Quiet weekend- Henry.

Mama says I need to work on not talking so much because it wears her out, so I've started singing instead.

We got this tator tot pirate ship in my Wacky Pack at Sonic. Mama put it together for me and I sang to her the whole time- mostly songs like:
"Sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail,sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail, sail,sail, sail, sail, sail."

Junie has started saying a few words, though never any of them twice. We all swear that we've heard her say the following words: "Thank you, I love you, shoe, dinosaur, bottle, and doll."

Mama says she wonders if I only notice her once a week. This week I proclaimed that the rear view mirror in our car is used "so mama can check her make-up." Then Iran inside and found some "armpit makeup" (deodorant). This is silly because everyone knows that mama seldom wears makeup and rarely wears deodorant! (Zing!)

Central, the town north of us, is trying to reposition itself as a railroading town. And not just the rundown kind, which is what it really is.) But mama found out that a model railroading group owns a house in town and is transforming the whole house into a big display. It is still very early in the process, but there is one working display of trains from pre-1955. I think we're going to be regulars at the train house.

Mama went to my parent-teacher conference at school on Friday. She wasn't surprised to hear that I love being in school and love working on letters. She was surprised to hear that I love circle time and am always quiet, well-behaved and eager to follow rules. (This guy?!?) And as one of the older kids in my class, my teacher thinks that I'd fit better with the 4-year-old class. I start next week!

June responded to this news in the normal fashion- she screamed, ran around in a circle, and wrote all over herself in chalk.

Mora GG and GG- June.

On Thursday night, we went out for a yummy dinner at Sonic.

Afterward, we took all our extra bread down to the lake park to feed the fish.

Henry had plenty of energy, so we sent him off running.

I had a new yellow dress on that perfectly matched the honey mustard sauce into which I dipped my banana.

Again, a little too short, but this time it was because it was a dress from when mama was a girl and when it was fashionable to show some leg.

Papa, please lift me up so I can feed the fish again!

Henry had a good time pushing mama on the swing and she got a good action shot of him jumping on.

At the end of the boardwalk, we found a playground!

I went down this slide about 50 times. check out those red knees.

Grandpa was there to help me up the rock wall every time.

When it was time to leave, we did some more running before it got dark.Take a good look at Henry's hair. Last weekend, he and I had a hard time calming down at Mister Paul and Miss Susan's house. When papa came upstairs to tell us to cool it, he found out that Henry had found a pair of scissors. He cut all the tags off my pack and play and a nice chunk out of his hair. He said it was just getting too long. He didn't get his flashlight for a couple nights because of this stunt.

Here's a better shot of of the bald spot while Henry contemplates all the petals he just yanked off this bloom.

It was a great night to be outside, though Grandma did comment that 76 degrees and 85 percent humidity was a little chilly for her.

We're so glad GG and GG came to visit us. I had so much fun that I didn't want them to leave.

GG and GG- Henry.

We stayed busy this week because GG and GG came to town!

We took them to the Botanical Garden under the ruse of looking at flowers, but it was really to see the caboose in one of the gardens.

GG Gramps brought me a book- The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Papa and I have been reading a chapter every night.

We think GG and GG had fun, but we might have worn them out. June never stopped running and I never stopped talking.

By Friday morning, I think GG intentionally didn't put in his "ear microphones" (that's how he explained his hearing aids to me).
Mama had to stuff June in this dress one last time before finally admitting that it was time to put it away.

Just a hair too short, so we could see the delicious, chunky legs.

Like a tiny little Shirley Temple.

When we weren't running, we did stop to look at some plants. Mama and GG Grams decided our yard needed many fragrant tea olive trees.

Later, I entertained GG and GG by reading books from my perch in a drawer.

The NC Zoo- June.

On Sunday, we decided to head to the zoo.

Mama finally gave up hope that we'd see any animals, and we had a good time enjoying all the other things the zoo had to offer. We played on the playground.

And slid down a really steep slide. I got nervous and Papa had to come up and flip me over on my belly because I refused to go down.

Henry had a good time climbing the web.

I tried to follow the big kids through this "vine."

To Aunt Jenni, we know what you're going to say about these pants. They fit last spring as pants, and now mama loves them as short leggings. I know they look ridiculous and I think that's why mama makes me wear them.

Mama loves this picture. And she loves this dress too. She lovingly refers to it as the "Nora dress" in homage to our friend Nora who wore a similar dress for weeks straight.

We did see a few animals. The bears were out and moving around. Henry wanted to see the lions, so we made the two mile walk to the African side of the zoo, where he spent a good 15 seconds looking at them before he took off.

But he did have fun climbing things.

Including papa. Nice glasses buster.

Mama tried for a good shot on this elephant.

But I took off, so she got one of me instead.

Henry ran the the course of the life size board game.

We rode the helicopter until Henry refused to get out and give the other kids a turn. Mama and papa knew this meant that Henry hit the wall after two nights of staying up well past 10 pm and two days of no naps. So they headed straight to the tram stop to take us back to the other end of the zoo. Henry took a good nap in the car. We had a great weekend, but we're glad to be back home now.

Dixie Classic Fair- Henry.

We said that we came back to the Triad to see the Goldbergs, but we really came back for the opening weekend of the Dixie Classic Fair.

Mama wants to trade me for Gracie. While I always refuse to pose for a picture, Gracie loves to have her picture taken.

Junie and Audrey were so happy to see each other. June gave Audrey a big tickle.

We stopped for some snacks and snapped a picture of Gracie's cat face paint.

We don't know why, but Juner decided to take a break between the trash cans.

Papa let me pick one ride and I chose the train. Mama was happy a chose a ride that remained earth bound. There were some very scary looking semi trainer rides.

Juner was mad she didn't get to go on the ride, but mama wasn't shelling out another $3.

I love trains!

Always ready for a deal, mama got us two candy apples for $3. I picked blue for Gracie and I.

Little did we know, it was like eating an apple dipped in a lollipop. We licked them for a while until mama bit through the hard candy shell so we could get to the apple. We each only made it through a quarter of the apple before we gave up.

We hit up the animal barns and Audrey was so happy to pet the bunny.

Then mama made us go through the produce barn. They had contests for the best decorated gourds, pumpkins, apples, and potatoes.

We reveled in the award winning bales of hay and tobacco leaves.

Mama liked the "Best Matched" category where you tried to find two identical pieces of produce, but the rest of us were drawn to the giant muskmelons and pumpkins.

This one is the new NC record holder. 1,258 pounds.

We had to stop by the fountain.

Why did we pay money to ride carny rides when all we needed was to play in this fountain for 20 minutes?

When issued a dare to put our heads in the water, you know Grace was the one who did it.

Lucky Miss Becky was out of town this weekend! We probably would have gotten into trouble!

Once Gracie got it, Juner had to give it a try too, but she finally had to be taken away because she kept putting acorns in.

Audrey was "baptised" into her first fair. Just kidding, we didn't really dip her in.

Before we left, papa picked up a deep fried snickers bad. It's like someone stuffed a pancake with a molten candy bar and put it on a stick. Pure heaven. We enjoyed some great sausages and chicken wraps. but mama was really upset when she saw what she really wanted- a barbecue sundae. Here's what it had- bottom layer of backed beans, second layer of cole slaw and the top layer was delicious Lexington style barbecue. Too bad we already ate. Then she was double disappointed when she saw the same booth sold deep fried butter. We're not sure how it worked, but loved the sign that said, "Set your heart a flutter, come try our deepr fried butter." Were they talking about how good it was, or the instant heart attack served on a stick? Next year, we promise.