Tonight, Charlie's school had back-to-school night. It was a luau, and there were tons of games and a train ride for the children. We ate Chick-fil-a for dinner, and then the children played "Go Fish," made necklaces, had their faces painted, and rode on the train. It was a fun night!
After church, we headed to the "country." Charles likes to get out of the big city whenever he can. We ate lunch at Stubb's and then went to Pop's house. We put Meg down for a nap and then headed outside. Jane Gray and Charlie wanted to ride "Mo Glo" first, so we did that. I took a great picture of Jane Gray trotting "Mo Glo." She has become a very good rider; her daddy is very proud. Charlie enjoys riding, too, and he has learned to get Mo Glo to stop, giddy up, and go wherever he wants her to go. He does all of that on his own, without Daddy's help; again, his daddy is very proud. After the horseback-riding, we went fishing. We were getting skunked until Charles caught several crickets. The bream love crickets, and it did not take long before the children were getting lots of nibbles and then bream on their hooks. I just love the picture of Charlie fishing with his boot kicked up on the side of the pond (the boots were his daddy's when he was a little boy). After fishing, I went to get Meg up from her nap, and Charles took the children to look for arrowheads. They found some fun rocks instead. We then loaded up the car and headed home. It did not take long before two tired little puppies were fast asleep! It was a fun-filled day!
All of us in the Barbour family love to sleep. But, Charlie, in particular, can fall asleep anywhere and anytime. He plays so hard, and he sleeps so hard. Tonight, Charles took this picture of Charlie asleep next to the book he was reading. I also posted a picture we took of Charlie in the car on the way to the Ole Miss - Vandy game. How is it possible to sleep in a football helmet???
Uncle Paul and Aunt Fair spent the night in Oxford, so we had the Hurst girls over this morning. Charles picked up Genevieve and Liddy from their house and grabbed some doughnuts for breakfast. After breakfast, the girls played with Meg. The Hurst girls always go crazy over Meg, and Meg loves it. Mary Stewart spent the night with a friend, and when she finally made it to our house, everyone was very glad to see her.
Uncle Paul gave us tickets to the McCain Presidential Debate viewing party in Oxford. We drove around Oxford before the party. There were several bands playing in the Grove, and a big viewing party was held on the Square. The McCain party was at a bar off the square - Lyric. There were a lot of students there (the McCain campaign gave some sorority girls - including our babysitters, Macey Baird and Liz Fair - backstage passes), and we got to see and visit with several of our friends. We hung out mostly with Julia and Tony Gaines and their Grove group friends. We sat on the bar so we could see better. We had a great view when Cindy and John McCain came to the party. Charles didn't get to shake Senator McCain's hand this time (Charles met McCain at a fundraiser in Jackson), but we had a lot of fun hearing him speak and watching him drive the crowd crazy. When McCain left, Charles and I headed home and made it just in time to pick up the kids at 1:00 a.m. Thanks, Nana and Grandpa!
Will Upton invited Charlie to his 4th birthday party. It was a "ball" birthday party, and Charlie loves balls! The party was at Laurel Park, and all of Charlie's best buddies (Paul Gregg, Wilson Cotten, Victor Grantham) were there. He had so much fun! You'll notice that all of the Covenant boys have on green - it was "green" day today at school, so they all wore green shirts.
When I was checking on Meg tonight, I noticed that she still had her thumb in her mouth. I couldn't resist taking a picture of my precious "sleeping beauty."
Charlie loves to play with Reece. Today, Reece invited Charlie to eat lunch and play with him at Freedom Ridge Park, and Charlie was pumped! Baby Kate was there, too. And, as you can tell from the pictures, the children had a lot of fun playing together and with Nana and Grandpa.
Today was Christopher Maddux's third birthday. We went to his birthday party at Laurel Park and played and ate pizza and cupcakes. Christopher gave his buddies swords, so the boys dueled all over the park. They were really cute. One of my best friends and Christopher's aunt, Betsy Brown, was there; she and I had a great time catching up and just being together. Betsy's son, Griffin, is Charlie's age. Griffin, Christopher, and Charlie had a lot of fun playing together and fighting with their swords.
Uncle Paul gave us some Clubhouse tickets to the Viking Classic, so after church, we grabbed some sandwiches and headed to Annandale. The weather was perfect - a little overcast with a slight breeze - and the children were very well-behaved. We sat on a blanket under a tree on the 9th hole and watched the golfers. Jane Gray and Charlie watched the golfers for a while before deciding that it was more fun to collect sticks. We ran into Ty Carr, and he gave us some tickets to the Viking Hospitality Tent, which was the place to be. We drank coke and ginger ale and snacked on ice cream sandwiches. We made a quick pitstop by the Clubhouse and then called it a day (we were still pooped from our day in Oxford). Cameras weren't allowed at the Tournament, so we took a quick picture of the children by the golf course on the way out.
Saturday night, Ole Miss played Vanderbilt in Oxford. The Fair side of the family decided it would be a good time to have a reunion in the Grove. We went to Oxford a little early to shop and ride the Double Decker bus. The children had a blast riding on the top of the bus and waving at all of the Ole Miss fans. Jane Gray stood at the front of the bus, Charlie climbed on the side, and even Meg pressed her face against the plexiglass to get a good view of the Grove. After our bus ride, we headed to the Grove to meet up with the family. Except for a little downpour, the reunion was perfect! I wish I could say the same for the football game. Ole Miss fumbled on the one-yard line to lose the game. Daddy was very disappointed, but the children didn't seem to mind. They were just happy to be with their cousins and eat popcorn and peanuts.
Meg loves to hang out with me in the kitchen while I am preparing dinner. She usually plays in her jumpy toy, but tonight I decided to put her in her high chair and feed her Cheerios. Meg loved it! She kept banging her hand on the high chair tray to ask for more Cheerios.
We packed a lunch, grabbed Sayley Crawford, and headed to play group at Freedom Ridge Park. It was pretty hot (as you can tell from the red faces and sweaty heads), but the kids had a blast chasing each other and climbing all over the playground.
I drove Charlie's carpool this morning. Charlie and Wilson like to sit in the back together. Rachel has gotten a little jealous of that (she considers both Charlie and Wilson her boyfriends), so she has started sitting between them. It makes for a very loud drive to school!
This week, Jane Gray's class has been studying the letter "H." In honor of the letter "H," today is hat and crazy hair day. Jane Gray has been a little indecisive as to which of her many hats she was going to wear (although she was not confused about what hairstyle she wanted - braids all the way!). She had planned on wearing the magician's hat she got at Tanner Gough's birthday party (the top picture). But, this morning, she changed her mind and decided to go with her cowgirl hat - made her daddy so proud!
If you were around Charlie at all last year, you will know about his buddy, Hen-wee (Henry Smith). Sadly, Hen-wee is not in Charlie's class at Covenant this year. Charlie was so sad until he found Wilson Cotten. Wilson and Rachel Rutledge are in Charlie's Covenant carpool. Charlie has loved the carpool and his new friendship with Wilson. They played together this morning while I was sewing. They had a blast laughing and playing with all of Wilson's toys. In this picture, Charlie and Wilson are screaming "Cheese!" to the camera. The next picture came right after I told Charlie it was time to go home. As you can see, Charlie did NOT want to leave his best friend!
Mommy had a MOMS leadership meeting this morning after Bible study, so Charlie stayed for lunch bunch. Daddy decided it would be a good time to take his girls to Smith Park for lunch. We packed a picnic and played on the stage and cement rocks. It was so much fun, though we did miss our Charlie, especially when we saw that there was a bulldozer parked right in the middle of the park (the Parks and Recreation Department was trimming trees). Daddy promised to take us on another picnic when the leaves are falling - catching the leaves is an annual tradition!
I've been trying to get a good picture of Meg's two bottom teeth. She seems to think it is hilarious to hide them from her mommy. You will have to look very closely, but if you do, you will see that Meg has two fully grown bottom teeth.