Junior Graduates from Kindergarten

Junior graduated from kindergarten in a ceremony held at a local college by our GRACE homeschool group.
Junior led the kindergartner procession, since he was first alphabetically. (He wasn't too thrilled about that.)

He proceeded up the aisle...

...and joined me in the front row.

Our guest speaker was Georgia State Representative Barry Loudermilk, of Georgia's 14th House district (representing part of our county). He did a masterful job of charging the graduates, as he expounded on Proverbs 3:5-6, though I doubt the kindergartners grasped any of it, LOL.

Junior marched up on stage and received his certificate of completion...

...from Melissa Casey, coordinator of our GRACE homeschool group.

He was quite proud.

Here he is pictured with his fellow kindergarten graduates...

...and with all the graduates.

It was a proud day for Junior and for us.

He was especially fond of the gifts received from the us and from the Blackwelders, as Martin, Joan and Cesilee were in attendance.

~

Congratulations, Junior!

We're proud of you!

Six Flags Over Georgia!

On May 1st we made our first-ever trip to Six Flags Over Georgia. It was the first time any of our kids had been at an amusement park. The local fair is as close as they've come before. Cesilee Blackwelder was gracious enough to join us for the journey.

Here you see us just after we entered the park.
Julia Grace was left with a friend, since she can't ride most everything at the park, and she still has her appointment with nap time. (Wish I had that.) Above you see Jon waving like an idiot at the camera. This is the Mine Train, the original Six Flags Over Georgia roller coaster. It was Syndi and Junior's first roller coaster ride, and they were terrified!
By the time the Mine Train was done (and it was our first ride of the day), Syndi and Junior both admitted enjoying it. We moved on to Looney Toons land, where we had more newbie-friendly rides, like this airplane for Junior.
The Mack trucks were a big hit for all three of them.

Junior raced around, chasing after Syndi and Stephen...

...but never quite could catch them. (Probably something related to that pipe between the two trucks!)

Here they swung in some boats.

Syndi and Stephen paired up, and Junior went with Cesilee.

Bumper Cars!

Always a family favorite.

We made each kid ride with an adult driver the first time...

...but we returned later, and Junior...

...and Syndi each got their own car.

Look out everyone!!!

Jon & Syl hit the Ninja coaster while Ces took the kids around.

Then Syl & Ces hit the Superman coaster while Jon took the kids to the carousel.

Syndi has had some experience horseback riding.

Apparently not enough.

We hit some other rides, including...

...the hot air balloon ride.

Junior grabbed onto Daddy as the boys rode in one basket...

...while Syndi had her own basket.

It was a fun day.

Here we stopped for a family picture as the park was closing. You can see Jon is wet from the ride we had just splashed down on.

Syndi came away with a plan to work her way up to the large roller coasters, to allow her to overcome any fears she might feel.

Junior wondered why we couldn't go swimming in the pool where our boat had just crashed down on Splashwater Falls.

Stephen was oblivious, fearless, and had a blast...all day.

And we have free return passes, so we may be returning in a month or two!

Marshall Forest

Last week our family went over to Marshall Forest on Horseleg Creek.

We walked on the trail and had a lot of fun on a gorgeous spring day.

There was a bridge over a dry creek bed.

There were fallen trees to stand on.

There were trails to follow...

...and lots of plants to see.

It was warm and sunny.

Where last season's life ended...

...this season's new life began.

There were even cool bugs to see.
Here Julia points at a caterpillar.

It was a fun afternoon jaunt for the family.

And even Daddy got to strike a pose,

Easter Hunts

Easter, as Pastor Mac likes to say, is "the Super Bowl" for Christians.
Interesting metaphor.
This years was full of Easter egg hunts.

There was a hunt at the Library.

Julia went on her first hunt...

...and Junior helped show her the ropes.

Julia was all about eating the treasures she found.

We had another hunt put on by our church, Pleasant Valley North Baptist Church. You can see Julia was just content to pick up rocks and put them in her basket.

The church hunt took place at the Burk Farm, and Julia roamed the grounds with Daddy.

Stephen rescued an open egg.

The hunt was over in less than a minute, with speedy kids like Junior snapping up the eggs.

Syndi was in a different hunt with older kids.
She's getting so big!

Here she is hanging with Eli and Abbie.

Stephen had fun wading through the grass at the Burk Farm...

...and so did Junior.

The kids had a lot of fun playing after the Bible message.

Junior and Parker hanging out in a house.

At home, the kids decorated their own eggs again this year.
Syndi is ever the artist.

Stephen and Junior are very creative, too.
It's been so fascinating to watch how they are different from one another in their artistic styles.

Thirty farm-fresh, hard-boiled eggs, and they didn't even last us two weeks!
Hope you had a happy Easter!
He Is Risen!