School pictures- May 4th.

June and Jo had school pictures taken while I was in Korea.  Check out how cute all of these kids are.

 June's class is full of 5 year olds who can sit still and smile on command.  In front: Naisaina, Hannah, Ami, Kelvin, June.  Middle: Claire, Kalpana, Mercan, Nethuja, Charlene, Lydia.  In back:  Kiyoma, Gabe, Dilkini, and Mrs. Clagget.

 You can tell Jo's class is not as good at sitting still.  Even Mrs. Bea's face tells you this shot took a long time.   In front:  Yohansh, Sabrina, Matilda, Anush.  Middle:  Caroline, Madison, Haylei, Jo, and her Bea. And Elaine's haging out in the back.

June insisted on bumpy hair for her picture.   Thanks, grams for braiding it the night before.   And thanks to Aunt Girl for the new headband.  

Georgie looks pretty cute in this shot.  It only goes downhill from here.

 Our nature model.

 Georgie's not quite there yet.  This is why we never get nice photos taken.

 Even folded hands.  Bless her heart.

Bless her heart.  I think this is where Grandma Wagner would usually tell me what a nice shaped nose I have.  Hang in there, Jo.   As the short haired younger sister, I can commiseratewith school pictures like this.

As for Henry, here's his school picture.  In the same shirt that he's worn for all of his school pictures since kindergarten.  And the same shirt he picked out to wear for school pictures tomorrow.  Some looks just work.

At home- May 1st.

Papa left on a trip to London and Brussels, so we spent some quiet time at home.

Georgie had been on a food strike, but snapped out of it as soon as I pulled out some Indian food.  The kid won't eat a plain potato, but loves spicy, fragrant Indian food.

Our artist in residence drew the habitats of all of the My Little Ponies and explained them in great detail.

Meanwhile, Henry got a hold of the camera and took some portraits.

That hair.

That hair!

I don't know what he's so skeptical about. 

He must have been confused because there wasn't a big time stamp across the whole picture.  Glad he solved that one.

At least now we know I fed them supper on time.

This video is a little painful for me to listen to (since I hear it all the time), but it does offer a glimpse into our daily life of bickering and manipulation.  

Poetry slam- April 30th.

The second grade at Henry's school hosted a poetry slam after spending a unit studying different styles of poetry.  It was very entertaining.  

This kid struck gold early on.  

"Some moms clean.  

Some moms don't.

Some moms are crazy.

Some are not."

Too true, buddy.

Robert was obviously not into this assignment.

The boys' poetry generally focused on martial arts and video games.  The girls brought it back around with candy and bunnies.

Henry lived up to his parents' dream and wrote an epic poem.  

"The kingdom

The kingdom

The sunset makes it look very dark

The kingdom

The kingdom

Is very big

The kingdom

The kingdom

Is far, far away."

Add in some swordplay and mythical creatures and we're in business!

Our neighbor Nelly wrote about penguins.

And Sean got very deep while still keeping it light.

Afterward, Henry got to pose at the podium for a formal shot.

Then he and Anthony got goofy.

Our neighbor Kelvin kept it serious.

On his walk home from school, Henry was informed that he had now been friends with Brandon and Luis long enough that he was officially a bro.  Now, this isn't something you can take lightly.  It comes with a very strict code.  I managed to sneak a peek at it:

I like the "say yes, unless it's serious" code.  I really like that you have to know someone from youtube.

I think #13 requires a catchphrase.  And #11 prohibits secrets, but #9 does allow for secrets regarding birthday presents.

It's a good thing you have to know pressure points.  It relates directly back to the code about knowing how to fight.  I asked Henry about the fighting and he said that he's pretty good with a sword, so he doesn't really have to practice that one anymore.

I had to sneak the code back into the bedroom, where Henry had been copying it when he fell asleep.

Check out this kid.  She's lucky she's so cute.  

More camping- April 28th.

We spent our morning jumping on the pillow and racing pedal carts.  

By the time we checked out, we were zonked.  

But we weren't going to give up on a day in Western Maryland, the prettiest and most historic place in America.  You can't swing a dead cat out there without hitting the AP or a historic site.

Like the very first Washington Monument.  Everyone else stayed int he car, but I walked up the half mile trail to visit it.

Along with a Hasidic Jewish Boys Club.  Man, I love DC.  Especially when the leader yelled at the boys in yiddish to let me pass.

Next stop was a dairy farm with a great creamery.  They were having a big spring festival, but the weather was not holding up.  Everyone was crowded in the barn waiting in line for food.  We didn't feel like waiting, so we made our lunch this yard of kettle corn!

Best lunch ever!

And you don't go to a creamery without sampling the ice cream.

We finally got a spot in the barn to listen to some bluegrass music.  Mama developed a crush on a family that made their own sauerkraut (7 different kinds!) and spent some time chatting them up.

We did venture out into the drizzle for a hay ride.  (No line there!)

Georgie did not care for it.  (June and papa were already back in the van.)

A view of South Mountain Creamery from afar.

Exhausted kids is a sure sign of a successful weekend.

Jellystone Park- April 27th.

We scored a Groupon for a cabin at the local Jellystone Park for the weekend.

As it turns out, Jellystone is the Disney of campgrounds, even if it was still too cold for the awesome waterslides to be open.

There were playgrounds everywhere!  We went on a hayride with Yogi AND BooBoo!  (Of course, June cried the whole time.)

Photo ops galore!

Jo even got a chance to feed the bears from her water bottle.

Henry spent the bulk of his time at the pedal cart track racing his pedaled go cart around.   

I don't know why we don't always go to Jellystone!

Where did the golf ball go?

The main attraction for the girls was the jumping pillow.

There were adult times too, and it was really fun.

When Georgie needed a break, she convinced a little boy to climb a fence and pick her dandelions from the other side.

The afternoon brought a Battle of the Bands and complementary face painting.  Why do our children always gravitate toward Ziggy Stardust styles?

It took some nearly naked porch dancing, but these kids finally settled down for the night.