Around the House

Ada shows off her Clemson outfit.

On Saturday, we were pleased that Nanny came to visit. We all did Grammie things together.

 Mark and Arthur ate breakfast.

 Mark's Dad worked on remodeling the garden greenhouse which is becoming Mark's home office.

 Arthur played with drawers. Thankfully, he has learned to keep his fingers clear.

 Arthur got a traditional basket ride.

 He operates the radio controlled car. For some reason, he can get it to go. Pa cannot.

Arthur likes the  former doggy door opening in the door between the kitchen and sunroom.

A Day At The Beach

We met Grandad Carl and Grammy Kate at the pier in Weston-Super-Mare.

First up - a donkey ride!

 Running under the pier with cousin Lola.

 Arcade fun.

 Ada and Dad played Grammy Kate a game of air hockey.

 The arcade had this crazy ride built on a full-size industrial robot.

 It was crazy! (The girl in the ride is upside down and spinning at this moment...)

 Snack.

 Ice cream!

 Arthur didn't get to go to the beach, so he did dishes.

 Wheel barrow ride. Arthur seemed a bit unsure about the idea.

 Ada got a ride, too.

 "Something is up there... I'm sure of it!"

Ada and Arthur

Arthur likes to point at things... Mostly airplanes, but a bird or tree will do.

Before bedtime, Ada raced against the clock to run to the pinwheel at the end of the garden, and back.

Ada and her Mum played "catch the Aerobee on your arm".

Arthur likes to point at things.

A lot.

Arthur and Ada

Arthur likes to be wherever everyone else is.

Ada's Dad brought her a fireman's outfit when he came home from his business trip. She rescued her Mum's rabbit which was stuck up in a tree.

Mimi is enjoying being with Arthur, needless to say.

We got to watch Farmer Hugh combining his field next to the back yard (barley, we think), and bailing the straw.

Over Here

Chlly this morning - high 72F today. (Just sayin' -- not trying to rub it in! :)

Beautiful sunset this evening.

The Rest of the Party

Great Grandad's actual day-of-birthday party was pretty low-key. It started with a cup of coffee.

We had lunch. (Ham.)

His big present was a microwave. (To re-heat his extra ham.)

Happy Birthday, Dad/Grandad/Great-Grandad!
Keep up the good work!

Birthday Party For The 8/4's

Waiting for the party to start. Hooray for electronics!

Pretty good range of ages!

All parties begin with blowing something out...or up.

What a nice-looking birthday pair.

Birthday cards often have a nice surprise inside...

Presents are good, too - especially a chapter book about a Hamster!

Great Grandad did pretty well, too.

A great celebration. Ready for next year!

What's Inside That Micro-SD Card?

I had a non-working micro-SC card, and decided to look inside.

Couldn't peel off the plastic cover, so I broke it in half.

Nothing much to see - just some shiny bits, which I take to be the edge of a silicon integrated circuit chip.

Oh, well.

It's Really Difficult...

To get all the toothpaste cleaned out of a toothpaste tube.

Toothpaste doesn't really dissolve in water. It kind of sticks like paste, and you have to really scrub (like with a toothpick) and rinse and shake a lot to get it all out.
Why do that, you ask?
Well, I need a small tube to take with me on a trip, and I don't like the minty stuff that comes in the small tubes, and the baking soda toothpaste doesn't come in small tubes. So, I emptied one out, and refilled it with the good stuff.
It turns out that the small tube holds a surprising portion of the contents of a big tube...

It Has A Name

Not long ago, I was called out for using the term "bluebearings" to refer to a common fruit eaten in cereal (quite intentionally with tongue in cheek, I might add.)

Well, todayI learned while listening to NPR "Weekend Edition" that such word-bending has a name: "Eggcorn."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn

Another eggzample you may have heard around here is "It's a doggy-dog world."

I am so happy!
:o)

Creek View - First Attempt

Here ya' go, Jenny:

If you watch really close, you can catch a glimpse of the far edge of the water just before the end.
Not very exciting...

Clemson Boys

Today was Pa And Mimi Day With The Boys.
We started with Terraria on the Kindles.

Mimi and the Boys went to breakfast.

Then we went to the Children's Museum in Greenville. John raced the Formula One car.

John and Mimi raised John in the hoist chair.

Christopher helped John at the drive-up teller window.

Christopher raced the Formula One car.

After we got back, James and Andy dropped by to play 4-way Terraria on Kindles.

Henry dropped in to see what everyone was doing. Then June dropped by to invite everyone to her Earth Day party to hunt for earthworms. Everyone went down to Henry and June's house and collected earthworms for a while.
Then it was Taco Bell, baths and bedtime.
We had a wonderful day!