Cannons, Berries, and a Bit of History

We spent most of our nation's birthday relaxing on the lake with my fam . . .

. . . including Uncle Andrew, who's in town for the holiday.

Daniel aims his water cannon at an unsuspecting victim (he missed).

Anna just thinks it's cool that the plunger slides back and forth.

Failing to catch the vision of hydro-armament, Anna opted to spend the afternoon splashing her feet in the water with Daddy. 

Back at the cabin, the adults observed Independence Day by sharing short bios of a few signers of the Declaration of Independence.  I chose Stephen Hopkins, who in 1776 was a former governor and state supreme court judge of Rhode Island.  He was one of the oldest signers, and his wobbly signature is easy to spot because his hands shook with palsy.  As he signed the Declaration, he stated, "My hand trembles, but my heart does not."

While the grown-ups discussed weighty, historic matters, the big kids had more important business to see to: climbing around on rocks and harvesting fruit from Papa's little raspberry bush.

Baby Cake

This morning my doctor did an ultrasound to confirm that Little Baby is healthy and all systems are operational.  She also answered a question that has been on my mind for months: are we going to have a boy or a girl?

I've heard of parents using a cake with a pink or blue interior to announce their baby's gender to family members, and I thought that would be a fun way to share the big news with our kids.  I baked a cake this afternoon, then after family home evening I explained to the kids how the cake would tell us whether they'd get a new brother or sister.  Both Joy and Daniel guessed it would be pink . . .

. . . but they were still really excited when they found out a little brother is coming to our family.  We're all looking forward to meeting him in four months. :)

Jam and Clams

The kids and I headed to Red Grandma's home for our annual Jam Session today.

Red Grandma, Aunt Heather, and I sliced, mashed, and mixed . . .

. . . then Joy twisted on the lids.  We had planned to go swimming at some point . . .

. . . but Joy was having too much fun working on her construction project . . .

. . . and Daniel was happy as a clam just turning lights on and off.

On a side note, exactly how happy IS a clam?

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello Cake

Today was Joy's very last day as a kindergartner.

She's had a lot of fun with Mrs. Haines this year.

At home this evening, we celebrated the beginning of summer vacation with a fantabulous homemade cake (with sprinkles!).  I'm not sure why I felt compelled to post a picture of it, since my other baked goods turn out so much better than my cakes do, but for some reason a frosted cake (even a rudimentary, single-layer one) feels like more of an achievement than a loaf of bread or batch of cookies.

Party Time, Twice

Joy played her last baseball game of the season today.

Her coach called her the most improved player on the team, and we're proud of her for her sincere effort (even when she misses).  

Daddy got into the games, too, and often stood along the baseline to coach Joy when she was playing first or third base.  You can also see her official coach (Coach John) in the outfield behind her.

After the game we had a team pizza party at Round Table, and all the kids got trophies.  Phillip and I are a little dubious about the policy of handing out trophies regardless of effort or achievement (some of the kids weren't very consistent about attendance, and the team never actually "won" a game because they don't keep score at this age), but we kept our thoughts to ourselves and Joy thought the trophy was pretty groovy. 

Later in the day, Joy's kindergarten class had an end-of-year swim party.

In addition to swimming and eating cake, the kids created some murals on butcher paper. Joy painted two stick figures and the words "Daddy and me."  It's sweet to see how much she loves her daddy.

More Caution at the Playground

The kids and I had a great time at the park today.

The caution signs were long gone from the big tree (though it didn't look any safer than it was six months ago), but someone wanted to make very, very sure that nobody played on this particular toy today.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad someone is looking out for my kids' safety, but for some reason the five cones and caution tape around a seemingly innocuous toy kinda crack me up.

Different (Chalk) Strokes for Different (Aged) Folks

The kids had fun playing with our sidewalk chalk today.

Daniel scribbled on the ground.

Anna scribbled on herself (if you look closely, you'll see streaks of blue on her face),

Joy (after taking a refreshing dip in the pool) scrawled out a cryptic math equation . . .

. . . and this message.  Awwww.