Back on the road, on the way home. The kids check out the comment cards that came with the karaoke CD’s in their Wendy’s kid meals. The cards were cute, but I’m not quite sure rating each other fits very well with their “the family that sings together stays together” slogan. LOL
We took the opportunity of the visit to give a bunch of the kids’ old toys (including a wagon-load of Mega Bloks) to their youngest cousins. Poor Aunt Susie’s house looked like it had exploded after they got done exploring all their new stuff. Matthew and Kaylee had a great time playing with them though, even if Kaylee was slightly disconcerted by Maddie following her absolutely everywhere. LOL
Later that afternoon the kids and I got to kill some time (a lot of time) in the van between family stops, while Mark met up with a magic book dealer friend in search of some bargains. Matthew hunkered down with his DS (and a screen to block that pesky sun), and I brought out the camera to help keep Kaylee distracted.
The kids with all their cousins, ranging from 3 years old to almost 18, in Houston after the previously mentioned oldest cousin’s graduation (she’s the tallest one). Can you tell it was hot and that some of them had been previously jumping on the trampoline in the backyard? LOL
And here’s a more natural shot. ;)
The 5th grade graduation ceremony, also organized by the parents. They surprised the kids with middle school t-shirts to wear in the traditional “Stampede”. The kids marched through the halls of the school among a crowd of cheering students, teachers, and parents. They started out under a balloon arch in their elementary school colors of red and green and exited the building through the middle school colors of blue and silver.
Congratulations, Matthew!!
In preparation for their oldest cousin’s high school graduation, the kids made cards…
Gotta love Matthew’s serious take on things. It reads: “I congratulate you on graduating High School. You worked hard and now you have alot of choices ahead of you. I hope you make your future a bright one. Sincerely, Matthew”
The next of the 5th grade activities, a 50’s themed sock hop in the gym with food and games and a DJ. That’s Matthew’s back in the middle of the picture. I’d come early to help set up and then took off to have lunch, figuring to take some better shots when I got back, only to find Matthew sitting in a corner with ice on his ankle. He’d twisted it badly while making a break down the court playing beach ball basketball with the boys. Poor kid was in a lot of pain, so I ditched the clean-up and took him home.
It’s traditional for the 5th grade parents to organize a series of fun events for the last week of school. The first was a picnic with games and carnival-style booths, one of which was hair spray-painting. I actually worked the picnic, but hadn’t brought my camera, so we snapped a shot of Matthew’s cool watermelon stripes when we got home. :)
