Happy Birthday to Us

 Yesterday, the kids and I got up and out of the house at 5:15am.  Tom was kind enough to take us to the airport where we boarded a plane to come to Arkansas.  The plane stopped in Burbank, CA and Phoenix, AZ before making it to Little Rock, but we weren't allowed to get off the plane.  The kids were amazing during the flight and even the flight attendants commented on how well they did through it all.  We then had to drive about three hours from Little Rock to the booming metropolis of Mena. The kids napped for part of it and we got here tired but just fine.

Today is both my dad and my birthday.  He turned 80, which is kind of a big deal.

I started the day off right with a trip to Walmart.  Gotta go to Walmart when you're in Arkansas; it's the birthplace of Walmart after all.

Only Serafina went with me.  

 We scored some Frozen toys, which are impossible to find in California.

 When we got home, Leo was riding in the golf cart with Grandma Sharon and the dogs.

Then he got a chance to take the wheel.  

After lunch, they did some swimming.  

 Of course, Serafina had her swim cap.   She won't leave home without it.

 Big jump!

 The pool is just deep enough that neither kid can touch the bottom, but they both are good swimmers and didn't have a problem with it.

After dinner, the kids and Grandma Sharon took the dogs for a walk.  Then it was time for some presents and pie.

 I made a simple cream cheese and whipped cream strawberry pie that I've made before.

 Serafina wasn't too sure she was going to like it.

 We got Ito to come to the table and we sung happy birthday.

 We gave him a picture that my friend April took of the kids in a frame that the kids decorated for him.

 The pie turned out yummy, but both kids rejected it.  I had bought some mini ice cream cones from Walmart in anticipation of that.

 After pie, Ito wanted to see Leo bat.  I warned him that Leo is a very consistent hitter and almost always made contact with the ball.

 I pitched the first ball and Leo nailed it right into Ito's leg.  Despite this, Ito decided to pitch to Leo.  This resulted in Ito getting pegged twice more with the ball.

 He was still brave enough to let Leo pitch to him, which had mixed results.

After this, Leo ended up turning into a mushy pile of crying misery.  He was just over tired from long travel yesterday and lots of activity today.  My dad told him "Why are you crying?  I should be the one crying; I got hit by the ball three times."  That didn't really help.

I put them to bed shortly just a little while later and they fell right asleep.  Country living is exhausting, but they are having fun.