Baby Vesta Turns One

May 19th marked one year since little baby Vesta Cleveland was born...in our driveway. What better way to celebrate, than in our driveway?  We sang Happy Birthday to her at exactly 3:45pm, on the exact spot in which she entered the outside world.  A few more people showed-up, like Vesta's grandparents and some other friends, but the EMT guys weren't asked over this time. Ms. Aleshka even brought along the 9-1-1 recording of the call mommy made that afternoon, it was too funny! As you can see in the photo, Vesta was crying, just as she was that same day one year ago. Ms. Aleshka asked mommy to be Vesta's godmother, which I guess is a great honor. It was a fun party cause I got to play with all Vesta's brothers and partake in birthday cake.

The Shoals 2012

 My bucket goes everywhere with me!

The wonder of the Shoals is still alive! This is my fourth summer of meeting friends at this location in Dupont Forest on Fridays to play, a real tradition now! My friends Amy, Jack and Sam came along with us on our first visit for the summer 2012 season. They are "newbies" and fell in love instantly.  In the last photo, Jack and I are really testing the waters..look, no "Swimmies."

Sprinkler Time

Nothing says "summer" like a play in the sprinkler!

Secret Hide-Out

Mom and I turned this big box into my secret hide-out or RION'S LAIR.  We even made a roof later, unfortunately, my secret hide-out got left out in the rain, and being cardboard, it didn't quite withstand the elements. But it was fun while it lasted!

Last Day of Preschool

Mrs. Juli Lefler and Miss Sarah Wilson were my teachers for the 20111-2012 school year.  When I started in this class I was just two-years old. Now, I am 3 and half, a real "big boy." I very much enjoyed this school year, especially my teachers and friends.  I learned all my colors and shapes and am now identifying several letters and numbers too. I can spell my name. I can count to 20, at least ,and I love arts-and-crafts as you can see in the photos.  School is great, but bring on summer I say!

A Brevard Wedding

 Miss Geraldine made mom's hair real fancy.

 Daddy and Rob Skeen showed-up in the same shirt, almost.



Uncle Harvest got up on stage and played the washboard with the band.

Mom and Dad attended the wedding of their friends John and Liz over at Keystone Camp on May 12th. I didn't get to go.  Apparently, it was heaps of fun and daddy was the life of the party. Mom says Zydeco is a good music genre for daddy cause all you really have to do is bop up and down. He was cuttin' a rug for hours, according to mom.

Togs in School

 You may be wondering why me and my friends are wearing our togs inside our classroom? Well, today is a special day, it's Water Day at school. As we waited for everyone to arrive, I played with some bugs, using a magnifying glass to get a closer look. Then Ms. Juli and Miss Sarah had us sit on the carpet and they gave us directions for the water activities.

Water Day at Schoool

 Raise your hand if you like Water Day at school!!

 Wylie hangin' with the guys in the pool...someday we will be partying down in a hot tub, hopefully with a couple more girls, wouldn't want to have to fight for Wylie.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, one boy in a Tub!

And the best thing about Water Day? My mommy was a "teacher" today in my classroom and I thought that was super cool.

Popscicles

 What a wonderful Water Day Treat, sucking on popscicles in the warm sunshine with good friends!

Luke, me, Jake, Wylie, Lille, Justin and Owen (Booth and Jack were absent)

A Hike to Maidenhair Falls

Miss Kim and her son Wayah offered to show me, mom, Benj and his mom Jennifer a local hike called Maidenhair Falls. What makes this hike special is the fact that it's on private property, so not everyone knows about it, everyone being tourists and such. Mom said crossing the cow pastures reminded her of tramping in New Zealand. Me and the boys thought it was fun to dodge the cow manure. The next few posts will highlight some of the adventures we had on our hike. 

Giant Rock

This GIANT ROCK was a popular stop on the way to the falls.  Benj, Wayah and I enjoyed climbin up and then sliding back down. At one point I grabbed ahold of a tree branchn there at the top of the rock and thought it would be fun to swing off, well, not so much. The branch broke and I fell down behind the rock, ouch! It didn't stop me from climbing right back up though!

We Made It!

 Getting closer...and closer.....

 Wow, beautiful!

(this is a view down river from the falls)

After many stops along the way, we finally made it to Maidenhair Falls and they were a sight to behold. Mommy can't believe she had never hiked to these falls before, especially since they are so close to our house (the trailhead is not even a mile away). She wishes she had known several years ago about this hike so she could have taken Grandma and Grandpa Coadwell when they were here visiting, oh well, next time!

Exploring Around the Falls

 I found an inchworm near the base of the waterfall. I feel as if I rescued him from the raging waters and I was quite proud.

 Benjamin sits down for a snack as I continue my explorations.

Miss Kim, Wayah's mom, was our guide. Here she is posing with me, Wayah and Benjamin.