Violet's Birthday Carnival - more summertime

Violet decided that she wanted a Carnival birthday party this year... and I have always wanted to do a carnival party, so I was ALL ABOUT IT! We painted signs and hung colorful flag banners...

Put up tents (Thank you Ted Wiens Tire & Auto for your canopies) and made some rad games...
And designed plenty of fun photo ops! All the signs were painted and colored by Violet and Riley.
Of course, it was a hundred and eleventy that day, so it was also a Pool Party! We called the pool our big Dunk Tank :)
This is one of the Carnies. She's in the Witness Protection Program, so we will just call her "Erin".
Everyone participating in the games...
Another Carnie, this one in charge of the Tic Tac Toe game...
Watch out for this guy. He was in charge of the Ring Toss, and let's just say we are pretty sure he wasn't playing it fair. He had shifty eyes.
This Carnie handled the Duck Shot game, one of the hardest of the day... you had to use the little Nerf gun to shoot a ducky off the sawhorse. Seems pretty easy, but nothing is as easy as it looks...
What's a carnival without Plinko? I'll tell you! It's no carnival at all!
There was even a golf game for the kiddos to play...
The kids loved "Spilled Milk", where they had to knock down plastic milk jugs...
and thanks to Oriental Trading Company and the $1 section of Target, there were plenty of prizes for all!
And look! I was there too!!
Riley showed us how to master the Skee-Ball game...
and here I am again with "Erin"
Of course we had grilled hot dogs!
and everyone took a turn taking pics in our silly photobooth.
The carnival really was a great time. All the adults who came were "put to work" at various stations, and all the kids loved going from game to game throughout the afternoon and evening. By making most of the games ourselves and shopping sales for the prizes, we really kept the budget down... and the kids happy!

Of course, now everyone's asking how I'm going to top THIS party! Hopefully I can come up with something in the next year... haha :)

Speckled Bird Art is Going to India!

and I am going to meet this beautiful girl, Dorothy, who will get to come home with her parents. ♥

Please click on the link below and check out my photography blog where you can find out more about my upcoming trip to India in 11 days. I am lucky enough to be traveling there to photograph an adoption, and I have a feeling that it's going to change me in more ways than I could ever imagine...

SPECKLED BIRD ART IS GOING TO INDIA

What I did Last Summer, Part Infinity... the super long post

Okay. Back to What I did Last Summer. It's almost over. I think I can do the rest of Summer Oh Nine in 2 or 3 posts... these may be a little picture, heavy, but at least I have everything up to remember.

Such as: The kids went to Drama Camp for a week. They had an AWESOME TIME.

They had to act, sing, improvise, and write and direct their own short plays. Riley's was a version of Chicken Little called "The Sky is Falling" and it was seriously crazy cute, especially because he wrote all the dialogue.
Violet's was a Haunted House play. Seriously sad she didn't incorporate her "Dead Zone" song into it, though.
At the end, there was plenty of dancing, and the audience members were encouraged to participate. You don't have to tell Liane and Melinda twice!
AND they got their "Certificates of Participation" for being so adorable.

After the Drama Camp week, we had a week of Family Reunions... not exactly for the happiest of reasons, however. We were all getting together to celebrate the life of my beautiful grandmother, Gerry, who passed away on May 26th. So while the reasons for the trip were marked with sadness, the family gatherings, reminiscing, and laughter that resulted were just a testament to the amazing woman she was and the incredible family she created.
The cousins spent some time in the pool...

I read to them from my most favorite book to read aloud ever, "Skippyjon Jones"...
Everyone snuggled with Sage in her chair...
And then, on the morning of the memorial, Liane had a wonderful idea to host a tea in our grandmother's honor. We all gathered together to sip tea, remember Abu, and share stories. I was able to share a special story that Abu shared with me before she died. There were plenty of tears a-flowing that morning!
The table, set for tea...
Abu's picture welcoming us to the event...
Everyone got to use the fancy china from Liane's extensive teacup collection. The kids loved making their own tea!
Riley was VERY careful... :)
And then, later that day, we took a family photo of everyone who was able to make it to the service. Pastor Greg officiated and it was wonderful. Every single person who shared a memory or a story did a beautiful job and I loved hearing from all of them.
After the Memorial, we had plenty more family gatherings at the Publow house. Papa got out the motorcycle and let the kids ride around with him for a bit...

And they even pulled the old MG out of the garage so Mel and Luke could take a spin...
Then Riley got a (belated) birthday gift from Mel and Luke... TECH DECKS!
He spent the day with Luke learning cool tricks for them...
And even tried a few on his own...
And there were still plenty of fun and giggles with the cousins...
And the seesters...
who just love and adore their Papi.
We made some wonderful memories that week, and I loved so much having everyone around.

The Last Day of School - What I did Last Summer, Part 7

June continued with the last day of school...
I'm not sure if the kids were excited...

Maybe a little.

Violet, an official Fourth Grader now...!

And Riley... officially a First Grader!!

Rock on my brotha.

School has already started and they both LOVE it. Violet's teacher is just tough enough on her, and she is definitely being challenged. Riley got lucky enough to be in class with Garrett... We'll see whether that will be a good or bad thing! So far it's pretty great. Riley loves having a friend in class. :)

If you can't be an athlete...

BE AN ATHLETIC SUPPORTER!!

Liane and I are running a marathon in January! Help support our fundraising efforts for TEAM IN TRAINING! Anyone who donates $100 will receive this RAD t-shirt!! You KNOW you want one! :) :)

I am running this race in honor of Justin Burkhardt, who was diagnosed with cancer in February of this year at age 10.

ALSO - This SUNDAY, September 20th, Liane and I will be holding a GARAGE SALE at our house, with all the proceeds to benefit LLS! Come check out the good stuff we have for sale, including FURNITURE (a dining room set, armoire, and more!), EXERCISE EQUIPMENT (a home gym, a stationary bike, etc), OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT (a lawnmower and BBQ), and SO MUCH MORE! Find some awesome stuff and support a GREAT cause. For more info or directions, call 219.8166 and we can help you out!

Go here for all the latest information on our fundraiser: Run with Perseverance!