Her name was right there on the invitation, I swear. I was sure one of us would have to carry her out of the church for being a disruption. Two things worked in our favor, it was a short service and I remembered I had a few lifesavers left over in my purse from a while back. Whew!

The reception was at the clubhouse of a golf course where the groom works. It was very nice. We had to skip out before the cake, but we enjoyed a nice supper with friends. Emma had a great time leading Daddy around and bossing him around horribly. They were both in heaven.

Some holiday cards from 100 years ago. Enjoy!

"Daddy, I'm very happy to be back home now."

In the water. They enjoyed some pool time right before bedtime.

Sweet babies sound asleep.

At least I do! We enjoyed the Independence Day parade in the 'burg. It was well attended and a better show than we anticipated. We had a great time and the kids collected a respectable amount of candy. We collected more than our share of literature from political candidates. Little M even had her picture taken with a semi-famous collegiate mascot. Woo hoo!

We went back for a free visit to the Children's Museum. They were offering free admission to help promote the Independence Day celebrations on court square. The cousins were adamant that returning there was what we should do. So we did. This time M and I got to share in the fun.

Bea Bea always had a giant black kettle by her patio with Hens and Chickens. I used to love them, plus they remind me of her. I bought a "hen" a couple of weeks ago and decided to start my own little chicken family. Look at all the little critters popping out now!

Hi There, Mommy and Daddy,

I have to start off by telling you that I slept till 8 AM this morning. I wasn't the first one up as usual. Noni and Jenna beat me, but that's OK, I was pretty tired and I was sleeping very, very well.

After breakfast we finally took off for the Children's Museum and that was really something. They had all kinds of things to do. A weather station to explain the weather and how it works, a game station for chess, checkers and other games, a climbing wall, a tarantula (boy, that was a big thing!), a toad (it looked a lot like a frog to me), a farmers market where you could pick out your vegetables and put them in the basket and then run the cash register to see how much you owed, a kitchen where we could cook up the food, a garden where you could plant and grow things, a house under construction which explained how it goes together, a barn with a loft, a pig pen and cows all around, a tree that was a puppet theater, a creative area where you could paint and make things, a stage with lots of costumes to try on and do a play and a makeup station where you could paint your face. There's lots more to it, but I just can't remember it all.

At first I ran all over the place but then for some reason I got scared and wanted to leave. Noni said "no", we weren't leaving so I just stuck pretty close to her and she took me all around the place. I did a little bit of whining, but when Noni asked me to stop, I tried. Sometimes I would slip and start again, but she would remind me not to and I tried again not to.

All my cousins were having so much fun on the stage and dressing up in different costumes that finally I decided I wanted to have some fun and I joined in. Cousin M found me a really "bootiful" princess dress and I loved it! I wore it for a long time. I joined them on the stage and did some dancing and some pretending. It was a lot of fun. We did this for a very long time.

Later I watched my cousins put on a puppet show at the puppet tree theater. They had a bunny, a bear, a hatching egg and some other characters that I had fun watching. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. I was a good girl and shared my pretzels with my cousins while we were at the museum. They thanked me a lot of times. I think I'm glad I went.

We visited Wal-Mart to do a little bit of shopping. I was a good girl, mommy and daddy. Noni kept telling me over and over "Emma, you're such a good girl!" Since she said it so many times, I guess I was a very good girl. You can be proud of me.

We met Grandmommy and Great Aunt K for lunch at Pano's. It was a pretty late lunch since it was almost 1:30 when we got there. Noni took us all in and we went ahead and ordered while we waited for the others to arrive. I was especially good at lunch, mommy and daddy. I didn't eat a whole lot, but I was very, very good. I stayed in my chair the whole time and I laughed and played and sang sounds and I hugged on Noni and sang "I loooovvveee you" to her. She seemed so happy and she hugged me and squeezed me and told me she loved me back too.

I fell asleep in the truck on the way home and I don't even remember Noni putting me down for my nap.

Popi came home at 5 and Noni had him come to wake me up. He said I was sleeping so well, he wasn't going to wake me. When he came back to check on me I was waking up so he got me up.

We had a really, really heavy rain storm and when it was almost over Noni called Popi and all of us to the window so we could see the "bootiful" rainbow. We could see the whole thing. It looked like it was right outside our window. We could see both ends of it. I called to Mary and Jenna and told them to come look. I thought it was so "bootiful".

We had spaghetti for supper and I was kind of making a mess, so Noni helped me eat and I ate a very good supper. Then Popi gave me the best part, the COOKIES!!!! I had chocolate fudgies - YUM YUM!!!!

I've had my bath now and I'm still playing strong. You would never guess it is my bedtime. I don't know how long Noni and Popi are going to let me stay up, but I'm going to make the most of it. I am having SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!!!!!!

Thank you, mommy and daddy, for letting me come to Noni and Popi's so I could play and have so much fun.

I miss you both and I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Have a good night and please travel safely to me.

Love, hugs and kisses from your Emma!

Labels: Emma's report

Hi Mommy and Daddy,

I'm having a great time at Noni and Popi's with my cousins. We have done a lot of things together and I'm having so much fun. My cousins are great!!!!

On the ride home last night, we talked and sang together in the truck and did some crazy things. We had a good time, but after a while and when we were pretty close to home, we got very loud and Popi said "we were being obnoxious" (whatever that means), so we all calmed down and tried to be good for him till we got home. We did a good job,

I had a little trouble going to sleep last night. I was in a huge bed and I just couldn't seem to find "my" spot. Noni laid down with me for a while and about 11PM she told me goodnight. I went to sleep shortly after that.

I didn't sleep late (much to Noni's surprise!) and was sitting up in bed and talking and singing at 6:45AM. Cousin J heard me and got up too. Noni watched some "Little Einsteins" and "Mickey Mouse Club House" with us until Counsin M and Counsin C got up. We had breakfast and then dressed. We were going to a Children's Museum today, but first we stopped so Cousin C could get his hair cut. After that we tried the museum but it was closed today. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow!

We stopped by Noni's work and said "hi" to her friends and then went to the library. They had some neat things there to play with and lots and lots of books. A little bigger than our library at home. We checked out lots of books and then headed Mickey D's for lunch. I ate a very good lunch and then Noni let us all play in the play area. I climbed up and climbed down, climbed up and climbed down, climbed up and climbed down. It was great fun and my cousins did a good job of watching out for me.

We were all looking at library books on the way home and I fell asleep. Noni laid me down for a nap. I didn't sleep very long. Cousin C was reading when I got up, but he stopped to play with me. That was so nice of him. Then my other two cousins stopped what they were doing and we all played together. We watched Backyardigans and then Dora.

Popi just got home and we all ran out to greet him. Bet he felt like he was a celebrity. We're having hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, apple sauce and baked beans for supper. I'll try and eat a good supper to make everyone happy.

Noni had her hands full with all four of us today and she didn't even get her camera out today until this afternoon. She took a few pictures and she'll send some to you later on today.

I love you, mommy and daddy and I'm being a really good girl. I'm sharing and I haven't fussed hardly at all. I'm acting like a big girl.

Oh, I forgot. We all got suckers at the haircut place and I saved mine until after my nap. Noni helped me learn to suck on it the right way and I did a good job. She had a wipe in her hand the whole time and she made sure that my sticky hands didn't go anywhere they weren't suppose to. I haven't finished it yet. Maybe I'll have the rest after supper.

Have fun together this evening without me, because I know I will.

Love you bunches,
Emma

Labels: Emma's report

To 98% of my readers, plus one in particular.

Emma's cousins are staying with Noni and Popi for ten days while their parents are visiting in Germany. We invited the whole crew over today. It did my heart so good to see Emma's playset and pool put to good use. I think everyone had a good time. We enjoyed a supper of steak and shrimp, wild rice, "Red Lobster" cheese biscuits, broccoli, cooked onion, fresh strawberries, fresh pineapple and chunky brownies. Yum. Noni and Popi took Emma home with them and Noni will keep her, too, for Monday and Tuesday. We'll go pick her up on Indpendence Day and enjoy the holiday with them. Then Thursday Noni is bringing all the kids back here so they can attend a puppet show.

I was really wishing for one so I could capture clearer pictures of our temporary tenants. We counted five birds in the nest who were all almost as big as mom and dad. Mom swooped in at regular intervals to feed them. The big babies seemed to fumble the food at least half the time. They didn't seem to be too bothered about us watching. You could always tell when mama bird was on her way in because of the chorus of chirps which would precede her arrival.