Work Party

And now some photos from the great annual AMSAA Picnic:

 

Seth on the slide. He took off at a run as soon as he spotted it.

Catherine, offended by some unknown person/activity after just a few minutes on the slide.

She refused to go back on the rest of the time we were there.

Jonny and the Princess (pigtails! Yay!)

Seth has started this really awesome habit of pulling the dorkiest faces for the camera.

Example above.

Stealing Mommy's sunglasses

The kids were quite pleased with the whole situation. 

There were playgrounds, swings, icees and face painting: 

Yes, he picked the smiley-face flower himself.

Yes, he'll regret this decision one day.

Catherine was the real shocker. I tried to paint her face at the Memorial Day breakfast and she was royally offended by the attempt. So I didn't even bother trying this time. Once she realized what was going on, she spent a decent amount of time observing the painting of Seth's face. Realizing that he was apparently not suffering from the painting, she decided to take a look at the available options. It only took her a second to decide what she wanted. She hopped up on the bench Seth vacated and pointed out the design to the painter, all without any assistance or interpretation from either me or Jon. I was quite amused. And here is what she picked: 

A Mr. Matt flag heart. 

Two of the things Catherine loves most, all in one design.

She spent the rest of the afternoon reaching up and gently touching the paint just to see if it was still there.

Much to my surprise, Seth did NOT spend the rest of the afternoon on the slide. He found something even better:

A firetruck, which they have on display every year, and which he has never cared about before.

I'm not sure if it's the age or if it's Seth, but he's in this phase where he'll pepper you with constant questions about a topic until he's satisfied. It can be really fun if I have the time and energy to answer. Not so fun when I'm actually trying to concentrate on something.

But it wasn't me being interrogated this time! I let Seth pester the firemen for probably 20-30 minutes before I came to provide relief. By the time I got over there the firefighter announced that Seth was all trained and ready to join the crew. I think he was only half-joking. 

Catherine joins the fun. She's a great driver.

Two babies in a firetruck

Trying on the headphones.

Possibly they're a bit big.

We stayed in that truck for another 30-40 minutes. About halfway through another crew came to relieve the first crew. Seth was thrilled--fresh ears for all his questions. I was amazed by the detail he was asking about--I had no idea he was this interested in fire trucks or firefighters. I asked him on the drive home if he wanted to be a fireman now. He rolled his eyes and said, "No, Mom! I want to be an animal doctor!" (This has been his response for years now, despite the fact that he really doesn't care about doctors or animals very much).

And this was the scene about three minutes after we got into the van to head home: 

Looks like we wore the Princess out

Little does Seth know that this was probably our last year attending the picnic. It's getting too pricey for all of us to come (I guarantee the four of us did not eat $50 in mediocre barbecued meat and icees), plus they always plan it in June when it's hot and humid. As much as pregnant Megan disliked the picnic, I can only anticipate that Megan-with-a-hot-and-grumpy-infant will enjoy the experience even less. It was fun while it lasted, I guess!