Molly's gymnastics graduation (of sorts)

Molly's last regular gymnastics class of the school year was this past Thursday.  She is such a natural at this and loves it, that we'll keep continuing on, I'm sure.  She has become extremely sure footed and is in control of her body with all of the jumps and movements they have learned.  Her teacher thought she was older than she is and was hoping she could move up to Level 1, which is for kids 5-7, but obviously at 3 1/2, she'll stay in the preschool level class.  Just watch out,though, one day she'll be in the Olympics!!  The first picture is of her doing a straddle jump on the trampoline.  The remaining two pictures are of her entire class sitting to receive their awards.  I might go back and post a video of a portion of their last lesson.  Enjoy!!

Ice Cream treats

Cement truck fun

Saturday morning, our friends had the cement truck come to pour a part of their garage floor and a small trench next to their driveway.  Even in the chilly, foggy morning, the kids would not be deterred.  Well Caleb was a bit; he didn't enjoy the horrible noise the truck made while mixing the cement up.  

Molly does her Jackie O impression.....

Molly decided to wear the silk scarf in the fashion of the impeccable Jackie O.  I have to say that she pulls it off with terrific grace!!  

Potter's 2nd grade picnic

Potter's end of the year 2nd grade picnic was this past Thursday.  I volunteered to coordinate all 7 classes that were going to ensure a smooth and fun day for the kids.  Although the temperature was probably about 65 and it was overcast most of the time, that didn't stop about 100 kids from getting into the pool.  Potter was purple and shivering uncontrollably after about 5 minutes, so he got out and changed back into dry clothes before lunch.  The carousel also opened early for us and all the kids made numerous rides on it too.  It was such a fun day and the kids will have fun memories of their friends to carry them into the summer.  

Sprinkler fun on Father's Day

Dave enjoys blasting the kids with the hose. This is the infamous 'pop' game that we invented when Potter was little bitty. Potter and Caleb seem to love this the most. Molly is less into it, although she was quite happy to get hit with the hose today.

Caleb loves to drink out of the hose. He does this almost everytime that we turn on the sprinkler. None of us got deathly ill doing it when we were kids (didn't you drink out of the hose???) so I guess that it won't hurt him to snag a little sip!!

Pounding away at Great Grandmother's piano

The kids all decided to play Great Grandmother's piano this afternoon, once we were home. They are all so cute and talented. Maybe they'll do a concert soon.

Jamestown Cemetary

On our way home from Granny and Granddad's, we stopped at the Jamestown Cemetary to show the kids the relatives for whom they are named. This is on the Clark side, so only Potter and Molly are represented. Potter is the Ames and Molly is the Gage. Poor Caleb, he'll have to visit a different cemetary to be included!! But there is a picture with him anyway. It only took us a short time (ha ha) to find the headstone. It was well worth the driving around and around to find it. We were only sorry not to have any flowers we could plant.

The climbing playground

This is the favorite playground of the kids when we visit Granny and Granddad...the climbing playground. It is hidden in the woods a bit, so we are doubtful that many other people even know it exists!! The kids always have a good time here, and this time, Molly was really very agile with climbing and hanging around.

Erie State Park Picnic - Family, Frisbee and Food

Dave teaches Molly the proper form for throwing a frisbee.
Granny can't wait, she wants to have hamburger tartar for lunch.....ick. I always knew she liked her meat rare.......

Caleb gets similar tips for frisbee throwing. What a guy!!
This is my family. I love them enormously.

Erie State Park Picnic - Slime version first

The kids were bummed that the beach was NOT suited for swimming this time. The amount of slime was really heinous!! Dave is, instead, bowling for seagulls that are out on an old cement walkway (he eventually got a strike, meaning all the seagulls flew away with the toss of one rock), but it was much more fun to throw rocks into the huge mass of sludge. (The second photo is not for the faint of heart).

Caleb's new pasttime.......

Granddad's belated birthday gift

For Granddad's 75th birthday, we made a collage of photos for him that included many of our recent trips this past month. He immediately hung it up, so we are pretty sure he like it!!

Potter's Summer Piano Recital

Potter gave his final piano performance on Sunday June 8th. He played 'Crispy Chips' and 'Smoothie'. He did a fantastic job! There was a huge storm going on during the entire recital and most of the kids who were playing had additional percussion from all of the thunder!

Fun this weekend at Spa Springs Park, Saratoga Springs, NY

Connie and Potter in the very fun stream that ran right next to our picnic area. This was taken when Connie was still under the impression that she would remain relatively dry (ha, that was a huge mistake on her part) She later decided to change into some more water friendly digs.

Our group shot that Wendy took of us, again, we are all in the stream. You'll notice funnily that Wendy is not in ANY of the water pictures. She wisely chose to remain dry and hold onto all gadgetry that should not get wet. It was a lot like bribery on her part.

Lin, Wendy and Connie when we are finally on dry land. This leads to our second past-time which was eating.
Molly and Potter thought it was so fun to sit in the middle of the stream where the current was pretty significant. Were it not for all the huge rocks, and if the water had been a bit deeper, they could have just floated on their backs down the stream.
Steve decided to give Molly a softball lesson. She had great contact with the ball, using the bat in more of a slashing, chopping motion than in a sideways swing. She has great potential - thanks Steve!!!

Molly's last day of preschool

This was supposed to be at the bottom....oh well!!! This was her first day of school in September.

Today was the last day of preschool for Molly. She and her friends enjoyed a small carnival (after consuming huge amounts of cupcakes and ice cream) where they got to play lots of games and win prizes. Molly tried her hand at bowling, the bean bag toss, and navigating a driving course. Notice that she is going against the arrows on that one!! In any event, she had a great year of school and has grown so much. Along with the pictures of her athletic ability, there is one of her with her teachers and then I have put another of her on her first day of preschool this year. What a difference since September!!

Caleb is 20 months

I couldn't pick just one because I thought they were all cute pictures. So sue me, I'm the parent of an adorable kid!!