Our lil' southern belle

Elizabeth had quite an adventure earlier this week. She was invited to her first formal tea party at the house of some family friends (Rebecca and Mark Spencer). This party was hosted by the 10-year-old daughter, and included a number of little girls age 2 to 5 (or so). They all got dressed up and munched on treats including chocolate covered strawberries, cake, and other sweets (at least that was the plan--I don't think they actually ate much). This tea was held in one of the most historical homes of Monticello--the Allen House--recently purchased by these friends.

Here is a link to a Monticello website with more details on this property: http://www.monticellolive.com/?p=103 The Allen House is quite well known in this town--partially for its impressive (if decaying) grandeur, and partly because it is rumored to be haunted... Hope's impression: it is a beautiful home, that needs a lot of TLC due to neglect over the years. These friends of ours have spent many years fixing other large, old homes, and worked hard to persuade the former owner to sell them the property. Now that they've moved in, they look forward to fixing it up!

In the meantime, Kenny stayed busy by taking swim lessons in the local city pool. If you remember, Kenny already had a one-week set of lessons in the nearby city of Warren's YMCA pool. These lessons aren't particularly intensive, and we want Kenny to learn how to swim from people more skilled than us, so Hope signed him up for two more weeks. The picture above shows Kenny about to jump off the diving board into the deep end of the pool (that's his instructor in the water waiting for him). We're pleased that Kenny's taken to water like the proverbial fish, although it does mean we have to keep an extra close eye on him when we're swimming, because he's still just a beginner, and takes chances. He's doing very well in his swim lessons, and we'll keep him in them until he's really good at it. We'll make sure Beth and "Larry" also get this experience--Beth is not as comfortable in water, and who knows about "Larry."