Random shots

We went down to Marietta yesterday to say bye to Uncle Nick who is the favorite uncle still even though he was only here for 2 weeks! Anyway, the kids had a great time dressing up while we were waiting for dinner. Also there is one more shot of our train set which Scott maneuvered to go under and over the mountain, and Katya thought that was very cool - so did Mommy!

So long R & B

Well Robert passed his test and he and his family were off about 2 weeks later! They are moving to Greely, CO. We are jealous and will miss them. I was really nice having them so close this year. We went down Sat to help them pack up their moving truck and say goodbye. These are just some random pics of that day. Wish I would have gotten all the cousins together for a pic one last time. I'm sure they are having a wonderful time traveling across the country with their 4 kids, one van, one car, and huge moving truck!

Jack's birthday

Jack turned 3!!! on Aug 12. I can't believe he's growing up so fast. He really seemed like a different kid even a couple of weeks before he turned 3. He's acting older and doesn't seem like a baby any more. He is pretending a lot these days. He loves to dress up and especially loves to be Superman. He also plays with his cars and dolls and makes them jump or puts them to bed, takes care of them, etc. It is nice to be able to model things I want him to do now since he actually cares about what his dolls are doing now. His birthday was on a Tues, so he and I just hung out most of the day and went thrift story shopping for a new piano keyboard, thomas the train set, tennis shoes, dress shoes, Halloween costume, and action figures. He had a fun birthday and got the see Daddy for lunch at the park and again for pizza at his office for dinner. We went to the Perry's that weekend for swimming, pizza, and ice cream. Jack loved blowing out the candles and singing Happy Birthday, so we did that 3 times. He's not crazy about cake, so we just had candles in the ice cream. He got lots of great presents at his party, too, and from his other grandparents. He's really enjoyed playing with puzzles and his octopus play-dough. He also loves his new underwear and curious George t-shirt. I think he might have liked his Old MacDonald card the best though.

Mildenhall reunion

OK - I think we must have taken pictures on our other camera of this event. I'll have to get Scott to put those pics on the blog. He only had to show me about 10 times how to transfer the ones from this camera, so we'd better not push it by adding another gadget! The kids were patiently waiting for me in the rain while I packed the car after Katya's school. They got a kick out of sitting under the huge umbrella. The next picture is the end of the reunion. This is about 5 pm on Sunday. Jack just couldn't hold his head up any longer. He asked for a snack and then a few minutes later we checked on him and he was out! I guess he had a good weekend! We all had a blast at Big Canoe in a beautiful house rented by mil and fil Mildenhall. Nick came home from his mission in Germany earlier in the week and the Duncans were here from Utah, so that was a wonderful treat to see everyone again. We all had a great time catching up and going to the pool/lake/etc.

Katya's 1st day at school

I can't believe Katya has started kindergarten! She is having a great time and has a wonderful teacher. It was a little hard for her to get going the first few days, but now we have a better schedule and reward system, etc, so she's doing great. And if you can believe it - she wears a dress almost every day! She is blessed to go to a beautiful new school with all the latest equipment, gadgets, etc. The library and computer rooms are especially nice. I also enjoyed seeing the large music room. There is a huge gym inside the building, too and a nice playground out back. And Katya is an old pro at everything now since they started so early here - AUG 7!!

For Chase

These two pictures are for Chase, Katya's friend and pen pal from Chesapeake, where we lived in Virginia. Katya sent him a surfboard she decorated almost like the one in the picture. She wanted him to see this one that she made for me. The other picture is of her in her ladybug mask that he sent her to put together. Katya really likes this mask and wants to be a ladybug for Halloween this year. I think I have a picture of her in a ladybug costume on this blog when she was about 16 months. She intends to wear the same costume, so we'll see how that goes...

Myrtle Beach

Beth has been inviting us to go with her to Myrtle Beach for the past, I don't know, probably 5 summers. She goes every year with some friends from her rescue group. To tell the truth, I had my reservations about going because my memories of Myrtle Beach were of a horrible touristy beach town - which it probably still is. However, we had a great time staying away from the crowds at the state park. It was beautiful. Beth had a campsite for her RV, so we put up a tent on her site. We had so much fun with cousins and going to the beach everyday. It was a very relaxing weekend. I'm sure we will go in years to come. The picture above is of one of Katya's "collections" which she made every day.

Kikko is 5!

Sorry I didn't get very good pictures of Katya's birthday party. All her GA relatives came except Katie who had an ear infection. Even Scott's Aunt Sarah, Uncle Dean, and their 3 boys came. They were in town on their way to Disney World and a Disney cruise. We went to a local park where all the kids could play on a big playground and play kickball on the little league fields. We had a nice pavilion with a huge fan!! It was a nice day and Katya is excited to be 5...but not so excited about starting school this week. She is a bit nervous, but I'm sure will be over it after the first day. She took a kindergarten preview class for 3 weeks this summer. She wasn't very excited about going, but when I went to pick her up at lunchtime, she ran to the car yelling, "Mommy, I loved it. It was so much fun!" Hopefully the real kindergarten will at least measure up to that.

Perry Family Reunion

This year's reunion was at Gulfort, MS. We were right on the coast, so we got to spend a day at the beach. We saw the coolest Humane Society, where we stopped and toured and got a pic of Beth. They have a thrift store, pet store, and low-cost spay neuter clinic attached. The facilities are soooo clean and organized and beautiful. They are also building a dog park in the back. There were peacocks at our hotel, and they sounded like loud cate meowing each night. Katya is wearing the apron that Aunt Sue made from a pattern of my Grandma Perry's. Each girl got one, so we have matching one's. It was a great setting and wonderful time to catch up with everyone and see two new cousins born this year! We were also able to announce that we are expecting in Jan, so we will have another new cousin for everyone to meet next summer!

Big River

Katya took a week-long drama class at the beginning of the summer. It was an intro to Big River, a musical about Huck Finn's adventures. Here's a picture of her with her favorite character. She loved dancing with him on stage for the final performance on their last day. And her favorite teacher, Miss Carly, was the choreographer for the class.

Summer cutie pies and dress ups

We've had a great summer with lots of playing and going swimming every day. The kids took a swimming class and have been little fish ever since. I can't believe Katya starts kindergarten this week, and Jack will start preschool at the Methodist Church at the end of the month! Whew, summer flew by! My favorite is Jack's Mr. T poser picture...and Katya is princess of the jungle. Jack is really growing up - he is speaking so well now and figured out how to play the harmonica. He is starting to pretend with dolls and stuffed animals and cars. He loves shapes and colors now, and today he was helping me sweep!