Dance

For the past 2 years, Sam has participated in Moving in the Spirit, a dance program for kids 3-18.  He has loved every minute of it and looks forward to class every week.  We love it because it has taught him a lot about his body and how to control his body.

Each May, they have a "big show" downtown at the Rialto Theater.  It is a huge production and the kids are enthralled by being on the big stage!   They had a dress rehearsal last week in preparation of the show and here are some pictures from the rehearsal.  

In case you were wondering, their dance is based on the ids being seeds that are watered and then grow out of the ground.

On the Field

Over the past year, Sam and I have had many conversations about who Sam should root for in baseball.   I think he should root for the Philles, a.k.a the good guys, but he thinks he should root for the Braves, because "Daddy, I grew up in Atlanta." (Hard to argue with that logic).

Well last night may have cemented his fandom of the Braves for a while.   Thanks to a good friend of ours, we were able to get on the field and walk around.    Not sure who enjoyed it more, Sam or myself, but Sam definitely did love the trek around the field.  He was pretty enamored!  

Here are some pics of Sam and I on the field.

Things Maya Likes

Maya Dawn Delp... Those words are uttered quite frequently around our house.  Our little girl continues to amaze us with her talents and her joy for life!  There are many things that Maya enjoys about life (most everything really), but here are a few things that really stand out:

Maya loves to paint.  Thank goodness she has a mom that loves to paint with her and comes up with some great projects this these for her to work on:

Maya also loves to sleep (well, at least nap anyway as she routinely stays up to 10 with us).  She also loves the blanket she is holding below.  She has loved that blanket since she was a little baby and to this day will not sleep without it.

Maya loves her daddy of course (and he loves her)!

Maya is an amazing helper in the kitchen (no, I am not expecting her to stay in the kitchen when she grows up, so don't bother to comment)...She is cleaning our dishes after making dinner.

One of her favorite things to do in the kitchen is help Katie mix when she is baking.  She has gotten quite good at mixing and can actually do it all by herself now.  

Maya loves friends.  From school to church to neighborhood...Maya loves to be around other kids and people.  These are a few of her favorites that enjoyed another beautiful kite flying evening in the park!

Future Singing Career

A little poll here for you...

Based on the following, who do you think has the best chance of winning American Idol in 12 years (for everyone's sake, let's hope American Idol is not still on when Sam is 17 and Maya is 15).

Sam:

Or Maya:

Local Food

When I moved to Atlanta, one of the things that I was most surprised by was the lack of local food, including produce, in the supermarkets. I think I was spoiled living in the farm capitol of the world...but my expectations were to have local and fresh produce available in the grocery store from May-November. Eleven years later, most grocery stores still lack the local variety that I grew up with, but we have lots of other fun options available to us. Here are some of the ways that we have been enjoying local food in the past few weeks:

South Atlanta is full of Mulberry Trees.  I never had a mulberry before I moved here, but since I've moved to South Atlanta, I have grown to love them.  This year, the kids have really enjoyed picking them and we have started to spread the joy to some friends...

Sam and Maya picked so many berries that we were able to make a pie and some wonderful Jam (thanks to Katie's amazing Pinterest & cooking skills)

One of our favorite traditions as a family has been to go to the local farmers market every Thursday night.  We have really enjoyed this time as a family and seeing many friends and people we know.  The market started back up again this Thursday and we were thrilled to be able to go.  

Sam quickly fell in love with the chickens.  Comment and let us know if we should start raising chickens.  Apparently it is the cool thing to do these days.

Finally, after moving to our new house in 2008 and then fighting through the "baby fog years"where we got very little done around our house beyond changing diapers and feeding our children, our garden has finally started to produce (pardon the pun)!  Tonights dessert???? Carrots and Peas!  

Kite Flying

One of the great joys of childhood is getting the chance to fly a kite. Maybe it's the endless imagination of how high the kite flies... Maybe it's the freedom of running in the park... Or maybe its just being outside on a glorious spring day... But very few things top kite flying as a kid.

We've been waiting for a nice breezy day to head to the park and we finally got one last night. Here are some pictures of Sam, Maya, and a friend flying, and chasing, a kite.

Boys Trip to Florida

For the second year in a row, we have embarked on a Boy's trip to Florida!  This year, we were pleased to be joined by Shawn and Symeon!  Our hope is that this will become and annual tradition that we can look forward to each spring!

Some of the highlights of the trip include:

The "Cool" kids ready for the van ride!

One of the things Sam looked forward to the most: Fruit Loops!

Not every beach comes with a bouncy slide...

Let's just say the baseball game isn't high on the priority list for the under 34 crowd!!!

Wonderful views at the beach:

Night time activity of choice was searching for treasure with Iphone flashlights:

Sand castle making!

Sam was attempting to stop the waves with his squirt gun:

Good Friends... And Jon did ask if he could be Symeon's cousin after the trip was over.   Symeon agreed to this arrangement!!

And the highlight of the trip...A original score by Symeon Delp, accompanied by Jon Barber and Sam Delp.