Watching Michael pitch against the Greenville Drive

This past week Joseph and I drove down to Greenville, South Carolina to watch Joseph's younger brother, Michael (Mike) pitch. Mike is part of the Charleston Riverdogs baseball team. The bonus to going south to Greenville...my older sister and her family live down there so we got to spend time with them as well. Our vacation officially started on Sunday, the 23rd, but the first game was played Monday evening. It also happened to be the game that Mike pitched in.

Fluor Field - home of the Greenville Drive

Mike on the pitcher's mound

Another shot

Keeping the guy on first base from stealing second.

Concentration

Paris Mountain

On Wednesday we went to Paris Mountain to feed the ducks and geese.

The mallard family

Rosie: "I want to hold your hand, Uncle Joseph."

Uncle Joseph: "Nope."

Rosie's "I wanna hold your hand" dance

Boy! That Uncle Joseph isn't very nice!

But he is a good follower.

One of the VERY hissy mama geese

Uncle Joseph playing the Pied Piper and bringing the hissing geese to the stairs so we can feed them without worrying about them trying to bite the kids.

Rose feeding her hissing geese

Following the leader aka Ethan

Rose getting a piggyback ride after tripping and scraping up her entire right leg.

Rose wouldn't smile cause her leg hurt too much so Ethan helped out while Anna laughed.

To the falls!

The falls over the dam

Mom with her eldest

Mom with her sweet baby

Fun at the Greenville Zoo

Since Joseph and I spent this past week in South Carolina visiting my older sister's family as well as watching Mike's team play, we just had to stop by the Greenville zoo. Here are a few shots from our time spent there.

The giraffes were out and about when we got there.

Joseph was frisbeeing the "feed the animal" crackers into the giraffes' enclosure. The female was all over those crackers! lol

The male

Uncle Joseph discussing the tortoises with Anna and Rose

Rose running backwards into the Orangutan exhibit.

Rosie

Anna, Rose, Aunt Hannah, and Ethan

Uncle Joseph with Bella

Bella learning about slides

After the first initial scare, Bella was hooked!

Climbing the stairs up to Uncle Joseph to be sent down the slide to Mom again.

Bella girl

The Cliffs of Insanity and Back Again

Dear Mama-san,

Things at my house are mild compared to what's been happening at your's while you've been away.

But, I'm sure you figured that already. I'm much better at doing dishes than Rachel is even if Joseph doesn't agree with that statement. I trust you've been teaching Anna and Rose how to wash dishes better than their Aunt Rachel can wash dishes. At least they'll be able to help you out when they come up north to see you next. You can banish Aunt Rachel to scupping the pupe instead.

I have to admit, mother, that I would personally choose groundhogs over musically inclined, tap dancing roaches and mice. Groundhogs are bigger and therefore less creepy and crawly. However, I will attempt to make an intervention call on your behalf. It's the least I can do if I wish to have you visit me again this summer, right? Prove my worth at holding your house together from a distance. I can do this. I WILL do this!

If I knew where the freshly poured cement is going to be I might be able to keep the local wildlife (and newly domestic life) off of it, but come on, Mom, you know it's just too much fun to pass up leaving handprints for the future. Remember...we all did it when the carport was poured. Of course, Mr. Byler (did I spell his name right?) probably did have something to do with us actually having left our prints. And it's not like Pinky will have the presence of mind to actually make her prints deep enough to stay, right, Pinky? (say yes, Pink...it might just save you from certain death when mom comes home and sees the prints you're bound and determined to make apparently.)

As for her being unruly - Mom, just THINK of what her kids are going to do to HER! *snicker* I can't WAIT to see that!

Can't say I blame her students for leaving the country. I'd be running too!! We may just have to get her that pretty purple jacket that we talked about last month and put her in her pretty blue room with the ONE window that overlooks her shiny things. This MAY save the lives of her students as I'm sure leaving her out of her blue room for one more day might drive them to absolute, distracted insanity.

No, my phone hasn't been ringing due to the two troublemakers still at home having been late to work. I finally blocked McD's and the school's numbers from my cell after one full weekend of them waking me up at 5 o'clock each morning.

I'll do my very best to help you out and get those two in line when I spend the weekend up north next week. Of course, with me going up there and you not being there I cannot guarantee that I won't help egg Rachel and Stephen into getting into more trouble once we've taken care of the bugs, dishes, mice, laundry, and rust stains.

You're the bestest mother in the whole world and I wouldn't trade you for anyone else.

Love you!

Hannah

We're Gonna Take Over the World

We interrupt this show for a special announcement. The Brain and Sweeney Todd have taken over the world. Any person or thing that has a problem with this deal will promptly be called in for a special one time deal of a haircut and shave personally given by Mr. Sweeney Todd himself.

The question left floating through everyone's minds, though, is not how long it will take Mr. Todd and the Brain to find a new baker of meat pies, but What exactly is Pinky going to do now that the world has been taken over without Pinky's help?

It came to my attention this evening as I chatted with Rachel on the phone that I am the Brain and she is Pinky and she doesn't know what she's going to do now that I've taken over the world without her. People she needs a new hobby! Preferably one that still allows her to continue teaching her students during the day and writing crazy letters in the late night. That leaves her a few hours in the afternoon and evening that are free and open for new schemes. Then again, she DID just go to the library for a huge stack of books today so take those few hours and make them a few minutes that she'll have left over for her new hobby.

I think she should teach the new tenants of my parents' home tap dancing and piano lessons. There's nothing quite like musical cockroaches. She could have her very own musical troupe. I think this may be a winner, friends! However, on the occasion that she actually does follow her mother's instructions, she'll still need something new to do with her free time. That's where ya'll come in. What hobbies can you suggest for poor Pinky that will only take up a few minutes each evening yet still be ever so satisfying? Leave any suggestions in the comments. I'm sure she'll love all of them.

Missing Out on all the Fun :-(

So, apparently my mama-san and my leetle seester, Rachel, have decided that the best manner of communication while my mom is visiting my older seester, Alicia, is to write letters to each other on their blogs. I have to admit that I feel a tad bit left out. Rachel doesn't ever write me cool letters like she writes mom. *pout* I suppose I'll just have to satisfy myself by reading their blogs every day and checking them CONSTANTLY in case one of them decides on a random update in the middle of the day. OR - maybe I'll write an open letter to the both of them here on my blog. Of course, I'll never match their level of coolness so then again, maybe I won't. We'll just have to see.

Love ya'll!

My Little Seester

If you've read my blog this weekend, you probably noticed this conversation that I held with my sister on my blog while watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End on Friday night. You may have even followed the link on her name to her blog. At which point you may have seen her profile picture which has another girl in it. So, which one is Rachel? I'm here to solve the dilemma. Rachel is the one in the below pictures. She's my beautiful younger sister.

All of these pictures were taken LATE Saturday night so you'll have to forgive any red eyes. She was tired and I made her let me do her eye makeup. Doesn't she look fabulous!?!

I had her laughing so hard that she couldn't even keep her eyes open for the pictures.

No, she's not flying. She's posing like the conductor on the TV. Silly girl.

oosta! I LOVE my lips!

And I love my seester. She's alot of fun as long as you don't make her mad. Of course, I suppose the same thing could be said of me. Maybe it just runs in the family. LOL

Home

I'm visiting home tonight. Titus, Stephen, and I are sitting in the girls' room waiting on Mom and Rachel so we can watch The Last of the Mohicans. Of course, Titus and I are having fun teasing Stephen. We're quoting movies and it's awesome. Everything I say Titus is finishing.

Alright, so our movie has started. I'll chat with ya'll later.

**Edited to Add**

The Last of the Mohicans is finished and can I just say that I have never laughed so hard while watching such a "serious" drama. Ever. Titus, Mom, and I were making fun of everything. Magua became "Fat Man". Did you know that Magua means Fat Man? Well, it does now. Oh, and Alice...she wasn't a sickly, quiet girl...she was a "special" person. Uncas never learned how to fight, and Chingachgook was the Old Man that No One wants to Mess With. Oh, yeah, and Hawkeye - he's the only good shot with a rifle on the American frontier in the state of New York. And last but not least, Cora and Nathaniel had children whose hair was forever tangled, and HUGE! Yes, watching movies with the family is soooo much fun!

Now that you've met Titus...

I was thinking of introducing you to the rest of my family from my perspective. Would you like to meet them? (As in...hey ya'll! Can I talk about you on my blog?? Mom, you can answer me on Facebook. I'll even keep your name offline if you want.)

Seeing the "Hobbit Hole"

Alicia spoke of our parents house as a hobbit hole so I figured I might as well show you a little of what she meant.

This is the girls' room. Imagine three girls in here. Where the dresser is now, was where Alicia's bed used to be. That blue chair with the plastic bag on it... there were two dressers back to back there for Rachel and I. Alicia's dresser was in the corner that you can't see to the right. The ceilings in the house are about 6 1/2 ft. high which is why it seems as though I was holding the camera really high. Everything is really just super short in order to fit properly.

This is the "playroom". Well, it used to be anyway. Now it's more the TV room. The entire left wall (that you can't see) is a floor to ceiling bookshelf that is two layers of books deep plus books piled on top. Way back in the way backs, Mom used to correct our school books in this room. The love seat wasn't right there to the right. Instead, there was a desk and a shelf of school books.

This is the living room. The door to the left straight ahead leads to the attic. That's the playroom ahead there too. Mom's piano, that will be mine someday, is right there in the front left corner of the picture. This room is long, but not much else. Where that table is by the piano...that's where Mom's Christmas tree goes.

The kitchen. The last time the whole family fit in there at the table...I don't even remember it. It's tiny, but homey.

Another angle of the living room. That's a little more of the piano.

Thanks for coming on the tour. I obviously didn't show the parents' room, and the boys' room, but I'm sure you get the idea that the house is...SMALL.

Sisters, Sisters

There were never such devoted sisters. I apologize right now for the first photo. My mom said monkey faces and my sisters (obviously) don't obey very well.

Alicia , Rachel, and Me.

The two oldest girls.

The two youngest girls.

Yes, there are only three of us. Technically, Rachel is included in this picture because she took it. lol.

My crazy sisters. Imagine being born in between THESE two! Sooooo much fun!

Family Reunion

This Saturday my mother's family got together for a reunion. I wasn't supposed to be able to go, but after a bit of debating, I finally told Joseph that I was going up to PA. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. My next thought was..."I need to take my camera. I just have to take tons of pictures because who knows when we'll all get together again." Oh I took my camera alright and ended up with about 220 pictures by the end of the night. Of course, Blogger only allows five pictures per post so I had to pick five that shows the highlights of the party from my perspective.

Clockwise from top left: David, Jenn, Uncle Bob, and Aunt Ann.

Aunt Ann was the brains behind the reunion from what I hear. Great job, Aunt Ann! It was a blast!

Again, clockwise from top left: Christy, Charlie Jr., Charlie's girlfriend, Aunt Janet, Tyler, and Uncle Charlie. As you can see, Uncle Charlie is the life of the party. Uncle Bob is U. Charlie's younger brother and he (U. Bob) was taking pictures of all the families that showed up. When U. Bob said that he was done with the actual pictures and that he was going to film a little now, U. Charlie said that he was going to pick his nose on camera. And he did. Had to get a picture of that!

This is my family that was at the reunion. From left: Isaiah, Aunt Theresa, Grandma, Uncle Gary, Dad, Rachel, Stephen, Mom, and me.

My Pap, Grandma's husband, was the oldest boy in the original family. In the family, I think my Pap was the best looking of the boys. (you'll see later)

This was my table of fun. Partly because it was where U. Charlie sat, but mostly because it was the table of "shine". Clockwise starting with my mother: Mom, Dad, Cousin Stewart, U. Charlie, Cousin Terry, U. Don, and U. Bob. Can you guess why I call this my table of "shine"?


This is (obviously) a photo of the original Phillips children. I'm afraid I don't ever remember the names correctly so I'm going to ask Aunt Ann to name everyone. I can say that the really good looking guy in the uniform is my Pap. ( You ARE going to have to click on the picture so you can actually see the family properly.)