Lots of new looks for the older kids of late.
First, we have Isaac, who just finished swimming lessons last week. He took to water like the proverbial duck:
Next, Allyson, all made-up from her Girl Scout day camp:
And Ryan, in his new church duds:
It's old news by now, but Ryan's birthday passed with much celebration. In addition to his birthday outing, we also had an at-home party last Sunday. For the cake, Ryan chose a dinosaur dig cake that was featured ion one of the 15 or so magazines we get each month (seriously, our magazine pile is taller than Evan, and Summer just subscribed to another one because it came with a free tote bag--we have more tote bags than we do magazines!). Anyhow, the cake is great, made from scratch with sugar cookies bones under a layer of cookie crumbs:
Here the birthday boy blows out the candles:
Fro presents, he got some nice church clothes (more on that in a future entry) to celebrate his forthcoming baptism. As a newly-minted eight-year-old, he also began cub Scouts, for which he was quite excited. His maternal grandparents sent him the uniform, which he wore within seconds of opening the gift:
And my parents send him a new glove, since the child size was getting too small:
It needs some breaking in, but that's a convenient excuse to play catch everyday, isn't it?
Happy birthday, Ryan, and thanks to aunts & uncles for cards and grandparents for gifts. See you all soon.
The two oldest kids, in particular. Yesterday was the end of Allyson's summer program at Albuquerque Academy. She had a great time, and it was fun (and a little bittersweet) to see her doing something so grown up--going off to a new place and making new friends. To celebrate, the students put on a brief show of their favorites from the culture through the arts class. Allyson's class did a drumming demonstration, as seen here:
Then we began the birthday festivities for Ryan. First today was a trip to the growers market downtown, where we bought some honey, jam, zucchini, eggplant, and bread. For some reason, this made Ryan make this face:
We then caught "Up" at the downtown cinemaplex, followed by lunch at our new downtown pizza joint. Here are some lunch-themed pictures:
(Clearly Ryan does not hold a monopoly on funny faces.)Here are some more photos from our May photo shoot. First, inside the theater lobby:
And next some fun shots in the courtyard outside:
One of the great joys of having your children's birthdays in the summer is the chance to celebrate at a ballgame. So last night we went to the Isotopes game against Memphis. Because this was the last home game of the holiday weekend (they're at Nashville beginning today), and because of the fireworks after the game, it was set to be a big crowd. (It ended up, at 15,358, being the biggest crowd in team history.) But last week I scored five seats in the front row of the upper deck seats on the third base side (good seats, and guaranteed to be in the shade all game long).
We got there early enough to sit back and enjoy the view of the Sandias. This was also a good time to get some pictures of the kids before the crowd got out of hand. So, here we have Evan:
And then the rest of the crew:
It was a great game. The clouds that had threatened the game all day (we got rain nonstop all morning) kept it cool, but not a drop fell during the game. The home team took an early lead and never let go, behind some solid pitching and good defense. And while no foul balls or free t-shirts came our way, Summer and I were able to sit together while the older kids played with Evan, who himself stayed up the whole game through).
After the game, a performance artist set up a 7' canvas at second base and, to the sound of various patriotic songs, pained a Statue of Liberty scene in about 5 minutes. It sounds (and promised to be) immensely lame, but it was really pretty cool.
This was followed by the fireworks show. To which the kids reacted thusly:
By the way, it's so much fun to tell Isaac that he gets fireworks for his birthday. All told, it was a pretty wonderful day. Happy birthday, Isaac!
Allyson has decided to set up her own blog! She writes many poems and stories and wants to share them with family and friends. She posted her first story today! Check it out:
Story Time With Allyson
After our trip to the Balloon Museum yesterday, we had cake and presents. Here Isaac opens his gift from the Grandparents Turner. They gave him a wallet and a watch:
He has been wearing the watch non-stop since then, calling out the time every few minutes. And he looks good doing it:
We gave him some movies:
And Summer made--from scratch--a balloon-shaped cake:
Later that evening we went to a great Isotopes game. More on that later...
One of our favorite things to do in ABQ is visit the Balloon Museum the city opened a few years ago. Since today is a)Isaac's birthday and b)the first Friday of the month (free day at the museum), we decided to pay a visit.
Here are some images from the day. First, the whole crew posing as if in the air (you can tell it's not real because Summer, while apparently scared to death, would never really get in a balloon aloft):
One of the exhibits contains a replica of the Double Eagle II, the first non-motorized airborne craft to cross the Atlantic, piloted by some ABQ natives in the 1970s. Here the kids invade the replica:
And here's the birthday boy at one of the interactive kiosks:
Ryan, either posing oddly or passing a kidney stone:
More birthday fun later today...
