Engineers

One train, one civil.

What?

You've never sailed a laundry basket boat?

Will he be a guy covered in tattoos when he's 18?

Vicksburg Photo Shoot

It didn't work too well today. The overcast skies from yesterday were long gone, so the sun was too bright. The Old Courthouse Museum, our preferred venue, wasn't open as early as we went out. The usual Mississippi overlook was littered with wet grass from a recent lawn trimming, and that doesn't even consider that the boys weren't exactly into cooperating for the camera. Oh well.

TV Junkies

We've cut back on tv in the house, but MB had a conference call today and no babysitter. So, relenting for expediency's sake, the tv was tuned to PBS. The boys turned to zombies.

Happy birthday, Grandaddy!

Love, your Mitchell boys...

Thanks, Gram!

Gram sent a great package yesterday, full of Curious George books. The boys love them!

Learning to use a spoon

Here we go!

Looking good...

Great, it's on the spoon,

and in the mouth!

Oops, dropped a little!

It's right there, in my belly button. I'll get it.

Still just as tasty!

Mary Beth and Ned decided to let John have a go with his own spoon the other day. We put the shower curtain on the floor, but he was surprisingly neat. Of course, it helped that his mom made the Rice-a-Roni extra sticky (intentionally, of course!)

Watermelon!

Grandaddy and Nana brought watermelon over for all of us to enjoy on Sunday. John seemed to enjoy making a mess with it. David enjoyed stabbing it with a fork and then leaning over his plate to take a bite (alas, no camera available for that last move).

Sunday Visit

Granddaddy, Nana, and Shelby came to visit on Sunday. And Cousins George and Madeleine stopped by, but we forgot to take a photo while they were here. Next time y'all visit, remind us to get the camera!

Party time!

Grady's party was so fun and exhausting that John fell asleep before we reached the end of his street. David, however, did not forget the promise of a rice krispie train car, and worked to devour it when we got home (with only a little help from his mom).

First tomato harvest

Hard rain this afternoon forced us to pick some earlier than planned, lest they split on the vine overnight.

Water balloon fun

 

John enjoyed playing with water balloons with his friend, James, even if he had a hard time (at first) getting his balloon out of the red solo cup.

Team Mitchell, June 2013

Our first formal family portrait. We're mostly all smiling (John!), but I still prefer the outdoor/documentary style family photo to the posed formal picture in front of a screen. This one was taken for the church directory.

Watching the Cardinals...

...with Granddaddy. Exciting game, huh John?

Tomato Sauce Saturday

Cow Appreciation Day at CFA

Or, as Team Mitchell calls it, "How much is your dignity worth?" Dress like a cow when you go to Chick-Fil-A today, and you get a free meal. It was fun to dress the boys (see below), but Ned and I opted to pay for our meals.

Lunch during tile demolition

David's not a fan of the air hammer used to break up the tile we're having repaired, so we moved lunch to the real dining room and gave him his noise-canceling headphones.

Second Lunch

While Mama was on the phone taking a work call, John grabbed the placemat from David's spot at the table and crashed his leftover lunch to the floor. David had eaten less than half his dirty rice, so John helped himself to the scattered seconds. As David says, "What a mess!"

Shiner

 He's happy...

 but not amused by too many photos.

Can't turn your back on this guy, because he'll fall down while he's standing up and face plant on the driveway.

Don't let the smiles fool you

There were many tears when Gram left this morning, especially from David, who woke after she'd hit the highway. Mary Beth and Ned anticipate crying all week; she was such a great help!

DAM loves Gram!

And she loves him right back!

Vicksburg Fireworks

John's first reaction was one of shock at the noise.

But he started to enjoy the fireworks more when Gram covered his ears.

And then a Vicksburg fog (a ghost from the Civil War?) surrounded Mary Beth & David.

Vicksburg Grand Illumination

July 4 marks 150 years (the sesquicentennial, for those who like the term) since Vicksburg fell. The military park had candles on July 3, seen here at the Illinois monument. We drove through the park with the kids a bit later. It was beautiful, but there were only so many candles that John could see before he decided he wanted to scream.

John loves Big Daddy and popsicles

Wrestling and reading