Mary Maxwell graduates (aka 30 years of homeschooling)

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Did they go to the restaurant that throw the dinner rolls afterward?!?!?!?!

I thought throwed rolls were in south Missouri. Or do they go to some off-brand version?

[rural juror]

I wonder if they ever run into animals engaging in sweet fellowship on their zoo/safari trips... Are all the unmarried children supposed to avert their gaze? :think:

[PrairieGirl]

Teri looks really old. Steve looks crazy. Sarah looks smug as ever. And why did Gigi need to keep Anna Marie & Lydia company? Isn't Anna Marie an adult?

I wonder if it was so Anna Marie could keep an eye on Gigi.

[latraviata]

"selfie photos"

I'd say she sounds like an out of touch old lady :character-oldtimer: but today even elderly people know how to internet.

Yes, I am old and I know how to use internet, I even post an occasional selfie (photo)

[acheronbeach]

Yes, I am old and I know how to use internet, I even post an occasional selfie (photo)

I smell a new book plot... "The Moodys Enjoy Capturing a Selfie Photo," or "The Moodys Learn the Internet Tubes."

Her writing is so horribly stilted, indirect, and confusing.

[Jezebel]

So the Maxwells went to the zoo--and virtually every photo is family snapshots they could have taken in their backyard. Didn't they see any interesting animals or exhibits? I've never been to the zoo in Omaha, and get no real sense of what it's like, or whether it's actually "worth the money."

And, as always, everyone's grinning straight at the camera in just about every shot, because unposed candid shots are...ungodly, I guess.

As for the writing? Painful as always. So Teri, it's a good thing you've retired from homeschooling because you were just no damned good at it. Honestly, it almost makes me hope that none of the Maxwell girls ever marry, and have kids because I hate to imagine the results of their homeschooling efforts.

[divadivine]

I bet the animals would have defrauded us.

[Eternalbluepearl]

At the end of the thrilling Maxwells at the zoo photo series, Sarah refers to her parents as "the retired couple." What is Steve retired from? He seems to still be getting up everyday and imprisoning his adult children...

[Peas n carrots]

It looks like a Godfathers Pizza which is a local chain. No rolls were injured during the filming of this trip.

Jezebel, this is a truly fantastic zoo. Largest indoor rainforest on the planet, largest geodesic dome in the world for the desert exhibit, a huge aquarium...but you would hardly know it from the Maxwell photos.

It's a pretty science-y zoo too...the exhibits often discuss evolution, biology etc. I'm surprised they would visit such an ungodly place!

[Jana814]

Teri looks really old. Steve looks crazy. Sarah looks smug as ever. And why did Gigi need to keep Anna Marie & Lydia company? Isn't Anna Marie an adult?

Agree!

[NeckPunch]

Steve looks so cocky in these photos, with his sports coat and sunglasses. ugh.

But Nathan's jeans have defrauded me!

PS. Bethany is the sweetest little thing isn't she?

[Eternalbluepearl]

Agree!

Steve aalways looks crazy to me too, and of course Anna Marie needed babysitting, she might have left the compound with her headship gone for the day! :pray:

[SPHASH]

I've never been to the Omaha zoo, but I have been to the KC zoo. Wonder why they didn't go there instead. Seriously what is with 20 schedules? All Ruthie, Drew, and Lydia do is sleep, eat, shit, repeat. Bethany, Joshua, and Tina just play all day. Mary is done with school now and Teri is done teaching, what pressing engagements do she, Anna, Sarah, and Elissa have, its not like they work outside the home and have friends or are courting. I'm sure ceiling fan cleaning can be skipped a few days. NR Anna isn't homeschooling, just taking care of her kids, maybe Ruthie and Lydia have baby checkups. The only ones with anything to do is Melanie homeschooling Abby, Steve writing his Gag Corner, and the boys doing whatever they do for Steve.

[PennySycamore]

Teri looks really old. Steve looks crazy. Sarah looks smug as ever. And why did Gigi need to keep Anna Marie & Lydia company? Isn't Anna Marie an adult?

How old is Teri? She does look old though. The complete lack of makeup and skin care doesn't help a bit.

[PennySycamore]

At the end of the thrilling Maxwells at the zoo photo series, Sarah refers to her parents as "the retired couple." What is Steve retired from? He seems to still be getting up everyday and imprisoning his adult children...

I want to know what Teri is retired from. I know I say retired on some forms when they ask for occupation, but I don't really consider myself retired. I still consider myself a homemaker even though the only kids I have left at home wear fur. I do take care of my granddaughter a couple of afternoons a week.

[fundiefan]

And again I am grateful, thankful and joyful for the life I have. Thanks, Maxwells. I appreciate your constant reminders.

[artdecades]

That and the liberal use of the word threesome.

Most people I know use 'trio' instead for obvious reasons. Steve, you've caused me to think a dirty thought now, my heart is unguarded!

I feel bad for giggling at that like a 12 year old. You know Sarah is so sheltered that she has no idea there is a dirty definition to that word. She would be scandalized and ashamed.

[SPHASH]

Is Teri drinking a Pepsi in that last pic? Oh I hope so!

[FloraKitty35]

The look on Porky the porcupines face is priceless. Maybe he is thinking "what a bunch of pricks".

[Odd1Out]

I don't mean this as snark but, wow, Terie looks like she has aged more than 10 years in these photos. Maybe the way she is squinting without her glasses or something. She didn't look that way in the recent videos.

Now, I do mean this as snark:

I believe Steve is making an idol of sports coats

Sarah has used that sentence about the little girls eating a sandwich before.

Way to do an entire post about a trip to the zoo, yet not show your readers the zoo. You know we can never get enough posed smiling pictures of only The Maxwells.

[Odd1Out]

I think that the reason it was so hard to get the 20something people together for a day trip (something none of us would possibly know about) has nothing to do with their work schedules. It's all about their daily schedules, Planned months in advance that they cannot bear to change. If it's been scheduled that Melanie was going to Sams that day and Terie was scheduled to clean the bath tubs, then by golly how are they supposed to just change that? It's on the damn schedule. It must be done!!!

[bean]

That. Hat. That they put on poor Joseph. I mean, I understand sun protection and all, but yikes. Is that like a thing? Or is Christopher just intent on making his entire family as dorky as possible?

[Hane]

OT: Remember that older politician who was ridiculed for calling the Internet "a series of tubes"? Former telecom trainer here can attest to the fact that the industry jargon for a high-speed digital channel is "pipe" (more specifically, "big honkin' pipe").

[Jana814]

At the end of the thrilling Maxwells at the zoo photo series, Sarah refers to her parents as "the retired couple." What is Steve retired from? He seems to still be getting up everyday and imprisoning his adult children...

Love your comment about Steve!! Soo true in so many ways.

[SolomonFundy]

I'm so confused by this sentence. Did she not take the three non reversals to the zoo? Or did she take them to the zoo and not enjoy it?

I caught that as well. It's so weird that Sarah excluded herself from the "special memories." She really is getting more and more emotionally distant. It's heartbreaking.

As to Teri looking older, I suspect it's the cumulative result of genetics, living with Steve, and all those fasts recently. Dropping weight quickly (especially if dehydration is a factor) would leave anyone looking haggard.