Rachael's Fifth Birthday

On July 10 Rachael turned five years old.


The girls were with Nana on Rachael's birthday. She made the day special by taking the girls on an ice cream marathon. They went to four different ice cream parlors and each took a turn picking a flavor and then sharing. When asked which place was the best they each picked the one in which they selected the flavor. That night we went out to a movie and let Rachael pick the restaurant for dinner. Of course we do have some rules. You have to sit down at the restaurant - not carry it out and they have to hand you a printed menu to order from.



Rachael's favorite gift was a bag full of paper towel rolls, toliet paper rolls and gift wrap rolls. I started collecting them in January and had a big gift bag full by her birthday. It is amazing what she can come up with to play with them.


On July 12th we extended the celebration. In the morning Craig took the girls to Lowe's kid's clinic and they each built a small dune buggy. In the afternoon we had a small party for Rachael at the Explorium.

Another favorite gift was given to her the weekend before her birthday when we visited Ohma and Hampa. It is a modern version of the Big Wheel I had as a kid. It is the Mercedes of Big Wheels. Hampa had to add wood to the pedals because her legs were not long enough which means she will have several years to enjoy the new bike.

Fourth of July Portraits

Fourth of July Portraits of Hannah, cousin Emily, Grace and Rachael

Nana's Summer Camp

All summer Nana has had the girls at least two days a week. The first week of summer she had them the entire week. On several occasions she also had them spend the night - having their own sleep over party. Nana worked hard to make sure the girls time with her was quality time not just “child care.” She always makes sure the girls are having fun and learning something but this summer she out did herself. Here is just a partial list of what the girls did with Nana:

- Learned to cook egg salad, strawberry pie (including the crust) and mashed potatoes

- Learned to iron and sew on a button

- Each girl shopped for the fabric and then made their own apron

- Feed ducks

- Learned how to shuck corn

- Made ice cream

- Visited downtown public library

- Visited the local farmer’s market

- Played miniature golf

- Painted with water colors

- Went to the Explorium (Lexington’s Children’s Museum)

- Shopping at a great locally owned toy store

- Went out to lunch with Papa

- Took lunch to Papa at his office

(Rachael sayin, "I'm Papa" while sitting at his desk at work.)

- Memorized Bible versus – one for each letter of the alphabet

- Memorized the names of the books on the Bible in the New Testament – in order

- Horseback Riding Lessons (Grace)

- Played at the park

One of the great activities that Nana planed was the “Lexington Park Marathon.” In one day the girls visited 10 of the biggest parks in Lexington and rated each to determine the best park in Lexington. The girls loved this idea and had a great time that day. They also slept well that night!! We can't thank Janice enough for all she does.

Fourth of July 2008

The 4th fell on a Friday this year (yeah!) My brother Drew and his daughter Emily and dogs Polly and Will came down to celebrate with us. My goal for the weekend was to keep the kids busy and to create as little work as possible for me. On Friday before Drew and Emily arrived we baked cookies and played games. That evening we all went to Red Robin for hamburgers and milkshakes and then went to see Kung-Fu Panda. We picked the movie for the kids but we all enjoyed it. On the way home from the movie we watched fireworks going off all over town. Saturday morning the guys took the kids to Home Depot's Kids' Workshop to build birdhouses. When they brought them home we had them paint their creations. We also did a couple of crafts and went to the neighborhood park. In the afternoon we went bowling and visited our favorite bookstore - Joseph-Beth Booksellers. At the store the girls found some great hats to try out. Everyone had fun bowling and watching Rachael dance every time her ball hit a pin. The girls also found time to dress up in Chinese outfits and to dress up the dogs. On Sunday the girls allowed me to take them to get their picture taken together. I was thrilled with the results and they were great for Hampa's birthday presents.