Claire, James, Ethan and Daniel: Fun Things*

Daddy was home all weekend for Memorial Day weekend and neither Daddy nor Mommy had any significant chores or projects. For three days we enjoyed a fun-filled and inexpensive @home vacation. The

On Saturday, we went to the Decatur Arts Festival (excellent - we highly recommend) and strolled through the booths, spent a long while in the Kids' area, and ate the best fish tacos either of us has ever tasted. In the Kids' area, Claire made mini art projects and played in a sandbox while James danced to the music. For supper, we grilled on the deck and ate outside.

* The title "Fun Things" is what we told Claire we were going to do Saturday morning. We didn't thing saying "Arts Festival" was descriptive enough. For the rest of the week, Claire talked about "we do Fun Things!" which is especially adorable because of the way she pronounces it.

On Sunday, Claire and James played in their new mini kiddie pool on the deck for a good long while. We all took long naps and played a little while more in the pool that afternoon. It was a good day of rest.

On Monday, we joined the Perrys (Andrew, Carolyn, and their son Samuel) along with Andrew's family at the Dacula Memorial Day Parade. Claire was extremely excited to see the parade and kept asking about the marching bands; though there were only two, she was not disappointed and had a great time. James sat in our laps and was pretty wiggly but he enjoyed looking at everything and always enjoys being outside. It was a really good small town parade. The most moving part was a large group of volunteers, each carrying a poster with photos and names of Georgians who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 11 years, and a man reading names aloud as they walked... there were so many... . After the parade, we joined the Perrys for a picnic at a nearby park. Claire swung in all 4 swings before we ate (she likes to try them all), and she played for a good long while in the gazebo as we finished our meal. James and Claire napped on the way home and we had a quiet afternoon in the house.

It was a good weekend.

James gets into the new kiddie pool

They sat and played for a good long while. It's a lot like a bath, except with different toys.

James did really well sitting up...

...and Claire helped with her knee a little too

Not a lot of splashing going on... they're pretty mild mannered

Mommy says that James can play for 10-20 minutes with a box of Legos. Daddy is looking forward to many many many many many more Legos.

A good game to play together

Always time well spent

He looks so big!

Lots of cars at the parade. Claire has learned that "old cars" make a "ppppppttttttt"-sound, which is similar to a few other sounds she's learned but she doesn't seem confused