Annie called last night to invite us to join the four MN cousins and their moms for a picnic and play time at Sibley Park this morning. Not sure that the weather would cooperate -- the forecast was for rain to follow the rain we had much of Saturday -- we all agreed we'd be there, sunshine permitting. Happily for everyone, the skies were blue with beautiful puffy white clouds. The wind was wild, but it kept the bugs from landing on us or our food.
All the kids love the tractors at the park. The only kiddo I captured in action is Ethan, but he's a good representative of the attending cousins.
Cute shot of Angie and the Potts boys. Ethan's new job is doing promos for V8 Fusion.
The Grimmius boys look pretty dang sweet with their mommy, and with some cousins rounding out the picture. Again, Ethan is pitching his product.
After V8 "pop", sandwiches/bagels, chips, fruit, and two yummy cookies per child, these boys were interested in finding out what the ice cream vendor was selling. They were reminded that they'd had enough to eat, but were given permission to check out the cool 3-wheeled vehicle and interview the driver about her treat business.
After our picnic, we checked out the animals again. Miles is the bravest of the group when it comes to petting and feeding the little goats and horses, but again-- no pictures. Sorry, Miles. Ethan tried very hard to gather the courage to feed the ponies, but just couldn't do it even after lots of encouragement and help. However, he was determined to conquer his fear, so when the moms and other cousins went for one last bathroom stop, Ethan turned to Dad/Larry and said, "Come on, Grandpa. I'm ready to feed the goats!"
We didn't have any quarters left for goat food, so Gpappy had to talk a little girl into giving him a quarter in exchange for two dimes and a nickel. Her mom assured her she wasn't getting ripped off, and Ethan was thrilled to be able to get another chance. Take a look at his little tongue while he feeds a baby goat!
We didn't have any quarters left for goat food, so Gpappy had to talk a little girl into giving him a quarter in exchange for two dimes and a nickel. Her mom assured her she wasn't getting ripped off, and Ethan was thrilled to be able to get another chance. Take a look at his little tongue while he feeds a baby goat!
E-man was all smiles and giggles after the goat tickled his hand with its tongue. Yup, he and Miles are going to have to show their younger brothers the ropes next time they're at Sibley Park together.
Time to go home after a fun time together. Hannah and Vivi, we missed your family. And we missed the missing daddies.
Bye-bye until next time.
PS Later in the afternoon we skyped with Hannah and Vivi. Vivi was more interested in disconnecting the Skype connection than in talking to us, so we mostly chatted with Hannah.
Hannah's recent art camp seemed to have set a goal for each student to break the world's record for pottery making. Hannah showed us no less than six pieces of her work and claims there are many more that we didn't get to see.
Our favorite is her interpretation of a beluga whale, the crowning jewel of her collection. She was inspired by the beluga whale research project she did in English and in Spanish for her final first grade presentation. Do you want to know some interesting facts about beluga whales? Well, Hannah can tell you in two languages and now has a terrific pottery piece to share while she does her presentation. Elisabeth, send me a picture of H holding the work of art, and I'll post it!
