Mr. Manners

Isaak has been working on his manners lately, and last night he demonstrated his progress. He burped, and immediately followed it with a polite little "Excuse me!" I was so proud. (Mike didn't even notice.)

This afternoon, though, as he was sitting on the couch waking up a little bit more from his nap, he farted...and grinned.

Me: Isaak! What do you say?!?

Isaak: Oh, Maaannn!!

I guess those manners still need a little bit of work!

Dauphin Island, AL - Day 2

On the second day of our visit, we took a ferry to the mainland,

and drove to Pensacola, FL to visit the Naval Aviation Museum.

We took the ferry back to the island again,

and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach.

Dauphin Island, AL - Day 1

Our first official family vacation was spent on Dauphin Island, AL, in the Gulf of Mexico. We rented a beach house for a few days and had some fun!

On our first day on the island, we took a long walk through a bird sanctuary,

and then we visited historic Fort Gaines, where we got to watch a blacksmith in action, explore every nook and cranny, and watch a period actor demonstrate the firing of a rifle and a cannon.

Then we spent the afternoon at the beach playing in the sand, flying a kite, swimming, and hunting for shells.

A Trip to the Zoo

On Friday, we went to the Nashville Zoo for the first time:

Isaak had never been to a zoo before, and he thought it was great!

 

We walked for three hours, and saw a lot of neat animals:

...And wore the kids out!

Isaak's First Haircut

Show and Tell

Look what I've got!

And I get to keep him for two whole weeks!  :)

Honorary Uncles

Unless you're my parents, this picture will mean nothing to you.

I, on the other hand, spent part of naptime today bawling my eyes out.  I found this picture on Facebook, somewhere in the middle of Kathy Courtright's 83 pictures of the Scott/Peruite get-together last weekend.  (I actually have no idea who she is, but I know most of the people in her pictures!)

There were a lot of adults on our center in Peru when I was growing up, and I'll admit that I probably don't remember half of their names (oh, all right, maybe I do...), but I could never forget these two men.  I'm sure that most of us Peruite kids could tell you that Doug Deming was a pilot, and that Gene Scott was a translator, but for me, they were more than that.  Those were just their day jobs.  

Uncle Doug was my Sunday School teacher when I was little.  (Did I ever have another Sunday School teacher after him?  Sorry, Sunday School teachers of my childhood, but he's the only one I remember clearly.  He set the standard!)  And Uncle Scotty was, well, Uncle Scotty, and he was Uncle Scotty to more MKs than just my generation!  The Scott's had the BEST yard and view of the lake for Easter Sunrise Services, and no Sunrise Service can ever even begin to compare with those that we had in their front yard.

Oh, and those tears I shed when I found this picture?  They were selfish tears.  

Because I want Uncle Doug and Uncle Scotty (and all of my other Peruite "Aunts" and "Uncles")  to not be so ... old.  

A Summer Afternoon Field Trip

This afternoon, Mary and I took the kids on a field trip...to visit the chickens that lay our eggs (and the people that kindly share with us!)  The chickens were a little skittish today after a few of them were chased and killed by a dog yesterday, but the kids and Mary were perfectly content to hang back and admire the chickens from afar.

We all watched as Miss Vickie showed us how she checks the nests for eggs, then the kids ran off to collect chicken feathers off the ground and swing on the swings.

They paid attention when I pointed out how the grape vines grow, and were very interested in the Japanese Beetles Mr. Doug pulled of the grape vines.  He showed the kids how to roll them in their hands so they couldn't fly, and threw the beetles to the chickens as a treat.

They inspected the garden next, and Miss Vickie let them each pick a yellow squash to bring home.  They saw the corn growing, 

the tomato plants staked up, and then they noticed the loooong row of

thornless blackberry bushes.  

Jaela and Macey picked double handfuls of blackberries with Miss Vickie, while Mr. Doug, Mary, Anya, Isaak and I investigated the asparagus that had been allowed to go to seed, and the empty blueberry bushes.  

Miss Vickie gave each of the girls a plastic bag, and showed them where the wild blackberries grow.  Isaak did his share of berry picking, with some guidance on which color of berry to pick!  He treated the wild, thorny berry bushes with the same disrespect he had given the thornless

bushes, and didn't even get scratched!  Beginner's luck...

Isaak had no hesitation in making friends with the farm cat, and it consented to be gently mauled by a two-year-old.  (Notice the chicken feathers all over the ground...this was the site of yesterday's chicken massacre.)

The girls wanted to see the cows, too, but the field was empty.  They were all down by the creek, out of sight, cooling off.

While Miss Vickie and Mary took the kids inside to have lemonade, Mr. Doug showed me his three hives of honey bees.  They really are fascinating little creatures (and I didn't even use the zoom lens!)  

I think I learned more than the kids did today!

Happy 4th of July!

 Black Widows C Co. 7-17 Air Cav Movie

Sisterly Love

As Anya and Isaak came up the stairs together after snack, Anya sang a song to Isaak about how much she loves him.  My favorite line in the song was the last one:

"I love you more than a beetle!"