Cute Kid Pix June 2025

More photos that didn't make their own post...

My wife's cousin came to visit with her 17-month old son. They were both a lot of fun to hang around with (and they came to our summer showcase dance!).

Feeding the baby

More feeding!

At the dance

Trying out glasses

They wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial at sunset which we did the day before they left. The view of the Washington Monument was pretty cool.

Whoops, forgot to get them in the photo!

Could use it as to track time?

My youngest finally had his Blue and Gold dinner where he bridged from the Cub Scout Pack to a Scouting USA Troop. The theme was Marvel and they have a cake sale. We made Spidey-pops as our contribution.

Not a cake but still dessert

The "bridge" part of the bridging

Getting a new kerchief

Adjusting the slide

Scout handshake

Proud poppas

Proud scouts

He also finished 5th grade, which had a ceremony that was happily much shorter than other graduations I have been to.

Walking in for the ceremony

The whole fifth grade

Getting the certificate

With his teacher

We had an unexpected visitor in our back yard...

Who's that?

GQ pose?

I tried to get a picture of the jump over the fence by the phone is too slow

We went out to lunch and discovered our daughter's drinking problem.

The wrong amount of label hidden!

Cute Kid Pix May 2025

More pictures that didn't make their own post...

Our youngest had his Spring GT Elementary Sinfonia Concert in May. The orchestra is a special, audition-only orchestra that gives students the opportunity to work on more challenging material. He had a good time and looked great playing his bass.

GT Elementary Sinfonia

My son

We went to the Main Street Festival in Laurel, Maryland. The celebration was delayed by a propane explosion that happened to one of the booth as they were setting up in the morning. The 9 a.m. parade was canceled but the festival opened at 11 a.m. 

Entering Main Street

My wife would have loved this

My daughter loves cotton candy

I love junk food

This family does not love a skeletal unicorn

Cordoned off for investigation

For Mother's Day, we went into Baltimore to Saint Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church. The inside is not very big but we were able to follow along in the prayer books. Enough congregation was there that it did not feel awkward.

St. Michael the Archangel church

Inside

Afterward, we went to Little Italy and had treats at Vaccaro's, an Italian pastry and coffee shop. 

Vaccaraccino

Rum cake and chai

Tiramisu and ???

Another concert was the elementary school's spring concert with all my youngest's fellow orchestra players from 5th grade. 

The advanced orchestra

The lone bass

My daughter's school had a pops concert night to raise money for the music boosters. It was fun even if she only played in the last few songs.

At the pops

My youngest's school had their field day so I volunteered for one of the stations. After all the "in field" activities, they gathered for a school photo, a race with a few teachers in inflatable costumes, and the fifth graders throwing water balloons at the Orchestra and Band teachers (though the students had to be in advanced levels).

Half the student body

The penguin did not win the race

5th graders go after their teachers!

A few days later were the Simulated Congressional Hearings, where the fifth grade students practiced giving testimony on various issues. My son really enjoyed it.

Ready to give testimony

Hand shaking afterward

We finally celebrated my sister's birthday at a local restaurant. One guess on the type of restaurant...

They did sing in English

My youngest had a presentation at the STEAM fair at his school. That's Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

STEAM fair presentation

My youngest had an audition for the Gifted and Talented Middle School Orchestra. It was on the last day of May, so we won't know if he is accepted for a couple of weeks. He felt confident about his performance.

Camera shy at the audition

Cute Kid Pix August 2024

Pictures that didn't get their own post from August...

Summer saw the end of some cooking-at-home projects. We tried making plantains. Our first batch did not turn out so well but the second attempt yielded softer and tastier results.

Cooking plantains

Our daughter got a candy cook book for her birthday and made a variety of confections over the summer. One of the last candies she made were white chocolate-coated cake balls.

Yummy!

Our youngest had a friend over and they tried out Monopoly.

In mid-game

Our eldest son is in marching band again. They had a band camp that finished with a preview performance on the football field.

Marching band in action

Our youngest had another visit with the grandparents before school started. 

Sharing screens with Grandpa

We took boating lessons from the local county parks and recreation department. It was an exciting morning because someone fell out of their kayak. The falling fellow was not one of our family members. The instructors tried righting his kayak and having him get in but it wasn't working. They went to the shore and did the remount there.

Shared kayak with daughter hiding

Youngest at the front of the canoe

Power kayaking

The youngest had his birthday, so we had a retro video game-themed event. The cake was Cappy!

Cake not for wearing

Amazing wall mural by my daughter

Posing at the mural

Blowing out the cake

The next day, we had extra family over to celebrate.

Uncle Ed with the birthday boy

We went to a local Ethiopian restaurant which was yummy, though I was a little disappointed with my dish. The bread is still amazing.

Kitfo

We went to an 80s/90s dance at our studio. It was fun dressing up, especially for me to be Miami Vice.

Dancing the night away

The local library's summer reading program included a free Junior Frosty from Wendys which we wasted no time collecting.

Yum!

Summer ending in August for the kids as they had to go back to school. Our youngest still likes walking to school, which includes time with a best friend from down the street.

Off to school