Last Day!

Today was our very last day of school for the 2011/2012 school year!  I am so excited to be done and have a nice break.  I think the kids agree. 

I am now the proud mother of a 6th grader.  Wow!  That's crazy to even say.

 Tea is all done with 1st grade.  She's very advanced and did mostly 2nd/3rd grade work all year long.

 Midge is a reading 1st grader.  She is doing amazing and I am very proud of all that she has accomplished this year!

 To celebrate the end of our school year and the beginning of the "best summer ever, " we had a party here at the house.  There was swimming, water balloons, ice cream, and playing with friends.  The weather was fabulous and all involved had a really great time!

Buster loved to just carry around the water balloons.  He doesn't mind at all when they pop, he just goes and gets another.

Now we are all exhaused, but in a good way.  It's gonna be a great summer!

Very close

Tonight after the kids went to bed I decided to clean the fish tank.  It wasn't even very dirty, but I like to stay on top of it.  I was already pretty tired but went for it anyway.  As I was pouring the water from the tank (it's a Beta tank) into the sink, the same fish that usually hangs out at the bottom and makes me "fish" it out, plopped right down the drain.  I screamed.  I almost panicked and flipped on the garbage disposal.  Why is that the natural reaction?  I have heard many horror stories.  The King ran in when he heard my distress, but his hand was too big to reach down.  Unfortunately I have a major aversion to touching slimy things.  It freaked me out terribly but I reached down the drain and grabbed the fish.  It was almost as if she jumped right into my hand.  I plopped her into the cup of water I already had ready and she started swimming around right away.  She doesn't appear to have any injuries and was probably only out of the water for about 30 seconds.  Whew....

Trying New Things

This summer we're mixing things up a little.  We are taking a break from theater, after two summers of major musicals.  This year Chiggie is going to play volleyball instead.  It's not nearly as time consuming.  Just one practice and one game per week.  It leaves us plenty of time for other things.....like swimming.

Traditions

 Over the years holidays have meant different things.  When the King and I were first dating Memorial weekend meant Juco, for several years we also went camping, this year we set up the pool.  Sometimes it's hard that the years have brought so much change.  I love routine and familiarity, but this was good.  We had a lot of fun.  Our tradition is our family.  The time we spend together. It doesn't really matter what we're doing or where we are.

More Swimming

I can pretty much assure you that by the end of this summer vacation you will all be begging me to stop posting swimming pictures.  What can I say, we like to swim.  Today was another not so warm, breezy day, but the girls braved it and got back in.

Just to show how brave she was, Tea even ate a fudgesicle.  Brrrrrrrrr. 

 Midge attempted to warm up by just laying in the sun.  It was like 72 degrees outside.  Much colder in the water I'm sure.

 Boo just figured out that she can actually stand in the pool.  Water still makes her a little bit nervous when it's this deep, but she can swim.

 Chiggie swam for 4 hours straight and never complained about the water.  She has always loved to be in the water.  She didn't even mind the wind too much and she is not a fan of the wind.

Buster is the official "ball boy."  He runs around the outside of the pool fetching anything they throw out.  Poor dude was so sad when he woke up this evening from his nap and we had closed the pool for the day.  He's so wishy washy though.  He wants in then out...repeat about 100 times and then go completely insane.  I hope as it warms up he will stay in for longer stretches.



Pool's Up!

 Even though today was super windy and dusty we decided to finally go ahead and set up the pool.  The kid's were so excited they could hardly sleep last night.  It was simple to set up and only took about 30 minutes.  The tough part was all the waiting they had to do while it filled up.  It was kind of like being on a long road trip.  Is it done yet...about 300 times.  I think they would agree that it was worth the wait!

Such a Sweetie

Learning to read and write has been very exciting for Midge.  She is such a little sweetheart.  I am sure that having older sisters motivates her to grow up a little faster.  Almost every night before I go to bed I find a letter on my pillow saying she love me.  It's a nice way to end the day.  I am so proud of her and all of her accomplishments!