A few Random pics

On Saturday we took the kids to a lake about 15 minutes away. It's a popular boating, skiing and jet ski spot. There is also a small area with sand that you can go swimming at. There is a drought in Georgia at the moment and the water level is very low making the lake less attractive. But we went swimming anyway. The kids had a wonderful time covering themselves with muddy sand and then washing it off again. Chris and I did not like the fish nibbling at our legs! And, I have to say it it was a pretty poor substitute for the beaches in Australia or the lake front in Chicago. Sam has already asked to go again, Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera - I guess I'm not a pro blogger yet!

Some other random shots from the past few days... Ella in a new dress all ready for church on Sunday

We have some great friends here called the Haycocks. Chris grew up with John in Calgary and both he and his wife Ashleigh were a HUGE help when we moved to Augusta. They have four children and on Monday we had them over. They had a great time playing together
Owen was very popular with MacKenna and Cassidy...
One of my secret talents is that I play the flute. The kids love it when I play for them. Here they are with flutes they made this morning using their tinker toys. Later Ella added a microphone and they did a little number for me... so cute!

A quiet week at home

This week the kids have enjoyed a few quieter days at home. We don't really have any grass in the backyard yet (our first project!), which makes keeping kids happy at home all day challenging. To keep them busy until we get the backyard sorted out, I bought a bag of play sand and emptied it into a storage container - you would have thought it was the best sand box around. They had a great time!


And today we bought a slip 'n slide. Unfortunately it burst after 20 minutes. Poor Sam was heart broken.

And when it gets too hot outside, you can always get crafty. Here's Sam wearing his fashionable Thomas mask. We also made paper planes and pencil holders this week.
We have been home this week because Ella has been sick. Unlike the boys, she gets sick quite often. She normally doesn't take a nap, but on Wednesday, because she was sick, she took a 3 hour one! But then she didn't want to go to bed. She lapped up the time on her own with Mum and Dad. Here she is getting her hair blow dried by Chris (he does this almost every night for her!). And then I got to paint her toe nails.

Pioneer Day

On Saturday we went to a Pioneer Day breakfast at church. Pioneer Day is actually on July 24th in Utah and it commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. I hear that it's a big deal in Utah with parades, fireworks and rodeos. We're not in Utah, but we did enjoy a great breakfast, parade and games. The kids had a great time.


Sam and Ella in the Pioneer Children Parade. I forgot to dress them in Pioneer clothes, but they didn't mind and thought the whole thing was just great. Sam really takes care of his sister, he often takes her hand and shows her the way if she needs some help.

Sam got right into the games...



5 years ago, for a Pioneer Day Sacrament meeting in our ward in Chicago, I was asked to give a talk on my pioneer heritage. I asked my Dad to send me information on how our family came to join the LDS church in Tasmania in 1899. I found out that it was an Elder B. H. Bingham who taught my grandmother's family. We'll that got me pretty excited. And sure enough, with some further reasarch, we confirmed that it was one of Chris's great, great, great Uncles who had converted them. I bet they never would have thought that their families would cross paths and join together generations later, even though they were on opposites sides of the globe !

Party Time

Today we were invited to a birthday party for one of the boys in Sam's Sunbeam class at church. The kids had a great time. Lots of water play, pizza, chips and juice. Everyone is so friendly here - we really appreciate being invited to things already.








Chris dressed Ella for bed this evening. Her pjs were in the wash and so he put one of his old t-shirts from dental school on her. She thought she looked just great!

Play your guitar with Murray

Yesterday we went to playgroup at one of the local parks. There is an outdoor stage and so Sam took his Wiggles guitar along. Here they are in action. Sam is quite the performer and has always loved music. What you can't see is Owen watching them flapping his arms to the music too. If there is music playing and you ask Owen to dance he will start flapping and bopping to the music - even at the swimming pool.




Today we had Owen weighed and measured. He came in at 28 inches / 18lbs 8 oz. For height he was in the bottom 10% or so and for weight he was below the bottom of the chart. I knew he was little, but did not realize how small he was!. Here in the US they have to be in a rear facing car seat until they are 22lbs, so I guess Owen will have to stay that way for a while longer! We wish we could get him to eat more but he always wants to feed himself. It's a very messy affair! That will be a blog topic for another day!

Morning Ride

Most mornings we have been heading out at 8am for a short walk / bike ride before it gets too hot and humid. We usually head to a park about a block from our house. That's far enough for Ella's little legs on her push bike. However, Sam just got a "big boy bike" for his 4th birthday and would love to go further!

Ready to roll...


This lovely critter was underneath the baby swing. Thank goodness it was dead!!

Owen this afternoon playing in the toy room. He loves music and is sitting on a little piano waving his arms to the music.

Snail Mail

Tonight Sam and I wrote thank you cards to some of his pre-school friends back in Calgary who gave him farewell presents. The really cool thing is that you can put your letters right into your letter box, raise a red flag and then the postman will pick them up. Just like on Blues Clues. Sam loves it and I think it's really cool too! We did not have this service back in Calgary or Chicago. I have to say that the US postal system is very efficient. They even come on Saturdays!

Ready to go...



Into the letterbox



Up goes the red flag and the postman will pick them up tomorrow. (Did you notice the Wiggles pjamas??)