well used this year.

Karate - Sparring Again

Her biggest issue this time - I didn't tie her belt tight enough and her uniform kept falling. The sparring went a lot better this time. Her foot movement and blocking were good. She only tried to kick a few times, missing each time, but at least she unglued her feet from the floor.

The girl in the red shirt - it was her first time at Karate.  

 Here she's trying to block a kick....but mostly running away.

Here she's on the sidelines after sparring, cheering on her other classmates.