Fish Fry

 On Thursday night, Walt and Jim did a fish fry for the family -- yum!! (Paul and Kim's neighbors also came to SD for the celebration -- very nice people!)

One of the Centennial events was a beard contest, so much of the male population of Eden (including Mike's cousin in the bottom picture) was walking around sporting big facial hair!  It makes it hard to recognize people!  (Most of the beards disappeared immediately after the contest ended.)

Let's Get this Party Started

(OK, the party is already over, but I'm behind on my blogging!)

Thursday was a busy day for the town -- they closed off the main street, put up tents for the entertainment and picnic tables, and Mike helped set up the veterans' tribute in the community center.  Georgia had a town history set up in the old post office. 

There's also a new business open in town -- Sam's 5 & Dime, which sells ice cream, pop, and beer.  That actually seems like a great business model (and Sam did a gorgeous job remodeling the building).  And as you can see, Grandpa Walt was helping out behind the counter!

All the Cousins

 And the on Thursday the rest of the cousins (Alex and Andrew) arrived, and they all went crazy loco!

Cuts and Cousins

 We didn't have time to get the boys haircuts before we left, but we were in luck -- a new salon just opened in Eden!  It's a beautiful space, and the boys and I all got nice haircuts.

Mattie and James have also been having fun playing with their cousins at the playground, Grandma's attic (and yes, the iPad).  More cousins arriving soon!

SoDak

 The start of the week required a few doctor's visits (Matthew and Mike had pinkeye), but they have mostly recovered from the pestilence, and we are enjoying our first day in South Dakota!  The town is getting all spruced up for the centennial festivities this weekend.

(And we were here in time for Wednesday Wing night at Club Eden!  Yum.)

Math Musings

James says tonight, "How do you get from 19 to 99?"  I said, "What do you think?"  He said, "80", and I told him that was right.  He continued, "But what if you need two numbers?  40 plus 40, right?"

I don't know what kind of math they teach in kindergarten these days, but I think he'll do fine.  :)

(The other night in his crib, I heard him say, "What's 5 times 5?  5, 10, 15, 20, 21, 25 -- 25!")

Flyby

We were lucky enough to be on the way for our friends' journey between one posting and another. We had a great time with Jon, Kim, and the (very grown-up) kids!  Not only was it awesome to catch up with them and hear about their Italian adventures, but we also had a chance to go some of the places that we wanted to eat "one more time" before we left town.  And of course, the big boys played some music.

I think Matthew and James were a little surprised at first at the size of their dog, but he is such a sweetie that they liked him immediately!

And a Few More from Florida

 James loved the merry-go-round, although he's not quite big enough to push it effectively yet (in fact, shortly after this picture he scraped his shin on the bottom of it -- ouch!)

A cute moment:  one of the mornings, Seth wanted to go see Mimi in Grandpa's room.  He asked James to come with him, but James was busy playing with some trains.  I told Seth it was OK for him to go see Mimi by himself, and he said, "But I want James to come with me because he's my best friend!"  (Aww.  After that, James went along!)