Graduation Here We Come

We can't believe that the event we have looked forward to for the last 4 years is finally here. I knew May would fly by and it did. All the things we wanted to do one more time and all the people we wanted to visit one last time, some of them happened and some of them didn't. We will miss this beautiful place very much. Every time I drive through the mountains to get to work I'm reminded that we are very lucky to live in such a wonderful place and have such wonderful friends.

One last canoe trip down the New River. The water was pretty chilly but Ethan still wanted to float down.

One last playdate at Elicia's house. I felt like I was flashing forward 14 years when Vann threw the car into reverse and sped out of the garage with my baby girl. I don't know if I can ever handle the idea of her dating.

Do you like Taylor's "swimsuit"? Playing in the water hadn't been in the plan but the kids wanted to really bad so that was the best we could come up with. I told her to just play in her clothes but she didn't like that idea.

We went with some friends to a Salem Red Sox game on Memorial Day. We thought it would be so much fun but the heat was overwhelming. The kids were melting before the game ever started. Taylor and I spent most of our time on this bench in the shade where she made friends and flirted with older men.

One last playdate with Summer. Last year Summer watched the kids while I worked so the kids got to be really tight. I will have to admit that I also missed my improptu chats when I would pick the kids up. And look, her kids will pose for pictures.

Abe's school put on a picnic for the families the day before graduation. The kids had a blast on the inflatible slides and running around. Taylor loves to have her face painted!

They had an awards ceremony and graduation dinner at the school. I always love a reason for Abe to have to wear a suit.

We took one more walk around Pandapas Pond. Someone, who will remain nameless, has scared Ethan about the idea of ticks getting on him and sucking his blood. So Ethan wouldn't take one step off the path our whole trip. It didn't help that Abe's dad led him to believe that there might be rattlesnakes in our yard in Texas. On top of his concern about fire ants thanks to our last trip to Texas. He may never camp again.

Before graduation there was a promotion ceremony for all those graduates who will be entering the armed forces. It was a wonderful ceremony and they had an amazing General who spoke with so much enthusiam that I think we all wanted to join the military by the end of it. We are very proud of our soldier and what he is willing to do for us and for our country! He thinks we should address him as Captain Fish now.

And graduation was way too long but it was wonderful to see Abe walk across and be hooded. We are SO proud of him. We were so thankful that both Abe's parents and my parents could come and support him. Ethan and Taylor couldn't get enough of having their grandparents there and were sufficiently spoiled for those couple of days.

Ethan really wanted to take some pictures of the graduation. He was so cute and serious about it. He started to panic when he realized it was Abe's turn. I didn't get a chance to download any of the pictures he took to post though.

A little snack break outside during the ceremony. After 2.5 hours we were all ready for a snack break.

The Summer of Cousins

We were lucky enough to be able to fit in another quick trip to Richmond to see my older sister, Emily, and her two kids while they were visiting my mother. The kids were so excited to be able to see their cousins and they played so well together. We hadn't seem them in a very long time but they just hit it off. Emily and I forced them to take lots of pictures and they endured it pretty well. For my kids they did amazing!

During our two days there we also made it to the zoo. The kids loved it. I was pretty impressed with Taylor and Ethan's willingness to let the animals eat from their hands.



Taylor was not thrilled with the smell at the zoo.

Taylor and Emily's daughter were best buds. Taylor loved to follow her around and do everything with her. It was so great to have constant entertainment for the kids.

We also managed to work in a trip to the park after the pictures. It was such a great trip. Hopefully we can convince them to come visit us in Texas. Now we just have to wait a few more weeks before we get to see our Texas cousins and we can't wait.