Kirksville 09, Part Deux

On Day #3 of the Kirksville trip, Grandpa Pete was kind enough to arrange a horseback riding outing (because Rose #1 expressed a wish to go horseback riding!). We went out to the Truman State University farm and met the very, very kind equestrian coach Emily, who arranged for a ride on her very own horse Polly.

Anyway, here are all the Roses and their cousins waiting to meet Polly the horse:

And here is Emily the coach and Polly the horse. Polly was a very old and gentle horse, who did not mind in the slightest that the kids were riding her:

Before Polly could get her saddle on, she had to be brushed. All the kids got a turn to brush her, and here is Rose #1 brushing Polly:

After Polly was saddled up, Emily asked for riders. No one volunteered, until Rose #3 plucked up her 3-year-old courage and went first. Here she is in her helmet with Grandpa Pete and Emily looking on:

Rose #1 quickly lost her fear after she saw that Rose #3 loved it, and she went next:

And Rose #2 was fourth. She loved it - can you see the big smile on her face?

I got one silhouette shot of Rose #2 at the end of the paddock:

And finally, I had to take a shot of the warning sign. This was prominently displayed at the entrance. I had to snicker a tiny bit at the structure of the warning ("Under Missouri law...pursuant to the revised statutes of Missouri"). But that's the lawyer in me shining through.

Kirksville 09

Oh, yes, we went to Kirksville. Kirksville '09, baby!

Bad news: H was sick. Really sick. H1N1, probably, or at least "type A influenza," which is a CODE NAME for H1N1. If you ask me, anyway. I am not a doctor.

We decided to go anyway, because how could you refuse these faces:
As I was the only parent of the Roses present, I was unable to take as many pictures as I wanted. But I did take pictures of the horseback riding outing! Next post.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Rose #2 has been very worried about health issues lately. The news about Michael Jackson was a shock to her, I think. The other night on the couch we were reading and she leaned over suddenly and whispered to me:

"You know that Peter Johnson guy, whatever his name is, why did he have a heart attack anyway, Mom?"

I looked at her blankly for a moment, and said, "Who is Peter Johnson?"

Beat. Beat. Beat.

"Oh! You mean Michael Jackson! Well, I don't know why he had a heart attack. I don't think anyone knows exactly."

Rose #1's Play!

We went to see Rose #1 in her Neverland play today. Her role was Scaley the Fish. It was a complex (not actually unintelligible) story about Peter Pan and Wendy returning to Neverland after they grew up. Here is Rose #3 anxiously awaiting the show:

Sam and Maddie came too, and the lucky kids got to sit in the front row. They were excited to see the play:

The actual shots of the play are a little hard to decipher. Rose #1 is obviously the cutest, most talented child in the production (but of course, you say), and she has what may or may not be a bedsheet tied jauntily around her neck:

Here is Rose #1 singing. I think she genuinely likes being on stage, which is a quality I hope she does not lose:

And in this shot I caught her looking out at the audience:

This is the, "Phew, we're done" shot.

The play was the finale to Rose #1's summer camp at Steppingstone Theatre. I highly recommend their summer camp program. Rose #1 clearly loved it!

We're all missing Daddy

The girls really miss their daddy, who is gone on a business trip until Friday night late (11 p.m.). I miss him too, for lots of reasons:

1. Rose #3 is not feeling well. You can tell. She seemed to be bouncing back from whatever it was - bronchitis? Flu? No one can exactly tell us what is wrong with her. But tonight she was veering from feeling OK to feeling crummy again. I am worried about her.

2. Rose #2 is also not feeling well. She was running about 100 degree fever this morning, so she stayed home from school. She had a vaccine yesterday, so I am not sure if it is because of that or if she has what Rose #3 has. We're supposed to be going to Kirksville next week, and I really hope we can go.

3. Rose #1 misses her daddy bad. She came upon a watch today - I don't exactly know where she found it, to be honest - but it looks like her dad's watch. Big, bulky, digital, etc. She wore it without stopping all day.

4. I had to miss my writing class tonight because of all of the sickness floating around. We had a babysitter lined up but this particular babysitter is a bad candidate for getting the flu. Next week there is no class because of the 4th. Two more weeks!

Rose #2 went fishing...

A born fisherwoman: Rose #2!

Thank you to Guppy and Poppy for bringing Rose #2 on a fabulous outing on Saturday, which involved a picnic, a kids' fishing clinic, and a trip to Candyland. It will never, never be forgotten as a fabulous time that was custom made for Rose #2.

Happy Birthday to Rose #3!

The last birthday of the bunch - Happy Birthday To Rose #3! Here is Rose #3 blowing out her birthday candles last night at her birthday dinner party. We had a delicious dinner of shishkebobs on the grill, rice, and broccoli. And, of course, delicious birthday cake!!

And here she is opening her gift from our neighbors. The gift was a lovely game of shape blocks that are used to make pictures. Rose #3 loved it. So did Rose #2, come to think of it!
And in keeping with past traditions, here is Rose #1 on the day she was born, on her daddy's chest in a hospital rocking chair. She was such a character when she was born, and she is still one today. This picture makes me think of the smell of hospital hand soap, which will always smell like having a baby to me.
Happy Birthday to you Rose #3, my scrumbly little bunny. I love you so, so much!