...and hooray for comfy pants to watch movies in!

Hooray for summer vacation!  Although the first day was cold and windy, today seems to be shaping up to be quite warm.  Surprisingly, when Veta came home from school on the last day, she wasn’t very thrilled for summer vacation to start.  She had grown to love her teacher so much, she didn’t want to miss her!  Veta got her teacher’s address so she could write to her over the summer.

I don't know who was having the harder time - Dale with all
the extra weight, or the girls trying to keep their balance!

Dale has been staying with us for the last week.  He is trying to get a job here so he can justify to our mother moving in for the summer.  The girls have been having a lot of fun harassing him.  They make him give them horseback rides up and down the hall and enjoy sitting on his back when he tries to do his daily push ups.

Gemma caught in the act!

Danny has taught Gemma how to climb.  Gemma used to be content to sit in my lap while I was at my desk sorting mail, paying bills, or whatever, but now she insists on climbing out of my lap and sitting on top of my desk.  Anything short enough for her to reach her little knee up to, she climbs.  Dale was complaining that Gemma kept turning off his computer when she pulled up on it (the blinking blue light is irresistible!) so we put a laundry basket upside-down beside his computer for a quick fix, thinking that it would be wide enough to deter her.  A few minutes later, Gemma had climbed onto the basket and was back to poking at the power button.

Hazel and her hazelnut brownie (missing a bite)

Hazel and I went to the grocery store a few days ago to buy some walnuts for banana bread.  I was having a hard time finding them, so I was reading aloud through all the nuts to be sure I didn’t pass up the walnuts.  When I read “hazelnuts,” Hazel immediately decided that we needed to buy a bag of them.  I’ve never purchased hazelnuts before, so I was a little uncertain what to make with them.  Luckily, there was a recipe for brownies on the back of the bag so I didn’t have to look any recipes up.  We made a batch of the brownies last night and I would have to say that they were some of the best brownies I have ever had from scratch!  Hazel was very proud.

Veta took this picture of Hazel being "cool" in Dale's sunglasses.