After Grandma's funeral we had a chance for a family photo. We missed Jim, but we did have everybody else for the first time since Emily was born, so we took the opportunity. Front row: Aidan, Mom, Dad, Esme. Back row: Wendy, Cathy holding Emily, Scott holding Megan, Melissa, Ryan.
Wednesday August 5, the kids and I met Mom and Dad in Charlotte, and then Mom traveled south with us to Fort Wayne. I spent several lovely hours at the library in Fort Wayne that afternoon, finding lots of genealogy information. We stayed with Juanita and Jerry, and the kids really had a ton of fun playing with Robin and making their own stained glass plates. Some of my favorite childhood memories come from crafting and cooking at Juanita's house...and now my kids are doing the same sort of thing!
Thursday, Mom, the kids and I went to Science Central in Fort Wayne, which was really cool. I think the kids' favorite part was the centrifugal force platform - they kept going back to spin themselves around. We stopped for lunch at Panera, and then went to the nursing home to visit Grandma.
We spent a couple of hours at Wanda's house with her and Samantha, playing outside, eating pie and popsicles, and chatting. Then we headed to Dave's house, where the kids swam and played together. Back at Juanita & Jerry's, Mom and Juanita went back into Fort Wayne to see Grandma, who had been moved to the hospital, and the kids and Jerry went to bed.
Friday we got moving early and met Cathy, Megan and Emily at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. We had a really wonderful time. Here are Esme and Megan riding a turtle sculpture - right by the real turtles!
Aidan wouldn't take part in the traditional Little Poof picture, but we got all the girls in there - even Emily. :)
Aidan, Esme, Megan and I rode the Australian log ride, Megan rode on the carousel in the Indonesian rain forest, Cathy and the kids rode the train... Here are Esme and Megan - "hatching"!
We even had lunch at the zoo in the little cafe - and Emily played with Grandma, too.
Each of the "big" children got to have a pony ride. They all got on their respective ponies, and then while they were waiting for direction, Aidan's pony leaned over to try to bite Esme's pony, which nearly unseated them both! Everything turned out okay, though. Here's Esme:
...and here's Aidan...
...and Megan with Cathy...
...Aidan again...
...Megan was so happy to be riding a pony!
Here's Aidan in Great-Uncle Dave's pool, having a blast.
Esme, loving the pool!
The children are so blessed to have cousins they love to play with when our family gets together. Clockwise from upper left - Sylvia, Esme, Aidan, Annah, Megan. Caeden was there too, just ducking!
Our double-birthday party was a terrific time. We had 32 people, the most ever at our house at once! After dinner the kids all played in the kiddie pool and slip 'n slide - here we have Mason, Mariah, Shea and Esme.
Mason, Livi, Andrew, Mariah, Megan, Shea and Esme.
Megan was the life of the party as usual. :)
Brooklyn was a little taken aback by all the big kids, but she was happy to be outside!
Caden wasn't this subdued the whole time.
We had the pleasure of a visit to the zoo with the Fortunas a couple weeks ago. This is Shea, who was really brave to do the zipline!
Aidan on the zipline...
...and Mason on the zipline!
Our little girl turned six yesterday, 31 August 2009. We celebrated on Sunday the 30th, since her daddy was home to celebrate with us then! Nee-Nee and Papa came to spend the day with us, too. This is Esme's birthday cake - I used the Tinkerbell pan but this is Dulcie the baking talent fairy - thus the brown hair and eyes!
Of course, Esme wanted to open her gifts right after breakfast, before getting dressed.
Reading her birthday card from Aidan...
Nee-Nee gave Esme her very own sewing machine. Ever since this moment, she has spent every possible minute using up her thread and fabric (thanks to Aunt Melissa for Esme's very own fabric!) and telling everyone she meets that she has her very own sewing machine!
From Mommy, the third set of Pixie Hollow books.
From Daddy, three (count 'em!) sets of Belville legos, involving horses and puppies, Esme's favorites.
We had a lot of sadness and a lot of joy in August. I still get emotional at odd times, thinking about Grandma, but mostly I am grateful for the blessing she is on our lives and and for knowing that she is eternally joyful and at peace.
Esme had her six-year checkup this morning, which went well. No shot drama, and both kids received the Flumist vaccine - so hopefully no more shots, at least this year! Esme weighs 50.5 pounds, and measures 46.5 inches - in a year she grew 3 1/4 inches and gained 6 pounds, which the doctor says is great. This makes her about average for her age, despite the fact that she looks so much littler than her peer group (most of her classmates are almost a year older than she is).
Saturday last we received our teacher letters, and so the next school year is decided. Aidan will have Mrs. Abbott for fourth grade - when she returns from her maternity leave in six weeks. He will have Mrs. DeRidder, the same teacher that filled in for Mrs. Throop last year, for the time before Mrs. Abbott is ready to return. He is a little disappointed, because he would have preferred Mr. Krusniak, but he knows Mrs. Abbott and likes her, and is looking forward to a challenge in fourth grade.
Esme will have Mrs. Grosvenor for first grade, who has grown-up sons and thus will likely not be taking maternity leave this year. Hooray! She is really looking forward to the challenge that all-day school will present, and also looking forward to seeing all of her kindergarten friends again.