Sorry again about the time lapse between posts. Daddy's been up in Philadelphia, either studying a bar (candy? gold? pull-up?) or going to a bar. Whatever. Bottom line: he hasn't been around, so he's not able to maintain my burgeoning stuffed animal collection while I free up some time to write. Let's cut to the chase: two big things went down in the last three weeks, with lots of pictures to share.

First, our minivan took its maiden voyage out to Minnesota. Unlike the Titanic, the Green Machine (as it has been christened) made it back in one piece, without hitting any icebergs. Our primary purpose was to go to a wedding:

Get me out of these snappy clothes, dammit!


It was much more fun shaking booty on the dance floor all night. They should skip the damn ceremony.

Naturally, we spent most of the rest of our time hanging out by the pool. Despite the fact that I had been in swimming pools hundreds of times before in my life, and had in fact been in this swimming pool half of those times, I decided for the first few days that I was too scared to go in. So I contented myself with such activities as...

Hanging out with other kids, comparing the size of our Cheez Doodles (it's never too early to start!)


Doing my best dad impersonation... (Holy s#!t, he's blind. Can you imagine if someone ripped off his glasses when he was driving??? He'd be screwed!!!)

Our trip coincided with Mother's Day. I was under strict orders to make sure daddy didn't do what he did LAST YEAR (I'll give you a hint: it's the same answer as what our president is doing about global warming). So I orchestrated a new family mother's day tradition: elaborate fruit sculptures. The inaugural project: a watermelon minivan, with fruit family inside it.

OK dad, you put the blueberry arms on the pear like this...


Mission accomplished. That's Evvy the Apricot in the middle seat. If you look closely, you might see the mango car carrier.


Mission double accomplished. Mommy loved it! (Though Evvy fell asleep looking at it. I'll have to tell Daddy to try harder next year.

The highlight of the trip was when Sydney came down to visit. At first I was content to just enhance her swimming experience...

But I was finally coaxed into the pool. At which point I remembered, hey, I like swimming! Duhhhh...


It bears mentioning that Sydney, although not an official member of my immediate family, fits in perfectly. As you can see, we get very good cell phone reception as a result:


Next big event was daddy's graduation. Family was out in force:

Me and the boyz.

Me and the sis.

I basically became the youngest graduate in UVA Law history that day when I received my rolled-up-paper telescope with the rest of the people in black robes. But before I could do that, I listened attentively to the inspiring graduation speaker, What's-Her-Name, tell us to, y'know, do it up:

Hey lady at the podium! Where's my dumb hat?

And then it was my time to shine. It's best to give you the freeze frame effect:

The approach...

The awkward handshake attempt...

Handoff attempt #1: Not For Daddy.

Handoff Attempt #2: Yep, That's For Me.

Telescope secure.

And success! The handoff is complete!

And no blog post would be complete without the Philadelphia Chicken, which made a surprise appearance at the law school pre-graduation reception:


Another big event was the pre-Philly-move garage sale we had last weekend:

Mommy's selling this awesome rug??? But it's perfect for standing on!

I had a hard time parting with any of my precious precious toys, though I did end up purchasing some new (old) toys from our neighbors who were collaborating on the sale.

And lastly, some sad news to report: I had my very last day of Molly Michie preschool last Friday. Here I am saying goodbye to my teacher:

More than anything, I'm really going to miss my friends. They've taught me about life, love, sharing, and (most importantly), potty talk. Here's a conversation I had with mommy as she picked me up from a play date at my friend Nate's house:
Me: We had a chicken diaper sandwich and a poopy diaper sandwich and a poop sandwich!
Mommy (thinking she's all down with my peeps): What about a fart sandwich?
Me: Mommy, you can't have a fart sandwich. A fart is just a sound that comes out of your butt. You would just have two pieces of bread.

On that note, I'll see y'all in Philly! (Wait, I guess I'll see youse guys in Philly. Sorry... it's going to take some getting used to...)

I'm back, don't worry. A few new things since last month. First and foremost, we have a new car! If you were looking to get a piece of the old car, you're too late-- it sold on Craig's List within a day. That didn't leave me much time to mourn:

Adios, Silverado. We hardly knew ye.

Yes, Silverado was a great car, but it committed the fatal sin of not seating eight people. We went car shopping for a few weeks, and I picked out a sweet muscle machine:

Whooo! Chicks dig the low MPG on this baby! Burn the fossil fuels, baby, burn!

In the end, mom got her way, and now we have a minivan:

Nice. And check out the soccer medal I'm flashing. Guess who successfully completed the YMCA youth soccer program? This guy. That's right--I participated. I'm The Participator. (And mom is now officially in the Minivan-Driving Soccer Mom demographic.)

Dad experienced some angst:

OK, so what part of "You've been an old fogey parent for over four years, so it's really no big deal that you're now driving a minivan" don't you get? Yeesh.

I also made a return visit to the new house, this time with mom in tow.

She got it inspected. She's The Inspector.

While part of me is excited about moving to Philly (though I still haven't seen the Chickens yet and I am beginning to get suspicious), the rest of me is quite morose about leaving Charlottesville. I've been trying to spend some extra time enjoying my favorite people and places before we leave:

Olive time with my BFF, Gram. He ate them. I didn't. (A week ago, I also told mom and dad, "I wish I didn't have to eat." Male anorexia, here I come!!!)

Picnic time with me, Evelyn, and the white houses.

Train time with me and my massive Thomas the Tank engine collection. (Mom and dad assure me that I get to take them with me, but then, they also assured me that I would be staying in Charlottesville forever. OK, they didn't say that. But still, I don't trust them.)

Lastly, I've been fighting through some school troubles in the last few weeks. One of my classmates flagrantly stole my chair at snacktime, so I picked up a block and clocked him in the head. Frankly, I thought I was well within my rights at the time. And I think once upon a time, such vigilante justice would have been looked upon favorably. But there's apparently been a major call for stringent block control laws in the last few years. So I've been banned from the blocks for the next few weeks. However, you'll be glad to know that I am now on the path to redemption and rehabilitation thanks to a new rewards program instituted by mom and dad. Also, I've been getting some looks from the 5-day girls in the last few days, and they apparently like sensitive guys, not the angry, block-clocking type.