Family Reunion

The kids and I traveled to the big city of Putnam (population: 91) today for my family reunion. My dad's mother's family gets together ever Memorial Day weekend, and it never fails to entertain.

What kind of fun is a a day outdoors without a tire swing? Answer: none.



For Carter, it was a bit too hot for too much fun. It was his first family reunion, and Leah and everyone else were on alert to keep him from melting. But, when you're this cute, it's not hard to get everyone's attention.

Even the dogs were hot. Granny kept checking on Cinnamon to make sure she wasn't melting in the terrible heat.



Also, it was great to see my dad with his siblings and parents. Aunt Kelly came in from Atlanta and Peggy lives near Putnam.

This was entire gang of my aunts/uncles and cousins who were in attendance.


My favorite part of the weekend was when we recreated a blast from the past. My dad's cousin, Marlene, pulled out some old photos from a family reunion many years ago. 1982 to be exact.

Someone had the bright idea to re-create this golden gem of my dad's cousin Warren, his daughter Leslie, me and Dad.

How can you not get a kick out of that?!

School's Out for Summer

I couldn't be more relieved that the end of school is here. Whew! We are in dire need of a break, and a three-month break sounds amazing.

To top off my elation, Abigail cleaned up at the end of school awards ceremonies. We know she is extraordinary, but it is always nice to see that other people recognize her awesomeness.



Cooper and his class sang at preschool graduation. I never tire of seeing the little ones be so cute!

Hannah Banana

My cousin has this fabulous business that I am finally enjoying. She creates these fabulous cards, and you've got to get some!

She made these awesome thankyou cards that I give to our swim coaches after each meet.



She can create anything your heart desires. Go check her out here!

Zoo Man is an annual last week of school tradition at Abigail's school. The kids look forward to him all year long. This year, Abigail was chosen from the first graders to participate in the show. I'm so glad I wasn't there to see it.




See, why I'm glad I missed it?! I thought so.

In case you were wondering, I'm still a running fool! I just ran my first race and could not be more proud of myself.


Adam and Daniel joined me this morning in the annual Chuy's 5K in Austin.


And, when I say "morning", I mean morning. These runners are early risers. We had to leave while it was still dark and were back home before the kids had even finished breakfast.

The boys finished at least 5 minutes before me because it took me 33 minutes, but I was just proud of myself for not quitting. I ran the entire race with having to walk a bit.


Go me! The truth is that the were a mass of thousands of runners and walkers. An older man (late 50s or 60s) was running in front of me. The back of his shirt said he was a cancer survivor. I promised myself that I would at least keep him in view, and he never quit running so I never quit running. Ha!

I had a blast today in my first race and can't wait for tomorrow's run!

Charlotte's Web

Abigail's teacher recently finished reading Charlotte's Web to the class. It's one of my favorites, so Abigail has read it several times. In fact, the latest animated version of the book was the first movie Abigail saw in a theater. In short, it's a classic that I highly recommend.

Today, the first graders dressed as their favorite characters and paraded through the preschool and elementary classrooms throughout the school.



Unfortunately, I waited until yesterday to put together Abigail's Charlotte costume and then she left the black tights at home this morning. Oh, well. It was still obvious that she was Charlotte, but not one of my finest mommy moments.


The best part of the day was after the parade. Daniel and joined the kids on a walk to the park where they ate lunch, played and fed the ducks. Of course, Abigail didn't want us to sit by her, but we enjoyed the day with her.

Cousins

While in between wedding events, we had some time to meet up with Daniel's sister, Michelle, and her kids, Avery and Harrison. The cousins always love seeing each other.