Phone Photo Backlog

I have been stashing a ton of photos on my phone that Margaret never gets to see since she takes her own photos now with her own fancy phone.  Here are a few choice specimens that I have taken over the last two months or so....

Edie has been in a bit of a fussy mood since all of her canines have been growing in together. It is so nice to get some pictures when she isn't quite so fussy and is her usual silly self!

We went to the children's garden at the botanical gardens. Margaret already shared some of these but I got this nice picture of Margaret and John chillen'.

The Boys and I went to a B-day party for one of Oscar's buddies at school. John entertained himself by coloring himself blue

Edie's got long, moldable hair.  She likes it when I mess with it in the tub

Margaret had to make a "Count-down" video for a conference she is going to in London!  We made a soybean stop-motion gif instead.

St Patties day apparel.

Nice weather = Picnic on the deck

Oscars favorite picnic item is "ninja food".  This recipe is fruit mixed with rice.  According to him, this is a delicacy in ninja village.

Silly times at turtle park

Post swim crash.

Oscar likes writing his name in mixed media.

It is finally warm enough to play some water games in the yard!

Redbud.

Eric and I went to the beach during a showing on Monday. Such a nice day!

Here is our red bud tree. Can you see it?

That's better! Say it with me now: reh-yud buhd

A spring day

On Sunday it was a little rainy but we decided to go out anyway - and as soon as we left the house the sun came out! We went to the Clemson Botanical Garden, always a delight. And afterwards Oscar and John and Eric went to Oscar's classmate's birthday pool party! John was very disappointed that he didn't get to go to Maya F.'s birthday party again today, he had that much fun floating around. And all that activity ensured that both boys were asleep by 8 o'clock, DST. Phew!

Exterior moss

Interior risky behavior

Exterior seat for elves

 Field of hellebores (or as Michael Dorn much prefers to call them, Lenten roses)

Ginormous Harry Lauder's walking stick

Playing in the stump or children's garden

Field trip!

The move is becoming real. Our house is on the market, we finished painting, we upgraded the master bathroom, and I even washed the front porch railings. We've had three showings, but no offers yet. We have never lived in such a clean house before! And, unlike in Fort Collins, it doesn't feel like our belongings are under pressure, ready to leap out of overstuffed drawers and closets. Instead it feels like we finally put all our stuff away, and it is grand.

The biggest challenge, of course, is keeping everything put away. Now the children are excited about getting out the toys that have been tidied up, and pulling all the books onto the floor....

Here John reads on our newest fancy loveseat in the adamantly not beige/dark beige library.

Edie demands to help with all cooking. She's a good water-pourer, and wiper with the towel.

We had the third showing on Sunday, which was supposed to be very rainy and cold. And it was! So I took the boys to Atlanta to see Uncle Mark and some vanilla orchids, and left Eric home with Edie. I also happened to take all the strollers and the umbrella with us, so Eric wisely decamped to the neighbors' house while strangers toured ours.

We had a great time in Atlanta! Mark treated me to a beerspresso, the strangest coffee drink I've had so far, and treated the boys to fancy drawing paper and sharpies. Many turtles were drawn by all. Then we got to see turtles and tortoises in real life at the botanical garden, along with fancy frogs and orchids. The boys were very wicked and played in all the water features and pulled on all the plant leaves but ultimately did no harm. So actually I guess they were pretty good!

I believe this guy is Eva's dear friend! (or research subject, the line gets a little blurry maybe)

Clearly up to no good.

BUS.

Edie has found her voice! She's clearly John's sister, infatuated by buses and really all vehicles. This is but a small demonstration of Edie's vocabulary, since by filming her, I outraged her older brothers who felt far more worthy of documentation. They were wrong.