Arkansas Vacation

We're home from a two week odyssey in the South.  Here is a first installment of pictures from the Arkansas portion of the trip.  Lucy and Jasper were eager and excited travellers.  We were all quite happy to see Grandmomma and Granddaddy in their native habitat.  Stay tuned for a few pics of the Alabama portion of our trip.

Goodbye Mount Rainier, and hello Pinnacle Mountain.

Even taking the time to study the airplane safety guidelines...

Visiting

We're on a two-week vacation in Arkansas with my dad and stepmom (Granddaddy and Grandmomma). We probably won't download pictures until we get home, but we took a side trip to meet with my cousin Annie and her family in Alabama and she blogged about our time together at Desoto State Park. We had a great time on Lookout Mountain, especially relishing our time in the woods with Annie, Rob, Will and Owen. More on that when we return. Love from The Natural State.

Lucy is Seven!

We celebrated Lucy's birthday all week with special treats like a shopping trip to Hanna Andersson, having a movie night after Jasper went to bed, and a trip to the Mountlake Terrace Pool with Rob. Her actual birthday began as many days do: cuddling with Jasper in her bed.

Rob and I gave her a lap loom which literally occupied her the entire morning. Then we had our Dutch friends, Sebastian and Juliette with us for the afternoon which was super fun for both Lucy and Jasper. Then family dinner time but with the added bonus of Juliette staying for a birthday sleepover.

Then Lucy celebrated with friends on Sunday. The day gave us an unexpected gift of warmth and sun. Lucy's friends gave her the sweetest gifts: Lucy commented later that her friends really know what she likes!

Decorum

or rather the lack of it...

Cuteness

Today the kids were just cute. Of course I didn't get any pictures; I was just soaking it all in, relishing the sweetness of almost 7 and 3 and 1/2. We were inside all day, so happy and peaceful. We went through the school routine. Both Lucy and Jasper are in a very enthusiastic phase about school. Lucy loves to play recorder. She and I are doing rounds and that thrills her. Jasper made song requests and just seems to get a kick out of all the school stuff too. We read together lots, we made and ate food. Then I drove Lucy to choir at 4:30 while the menfolk stayed home and worked on the garden. In the mini-van, Lucy told me, "Mom, when I get older, I want to be quite old-fashioned."

And here are some random pics from the week. The dress-up Lucy pics are from her Northwest Girlchoir concert last weekend.

Down the Hatch

In spite of me and my "back to the drawing board" tendencies, good times have been had. The evidence:

The Scene

Our Fridays usually include time with our dear friends, Juliette and Sebastian. We have a good time. Jasper was still recovery from a virus in the picture and the next; you can see it in his eyes.

Jasper is usually wearing his cowboy hat these days and often is also carrying a fishing pole. Quite a look, really.

Lucy on the hippity hop with Jasper cheering from the sidelines.

We're all finally well. We are considering our schooling options (again) for next year. I know the right decision will come to us.... I love homeschooling Lucy, but am not sure it is right to continue for another year. We're actually going to look at our local public school on Friday. We'll let you know...