Charlie and I (Jane Gray was spending the night with Sayley) left early Saturday morning for Louise (he asked how I was so awake that early in the morning) to do some work on the dove field. We had a big time riding the tractor and 4-wheeler, spreading out the wheat, visiting with Uncle Will, playing in the dirt and whatever else we found to do. Louise's biggest attraction lately has been what I like to refer to as the "Redneck Aquarium" - where a large pipe drains into a canal, a large pool has been formed. Charlie loves walking out on the pipe (bigger than a car) and seeing what there is to be seen - bass, bream, catfish, carp, turtles, snakes, and best of all, alligator gars. Today, there were tons of fish, a couple snapping turtles and four big, ugly snakes. One of the gars even had a bream in its mouth which Charlie thought was about the best thing ever. As we hit the gravel road to head home, Charlie announced that he wasn't even a bit tired. About two miles later, he said that he thought he would close his eyes for a little while. It was another fun trip to the Delta. (In the second picture, you can see the gar catching the bream, the black blob in the middle is about 50 carp in a group, and if you look closely, one of the snakes is wrapped up at the very top just above the black thing in the middle).
We played with the Eisenhauers this weekend. We ate pizza together Friday night, swam Saturday morning while Daddy and Charlie were in Louise, and played at Nana and Grandpa's house Saturday afternoon. Aunt Stacy and the girls are staying all week, and we are really looking forward to having a fun week with them.
Aunt Fair and Uncle Paul hosted Alice's 89th birthday party today after church. Meg was so funny with Alice. We weren't sure what the big secret was between them, but she and Alice had so much fun together!
Tonight, we ate dinner with Gigi at Nana and Grandpa's house. After dinner, we gave Gigi a tour of our new house. The children were so excited to show her around the house!
I take back what I said about Meg being cautious. This morning, when I dropped Charlie and Meg off for their first day at Covenant, Meg hopped right out. She was so excited to be going to the same school as Charlie! Sweet Charlie promised Meg that he would take good care of her.
Daddy invited us to accompany him to his hearing in Laurel today. We had a great time! I took this cute picture of the kids sharing a Sprite on the front steps of the Laurel courthouse. It was a hot day, so we were very thirsty!
Daddy has been teaching churchtime at our church for the 3's and 4's for the last couple of years. When Mrs. Kipp found out that Jane Gray was taking piano lessons, she told Jane Gray that she could play the piano for churchtime. Jane Gray has done so well, and today, Charlie joined in the fun and helped Daddy lead the singing.
While Jane Gray was at cheerleading camp, Charlie and Paul Gregg were at Stephens Ball's birthday party. Charlie went home with Paul after the party, and Paul's daddy sent me these pictures of the boys. They found a box turtle in the road, and they were clearly very happy about it.
Jane Gray, Liddy, and Genevieve and several of their friends went to the cheerleader camp at Jackson Prep today. Jane Gray loved performing her cheers for the crowd! A couple of us moms commented that the girls enjoyed running off the court as much as they enjoyed cheerleading.
Meg is our first cautious child. We celebrated Jane Gray's first day of school with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's (Jane Gray's choice), and this was as close as Meg got to Chuck E. Cheese. She also was very unsure of some of the rides! Sweet Meg.
First Pres had a half day today, and Jane Gray finally got to meet her new teacher, Mrs. Slack. Two of Jane Gray's best friends, Sayley Crawford and Rebecca Burrow, are in the class, so it promises to be a great year! Today must have been a great day because Jane Gray crashed out on the couch this afternoon, and she never naps!
Jane Gray starts school tomorrow, so while Charlie was at a birthday party at Laurel Park, Jane Gray, Meg, and I went to the school to check out her new classroom. Her teacher is Mrs. Slack, and Jane Gray can't wait to meet her!
Charlie and Meg met their new teachers this morning at Covenant's Open House. Meg's teachers are Tanya Robinson and Ann Howard. Meg is in Charlie's old classroom, so she felt very comfortable. She dove right into the toys and the stickers Tanya gave her. She was also very excited about her new Covenant Kids T-shirt! Charlie's teacher is Jennifer Morgan. Charlie found his desk and his cubby, and he, too, got a new T-shirt. Charlie can't wait to start his kindergarten year!
Jane Gray and Charlie showed off their swimming strokes to Gigi this morning. Gigi was very impressed! Meg loved showing Gigi how much she loves to swim, too.
Sweet, tender-hearted Charlie loves to pick flowers for his Mommy. He picked this beautiful flower for me from the grounds at the Grand Hotel, and I love it!
The Barbour side of the family vacationed at the Grand this weekend, and we had such a good time! There is so much to do at the Grand. The first night we were there, we roasted marshmallows for s'mores on the beach, and the next night we watched Happy Feet at the pool. We also enjoyed riding our bikes (Meg fell asleep on one of our bike rides), swimming at the pool and in the bay, watching and chasing the ducks, going down the slides, floating in the lazy river, playing horseshoes, swinging in the hammocks, kayaking, and climbing our favorite tree. One interesting thing we did was watch the cannon being fired into the bay. Genevieve and Meg weren't too sure about the loud noise, but the rest of the gang enjoyed it! Before we left to go home on Sunday, we ate Sunday brunch. It was so fun! There was tons of food, and they had a jazz quartet playing some of our favorite songs. When they played "When the Saints Come Marching In," Charlie couldn't resist joining in.