Back in the Routine

I have neglected my online scrapbook since school started.  The days have flown by and I'm halfway through the first grading period!  

Genevieve absolutely loves her teacher and her new school.  We picked out a special Friday gift to send for her teacher.  

Honestly, smelly Mr. Sketch markers are the only reason I'm still teaching.  I sniff markers and it gets me through the day.

I figured that G's teacher has 20 4 year olds, so she needs smelly markers more than I do.

Ha!

We had our own Olympics at school last Friday.  My munchkins are adorable again this year and I am so happy again to be in first grade.  

Genevieve had her first soccer game last weekend.  It was rainy and was a pretty underwhelming experience.  She was in it to win it for the first 2 quarters of the game.  Then she got tired, hungry, and hot and was over it.  She stood along the sidelines and cried and generally embarrassed the hell out of me.  The other embarrassment was my most laid back father.  The man never uttered a word in years and years of what I'm sure was very frustrating athletic performances from his own children.  Alas, the man is a regular Dick Vitale at his granddaughter's peewee soccer game.  I'm talking constant commentary.  

"Well, it looks like Genevieve's not too interested."

"That one over there is going the wrong way."

"This is going to be a long game…"

Oh, Dad.  

My favorite part of the whole experience was the family in their chairs next to us.  They were eating crackers out of the box and squeezing squeezy cheese on them as if it was their last meal.  I thought they stopped making that squeeze stuff in the late 80s.   Their child ran over at one point, stuffed a cheese cracker in his mouth, and then ran back on the field.  

I giggled in silent judgement.

Then my kid lost her marbles.

Karma, people. 

Speaking of judgement, the rhythm was gonna get me at our first dance class of the 2016-2017 season.  

Thank you, Gloria Estefan.

G was reunited with Cordelia, her pal from last year.

That's Cordelia in the background, working on her chaine turns.

Her dad sometimes calls her Junior Mint.

She's a trip and a half.  

I had to google chaine turns.  It's French and I didn't imagine it was spelled shunay or Sinead, as in O'Connor. 

She opted for a more mature leotard this year.  No sequined tulle.

It really enhanced her silhouette.  

Check out that profile!

Toddler tummy out.

She's constantly stuffing animals and such under her dresses and shirts to have a baby in her belly.

There is nothing under that leotard.

Just the apple she inhaled 10 minutes before class.  

Karma got me again, people.

She was 15 minutes from the end of the class and came over and demanded a snack.  Sweet Lord, you would think she had a tapeworm.  

She snagged a box of raisins and sat down waiting for her turn to leap.  The other little girls started demanding raisins and hopping around.

I felt like I was in one of those old California Raisins commercials where they sing and dance and generally look creepy.

The only person who I don't think was judging me was Junior Mint's mom.

She announced, "y'all should know, Genevieve is ALWAYS HUNGRY."

Yes, thank you.  

Truer words were never spoken.

G's teacher posts pictures on Facebook on her private page.

G learned about sinking and floating during science last week.  

I may have her teach me that lesson, as I still haven't mastered that concept.  Buoyancy is a concept that eludes me.

I troll T's account, since I'm still boycotting FB in my own name.

Snarf!

A Bunch of Firsts!

Genevieve attended her first meet the teacher event.  She really liked Mrs. Norris.  

She has her own locker at preschool.  

She was jazzed about her very first day!  It was my 16th first day of school as a teacher.  

I chose not to photog myself.  

Her teacher uses an app to communicate and sent me this picture of my painter during the first week.  

G also had her first soccer practice on Wednesday.  She looked the part with her shin guards and cleats.  She stepped on my finger while wearing those cleats and I nearly passed out.  Those things are legit. 

Trinity has vowed to learn something about soccer.  

She really thought this was her own goal.  

Oh, I'm just acting like I always do.

I regularly balance on a ball.  

She listened attentively to her coach.  Her team is the Tomcats.  That's funny to me.  

She kept saying she was on the kitty team.  

\\

She took a lot of water breaks.  

A lot.

We hit up the IMA family day art olympics after watching the opening ceremony.

G loved this background but could not decide on a sport.  She's holding a baton and crossing the finish line while wearing a swim cap.  

She loved art and yoga outside.  

She's famous now! 

End of Summer 2016

Summer 2016 has come to a close.  I start school on July 25th.  It just seems wrong.  We finished our fun with a few outings.

Rosie, Margo, and G attended another round of princess dance camp.

This time they donned different gowns.

I dressed Samantha in her new dress.  She looks a little creepy, but she's not.  

We enjoyed a pool day with pals.  

Tara continues her reign as the fun and cool mom.  

 Genevieve and I met Jamie and Lindsay and their kiddos for a fun filled morning at the Children's Museum.  

 Genevieve loves a little Georgia time.  

 Alex and I benched it on the carousel.  

 We joined Marinda' s crew for the hottest night of the year at Mallow Run Winery.

The boys chilled while the girls took selfies.

Trinity and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Saturday.  We did what every exciting couple does and procured soccer gear for our soon to be 4 year old.  

We purchased the world's smallest Umbro soccer shorts.  They made a good hat.

My five head is huge.

Cheers to a new year!  

Big Cedar

The whole fam shoved off bright and early on Tuesday, July 5th for our 3 night family vacation in Ridgedale, Missouri.

My parents had discovered Big Cedar a few years ago when they went over Thanksgiving.  We decided this would be a short and quite different family trip for us.  Scheduling is hectic with Caroline's activities and my high travel standards:) We usually go to a beach somewhere, but we changed it up this time and laked it!

Big Cedar is kind of like summer camp for everyone.

I loved it.

It was rustic luxury.

Is that even a thing?

It is at Big Cedar!

We checked in and were welcomed by Lincoln logs.  

It was 95 degrees and sunny.

Missouri is hot, y'all.

We went straight for the pool.  

My husband was eager to pose with me.

So was the man behind us.

I could not stop laughing at how he would gingerly splash himself every few minutes while he lounged like a sea lion.

I kept thinking of the sea lions in Finding Dory.

This picture is an optical illusion.

T actually has an inch on me.

Not that it matters.

But it does.

Katie, Chipper, T and I explored the grounds.

Patsy bought Trinity that campground shirt in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  It says, "It's all fun and games until someone loses a wiener." 

We like to bring the fun to every locale.  

They had an old Airstream trailer that was an ice cream shop.  We spent a lot of time and money there.  

After dinner everyone was wandering around and the original Hunts found themselves alone.

We have been traveling together as a party of 5 since 1981.  

Big Cedar even has its own miniature golf course.

The dads took the girls and G was able to get the ball in the hole.

The attire said Yellow Shirt Optional.

On the second day we checked out another one of the many pools. This one had an infinity edge.

I do love those to infinity and beyond.  

Back to the other pool.

We indulged in some non-motorized water sporting!  

I wished that damn boat had a motor.

Paddle boating is serious business.  

G and I boarded first.  

Robby was my copilot.

T, Chip, and Caroline went kayaking.

This band of overgrown sloths took to the water!  

Katie stayed on land and Bob was reading in his cabin.  

We waved like we were famous.  

Our big family outing was to Dogwood Canyon, a lovely nature park about 15 miles away.  It is also owned by the man who founded Bass Pro Shops.  

We took a 2 hour tram tour.  

This was about the time G started to flip out, "Daddy, the twam is going to weave you!"  She can't say the letters r or l, which I so enjoy.  

They had longhorn cattle, elk, and bison. 

They got pretty close.

This was what I would call an American Safari.  

I stood up and proclaimed my name, Stands with a Fist.

The bison ignored me.  

I love to watch Stands with a Fist weekly on TNT's Major Crimes.

Her extensive knowledge of the west helped her get a promotion to chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. 

We got out of the tram when we were not near large animals with pointy headgear     

This picture shows how G and I nearly fist fight several times a day.

I was trying to apply sunscreen.  She was angling for a brawl.  Mother was taking pictures and Trinity was ready.  

We then visited the natural history museum of the Ozarks, which was on the same property.  

The girls were pooped after such a big day so they had room service that evening.  

Sister Katie was kind enough to sign us up for the night black light scavenger hunt.  

Everyone knows I do not enjoy being out after sundown.

I also loathe any type of sport-like competitive gaming situation. 

I was not given a choice.

We were a team consisting of a 66 year old with bad knees, an overly competitive 9 year old, a clueless 3 year old, a pair of lethargic and not even remotely athletic 30 something sisters, and one fabulous runner who is often lazy. 

When the teams of teenagers lined up, we all knew we were doomed.

All of us except Caroline.

She's a competitor.  

Before we left the director told us that it should really be called the  Big Cedar 5K because you have to run all over the property.

She was right.

T and I posed like Johnny and Baby at Kellerman's.  The resort is very similar to all of the activities offered at that magical and mythical Catskills resort.

We even had our own Robby, minus the Penny scandal.   

The scavenger hunt was one for the memory book, if I had one.  I guess that is what this little blog is for.

Since my sister properly attired her uber competitive kid in a pair of sandals, we had a slip and fall in the mud.

She took it like a champ and kept going.  Also, no one else would run but me.

So ran I did.

While my kid ran behind me screaming for me to slow down.

I was not accustomed to such requests.

I'm not exactly speedy.

It was an hour of pure torture that ended in consolation prizes of all kinds of crap that lights up in the dark.  

Another fun activity was the spa.  You know how I love a good spa.  

I denied myself the $180 vichy Ozark rain experience and instead treated the girls to nail treatments.

I'm so generous, you know. 

The spa was quite beautiful with trees lining the entryway.

G chose mermaid dream for her nail color.

Caroline was all like, "I know you are, but what am I?"

Genevieve said something like, "No, I know YOU ARE, BUT WHAT AM I?"

Just kidding.  They were just talking.

I just liked the camera angles.

We also did some tie dye t-shirt making, because that so jives with G's current wardrobe.  

She loved the process, but not so much the product.

She won't wear it because she says it is too dock.

That means dark.  

That sums up our annual vacation.  

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