Face Painting

On Saturday we went to the Animal Planet Expo at Shelby Farms. The kids had a great time, but what they really wanted to do was get their face painted. Well after waiting 30 minutes in line we asked someone (who had just finished getting their child's face painted) how long they had waited..........an hour and a half! We decided that we were not willing to wait that long, unfortunately our children were. After some discussion and a little exaggeration about our artistic abilities our children allowed us to go home and paint their faces there. After much deliberation and looking at face painting websites, Meg decided she wanted to be a Cheetah and Ryan wanted to be Darth Maul from Star Wars (surprise, surprise). Bobby painted Meg's face and I painted Ryan's. Here are the results

Yes, we do fully realize how frighting Ryan looks. That is why he face got washed thoroughly an hour later when we went out for pizza.

Baby David

I had the privilege of watching my sweet nephew, David, on Thursday. I can say, with absolutely no nepotism, that he is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen. I thought I would share some of his cuteness with you. Of course Meg had to get in on the photo session.

Nastia...I am Not-ia...

It seems as though our family, along with pretty much everybody else in the world, is caught up in Olympic fever. Meg has become particularly interested in the ladies gymnastics. She thinks all of the flipping and tumbling is downright awesome...and I think we would all agree. Well... during one of our Olympic discussions tonight, Meg asked if I knew how to do a cartwheel.

This is where things start to go downhill.

A little back ground: For 8 years I did indeed take gymnastic classes (Ages 3-11). Was I ever any good??? We will take the uproarious laughter from my friends and family members as a ...no. While I loved the sport, my lack of coordination and ridiculously long legs made me a pretty poor student. Nevertheless, I do know how to do a cartwheel. Is is the most graceful thing on earth??? Imagine a drunk ostrich doing a cartwheel and you are probably pretty close to my version. But being the "fun" Mommy I am, I could not let my little girl down. She looks up to me. Who was I to disappoint? So after our evening walk (in the dark) I decided to give that ol' cartwheel a chance in our front yard. So I got up my nerve and dove on the ground with my right hand, threw my 50 pounds of legs into the air and then remembered ...my bad left wrist(carpel tunnel)... just as all of my weight was now being thrust upon it. My wrist decided to surrender upon impact, which left me face first in the front lawn. Thankfully my neighbors were nowhere in sight and my family was mostly kind. Bobby helped me up, shaking his head at his graceful wife, and we all went inside without another word about it.

Maybe I should go dig up my old gymnastic videos from 20+ years ago to show Meg..... and then again ...maybe not.

It's Only Fair...

Since I posted Ryan's First Day photos, I think it is only fair that I post Bobby's :)

His first day at Medtronic went great. He has a few days of orientation, but felt he was a little ahead of the curve with all of his Master's work in spinal. I want to thank everyone again for all of the help and prayers.

I didn't even cry!!!

I just dropped off Ryan for his first day of First Grade. He went right in and found his desk. Can you believe that a DESK. He has his own desk. In Kindergarten they sit around tables. I wasn't prepared for desks. He got out his supplies and prepped his little work area. We greeted Mrs. D and I took a couple of pictures. Then he looked at me and said, slightly annoyed and half under his breath, "Mom, you can go now." A little shunned but mostly proud of my independent little man, I left and got in my car. And then the most amazing thing happened....I didn't even cry. He looked so confident sitting there in his desk, I know he will be fine. I guess we are both growing up.

Hot Springs 08

Things we learned on our Hot Springs Vacation:

1) Sour Patch Kids should not be eaten while driving (It is really hard to drive with only one eye while convulsing)

2) Cute camp songs aren't so cute the 80th time.


3) A Honda Civic will hold exactly what is needed for a three day trip to Hot Springs and not one thing more.

4) Don't take restaurant recommendations from nearby shops who most likely get a cut from said recommendation.

5) If she is encouraged to try something, Meg will like it and eat large quantities of it (Mom's Caesar Salad and the traditional Ecuadorian soup from Rolando's)

6) Daddy will ride anything.

7) Log rides + excessive walking = chaffing.

8) Don't ask the check-in lady at the KOA for directions to Walmart.

9) McVay children will ride any ride they are tall enough for (much to Mommy's dismay).

10) Mommy will push aside her intense fear of heights for three puppy dog faces asking her to go on a roller coaster.

11) Two teeny bopper magazines (with massive amounts of Joe Bro and Miley photos) will keep two children mesmerized for hours.

12) Unlimited Free Pepsi Products = no naps needed while at Magic Springs/Crystal Falls.

13) In the absence of other reading material, Bobby enjoys a good teeny bopper magazine.

14) Bathhouse tours are not interesting to 4 and 6 year olds. They are also slightly inappropriate at times. (Try to explain photos of colonic irrigation to a curious 4 year old).











We are back and we had sooo much fun on our trip to Hot Springs. We got to Hot Springs around 4 or 5 and checked into our cabin at the KOA campgrounds. The cabin was tiny but very cute, clean and air conditioned. It was perfect for us! I made a Walmart run for a few groceries we didn't want to pack and I got a lovely tour of Hot Springs thanks to some really bad directions. When I returned we were all starving so we ventured into Hot Springs in search of grub. We wandered in a few of the stores that were still open at 8 pm and one of the clerks sent us to a restaurant called Brick House Grill. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything to write home about either. We went back to the cabin and hit the sack.

The next day we headed to Magic Springs/ Crystal Falls. We were a little scared because it was raining when we got to the park, but it stopped by the time we made it into the gate. All of the water attractions were closed when we got there because of the earlier thunder and lightning so we headed to Magic Springs for the dry rides. We measured the kids and Meg was just BARELY tall enough to ride the 42 inch rides with Ryan. The kids rode all of the rides they were tall enough for. Ryan's favorite ride was Big Bad John and Meg's was Diamond Mine Run (both Roller coasters of course!!). Now watching Diamond Mine Run you may think that it was a kiddie coaster but let me assure you it was a real roller coaster. It was faster and jerkier than the much larger Big Bad John. After we had been on most of the dry rides we headed over to Crystal Falls where we played in the wave pool, lazy river and kids area. We broke for a late lunch at 4:00 and caught the van back to the cabin for a quick lunch and were back at the park an hour later. We rode our favorite rides several more times (Ryan rode Big Bad John 3 times and Meg rode Diamond Mine Run 5 times) and we played in the kiddie area of the water park for another hour or so. The kids were only tall enough for one of the big water slides and they showed no interest in it (Mommy was very happy about that). We stayed at both parks until they kicked us out and headed back for a very late dinner. We scarfed down a wonderful dinner of brats and corn that daddy grilled out and sleepily made some smores and we all fell right to sleep with no trouble at all.

Our last day we packed up and headed into down for a little sightseeing. We toured one of the bathhouses and looked in all of the little shops on Central Street. We had a wonderful lunch at Rolando's and then headed back home. It was a wonderful trip and the kids are already asking if we can go back.

And We're Off...

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner. That is why what we are about to do is soooo unlike me. We decided to go on a summer vacation...tomorrow. It has been a pretty stressful summer and now that Bobby has an offer we can breath a little. We decided to go to Hot Springs for a couple of days. Mindy and Joey have some tickets to Magic Springs and Crystal Falls left over from their trip a few weeks ago and we have booked a cozy little "Kottage" at the KOA campgrounds. We will leave tomorrow mid morning and get back Friday night. Just a wonderful mini-vacation to celebrate Bobby's new job. I don't even have a packing list or detailed maps. I am living on the wild side.

We are off to pack and prepare. I will post pictures when we return!!

Deja Vu All Over Again...

We went up to Altruria to register Ryan for first grade this morning. I have known who I wanted him to have for quite a while now. Mrs. Dietrich is the crazy, fun teacher who everyone told me would be a perfect fit for our crazy, fun Ryan. Bobby had commented that it would be funny if he did end up in Mrs. D's class because his first grade teacher was also named Mrs. Dietrich. Well upon introductions this morning we found out that it was not only the same name but the SAME TEACHER. That's right Bobby (Little BJ back then) had Mrs. D 29 years ago at Crump Elementary. We all had a big laugh and prepared Mrs. D to have Little BJ's clone in her class this year. She is very excited to have Ryan and she said that she loves the kids who bring a little fun into her classroom. Little does she know how much "fun" she is going to have. Mrs. D has even told Meg that she gets to be an honorary member of the class.

Watch out Mrs. Dietrich, here come the McVays!!

Hallelujah

As of 4:59 this afternoon, BOBBY HAS A JOB OFFER!!! Medtronic called this afternoon and made Bobby an offer. He will give Smith Nephew a chance to counter tomorrow, but is most likely taking the job at Medtronic/Sofamor Danek. We are on cloud nine!!! We want to thank everyone for their help and prayers.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....

July

July looks slightly calmer than June, but that is just mainly because I didn't take as many photos of our family events (It was too hot to lug the camera around:) ). The events that were photographed were Forth of July, Cassie's Engagement, Cookie baking, and the new Star Wars Toy Unveiling (midnight at Toys R Us).

June

Ryan doing his Zacchaeus impersonation. If you look very closely you will see that is a Sycamore tree:)

June was a month of babies and birthdays. We had... the kids joint family birthday, the birth of Baby Mikey (Bobby's cousin Mike's baby), Meg's Fancy Four party, Bobby's Fancy Thirty-Five Party (j/k), a visit by the Texas McVays, the birth of Baby David, Rockstar practice, Lichterman Nature Center, and the Pink Palace. Whew...just typing all of that makes me tired.