In the Merry, Merry Month of May

...I still stank on that resolve of mine to post more. But, that doesn't really extend to my picture taking so here follows a little photo deluge of things I May (get it?) missed posting.

Right before the 'Great Haircut of 2012.'

Afterwards, he liked it. I whined about him looking like a skinhead.

Goofing off at Wendy's

Pretending to be a fire breathing dragon. Seriously.

Making Duckface. Seriously. Kyle did tell her to though.

Mother, seriously into washing her car.

Daddy, chilling.

Emily at the nursery.

Sidetracked while looking for work shoes. Can you blame us? Look at those shoes!

Maybe for Kyle?

Maybe for me? To be fair I had one similar and I returned it. Oh, foolish me.

Making the most of his Jubilee face painting.

Memorial Day

As is American tradition we celebrated Memorial Day with a cookout. We spent more than I would have liked but at the end of the day it was such a success in terms of having a good time with good people that we care a lot about. It was a bit potluck style so everybody brought something which really helps out on the hosts' end of things. Eric and Krystal were also a great deal of help, cleaning up chairs and prepping food. Katelynn & Shawn came by with Emmy, who is such a joy. We don't get to see them too much, especially Shawn, and we really need to remedy that. Today's festivities were in the front of the house so we could enjoy a more open space. Bringing everything out front was easier than expected especially since everyone was helping. Our last arrival was Miss Erin and we were very happy to have her, we hadn't seen her in at least a couple of months. Our cookout was quite the success if I do say so myself.

Pungo Strawberry Festival

Eric & Krystal dropped by to see us late this morning before they headed out to the Strawberry Festival in Pungo. I kind of wanted to go because I hadn't been before but we already had plans to go to Lisa's and hang out in the pool (which Kyle was really looking forward to). We figured though that there was still enough time to do both we'd just be a little late out to Lisa's. Wouldn't you know however that when Kyle called Lisa she had changed her mind about going poolside since she was out all day yesterday and had gotten a bad sunburn and had decided to spend today "not moving." Our day freed up, we headed out for some strawberry pickin'. We were one of many in terms of people heading out for the festival. It took a bit of time getting there, good weather = good turnout. The festival was a bit like the Chesapeake Jubilee & the Neptune Festival in terms of the carnival rides, the food and the vendors selling clothes, accessories and other things. Pungo definitely has The Neptune Festival beat in terms of rides though.

As close to 'Modern Warfare' as Kyle's ever going to get.

My boys.

Finding out about a helicopters weight capacity (it's a lot).

Since it's Memorial day weekend the military was out with a field of various modes of transportation that the kids got to sit in. It was really cool to see boats, trucks, and even a helicopter up close and personal and see their true size. They even had some weaponry (unloaded, of course) that everyone could hold and get a real sense of their size and weight. And yes, I asked if they could recruit as young as 8. I didn't actually get a firm no now that I think about it...

Just barely taller than the wheel!

As is customary for festival visiting, we had the prerequisite funnel cake and Eric bought old fashioned soda (in a word: sweet). Krystal got to see ponies and now we have an actual picture of Kyle, Isaac and myself. Don't know that I'd call it a family picture though.

As a side note today is Kyle's first true day of not smoking and he was feeling those cravings and the accompanying mood swings. He came through it like a champ though and he managed to stay pretty upbeat. I'm real proud of you sweetie!

Church on a Saturday?

Yesterday my father's church held a Friends & Family Day for, you guessed it, friends and family to come out. Daddy invited me to go and somehow, someway got my mother to go along too. It was really nice seeing so many nice people and meeting the people of his church. It's a little bit of a shame Isaac couldn't make it, there were a bunch of kids there. Older boys were playing basketball, but there were plenty of other children his age there. Plus face painting and water balloons! I got to play (and lose) 3 games of bingo, but Mama won! As you would expect from a church event there was also plenty of food. Chicken (fried and baked), hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, baked beans, green beans plus cakes and brownies, soda and chips. Yes, Kyle, I know you're jealous.

Yeah, we had a good time.

Sister, Sister (& Pretend Shopping plus a School Meeting)

Tuesday (one of Kyle's days off) just happened to be a day Kate didn't have to work, so we decided to spend a little time together. We started off the day with a trip to London Bridge Greenhouse & Nursery. Kyle and I were looking for something to plant in the front of the house to grow up on the pair of trellises we just added to the front of the house. A trip to the nursery is kind of like taking a mini visit to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

There were rock sculptures all around and of course lots and lots of plants. The sculptures are rocks that are carefully balanced on top of each other. It's really neat outdoor art. We didn't happen to buy anything though we did narrow our choices on plants for the trellis. We still have a tiny soft spot for Wisteria, but Kyle really took a liking to the Jasmine.

There was still some time before Kyle and myself needed to be school-ward bound for a meeting with Isaac's vice principal and guidance counselor, so we headed over to Ethan Allen. Their building has been in the same spot for as long as I can think if and I had never been. I didn't really find their prices to be outrageous, but they were definitely out of our price range. I found a sofa I really like, it happens to very strongly remind me of one in The Dick Van Dyke show (if you want to know it'd be the sofa in Rob's workplace). 

Kyle found a definite style he liked that we shall call 'Mad Men', it pretty much encompasses the things in Ethan Allen's 'Modern Glamour' collection. I'm just glad to have stumbled upon something he really took a shine to, it feels good to be able to nail a look down.

After our trip to the Land of Pretty Things We Cannot Afford, we grabbed a bite to at Chez McDonald's. I got the very fancy Happy Meal and Kyle had a frappe. 

After Mickey D's we temporarily parted ways with Kate and Emmy, so we could make it to Isaac's school. No worries, everything's fine or at least is going to be. We just had to set some things up for next year. We ended out time out by heading over to Kate's for some more brother, sister, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, cousin family time.

Actual Fun with the Children

April 29th was Kyle's birthday but he didn't get to enjoy his best birthday present until Friday. Blaze had bought him a ticket to Lunatic Luau, which was finally back after a long hiatus. Kyle took a half day out of work so that he could go around 4 o'clock. He, Blaze and Audrey had a very good time and he got a new band to listen to out of it.

Sorry for the crappy phone pic. Blame Audrey :)

As for myself, my Friday night was spent with Isaac & Mariska. We went to a free sale at a local church, where the kids each took home a small bag of toys. I got a few items for Mariska, Blaze, Isaac & Kyle, but didn't find anything for myself. Oh well. We picked up cheapie pizzas from Food Lion on our way home along with some popsicles. Once we got to the house it was private dance party time! We also rounded out the night with a little Spongebob and Rugrats. Since they were so good, I promised some something extra fun on Saturday. Kyle gave me the great idea of letting them go to town on some canvas I had that I had already painted but wasn't crazy about, and then hanging it in their room. They had fun and stayed remarkably clean.

One of our masterpieces.

He also used his floating holiday to take off Saturday which is so nice since he has Sunday off already so we get to have a full weekend. Our plans got off track as we were planning to go to a free yard sale but it ended at noon and we were still at the house at half past 12. This was all my fault as I forgot to double check the time of the sale. Oh well, you live, you learn. We decided to hit up some regular yard sales instead. Things were winding down when we were we out and that amounts to cheap prices and free toys for the kids. There's something I forgot to mention, we 'kidnapped' Mariska for our family day out.

My father had given me his car to drive home so we needed to return it. Pops had invited us to spend the night so we packed a tiny bag and headed out to my folks (Mariska included). As always the kids have been getting the The Grandparent Treatment. Free flowing juice, cartoons galore, sweet treats, the works. It's good to be a grandchild.

We also took the kids to Kangaroo Jac's yesterday. It's a bit dizzying in there because of all the the bright colors and the loudness that is to be expected in a place filled with dozens of children. But since we were there for Isaac and Mariska and they had oodles of fun, it was completely worth it.

That's pretty much our weekend. Family time with my folks which is always good.