Nana and Poppa came to visit while B was still out of school, so B got a full week of Nana and Poppa activities. M also got to spend full days with them on Tuesday and Thursday while I worked on the girls’ new beds (more on that later), and on Friday when both girls got a special day. I’m betting they slept like rocks each and every night…
Right before they arrived, B and I made key lime pie (yes, we used real key limes) for Papa’s birthday “cake” (per his request). It takes a lot of key limes to make key lime pie…
The girls with Poppa on his birthday:
Here are a few photos the grandparents took during the various activities.
Just being silly:
Nana helped B with a new craft – B loves her new bracelet!
It was a busy but fun visit!
Ever since it became clear that M’s hair tends toward the curly side of things, B has asked me to make her hair curly. Specifically, she wanted me to put her hair in braids so it would end up curly. Before:
Braids:
After:
Right after we took the pictures, she asked me to straighten her hair before school (she was a little nervous the other kids wouldn’t like it). Uhhhh….no…
And the other kids liked it just fine! And I’ve had to do this a few more times since…
M’s hair was getting out of hand, so we decided it was time for her first haircut. We promised she would get to put a giant warm fuzzy in the jar if she was good and sat very still during her haircut. She basically talked about nothing else (her warm fuzzy) leading up to and for days after her haircut. She was very, very good!
All ready:
Sitting very still…
That hair is pretty long in the back when it is straightened:
Hair in the back after:
B apparently decided she did not really want her hair to be as long as Elsa’s after all – too tangly, she said. So, she had cut quite a bit off!
Look at all the hair that is no longer on their heads!
All done.
B started karate in mid June (ish), and by the end of July she earned her Yellow belt! She was very excited – she seems to really love karate. Hooray!
At the end of J’s week-long business trip, we were all anxiously awaiting his arrival home (the plan was to pick him up from the airport). Well, of course, the last leg of his trip involved a delayed flight. To distract the girls (and myself) I brought out the fingerpaints and let them have at it. At first, it was all so normal – just dip the finger in the paint and put the paint on the paper…
In fact, because M kept asking me to wipe off her finger every time she finished applying the paint to the paper, I figured she wouldn’t put any paint on her body. And then…
I may or may not have encouraged her to put a couple stripes on her face too…
…but all the rest was all her idea!
She even did pretty things with her paint along the way:
The final product…
ROAR!
B didn’t want to be left out…
The sisters aren’t so different (B at the same age):
To make sure they really were clean after their bath, I made them eat their dinner in their paint paraphernalia…
Ready to get hosed off:
All clean!
In July, we started what we hope will be a new family tradition – kid date night. The idea is that each month J and I will each take one of the children and do something special one-on-one. In July, B opted to go with J, and M came with me. We kept it pretty simple for this first month (especially since it was raining cats and dogs that night) and just took them to dinner (B chose Chik-fil-A (of course), and I took M to Chipotle bc she loves their quesadillas).
B and J just before they headed out:
M and I before we headed out (since she was with me, there are more pictures of us…J doesn’t take many pictures unless he gets out his fancy camera).
M had assembled quite the ensemble (Kindermusik backpack, gator ski hat, tie-die shirt, white skirt with orange and blue butterflies, Ariel sandals, Nemo binky, and upside down sunglasses).
Quesadillas = happy girl!
Since B attends year-round schools, she only got one week off between kindergarten and first grade. So here she is for the first day of first grade! She made the sign herself the night before.
New backpack and lunchbox.
Perhaps she hasn’t changed much since kindergarten graduation…but then again, perhaps she has…she lost her other front tooth during her off week!
She loves her teachers. While she is sad Hawke is not in her class this year, she is thrilled Samantha and Charlie are!
Tia arrived right before B’s graduation, and stayed for a week. Each of the girls got to spend some special time alone with Tia, and then they also got to spend time with her together. She surprised the girls with a few special treats – gifts from London!
Apparently, one time they decided to do a photo session with funny faces. Here are some of my favorites:
Grandma and Grandpa arrived towards the end of Tia’s visit. So we all piled in the cars to go to a super fun local park. We almost changed our mind because it looked like it might pour, but B convinced us we should stay, and she was right!
M didn’t want to ride the carousel, so she just hung out with Tia.
M was fascinated with the storage bins in the old caboose they have for kids to play in.
This picture shows her personality soooooo well…
When we went on the train ride, B wanted to sit by herself (since she is now big enough to ride by herself).
After Tia left, the girls spent a day with Grandma & Grandpa. B got to show off her hula hoop skills, and M had fun with all of the animals.
We celebrated the 4th with Grandma and Grandpa and Tatie Kat (and friends). Apparently, I didn’t take any pictures, so use your imagination. 
We had yummy ribs and did snaps and sparklers. I even got the girls up to watch some local fireworks from our front porch – M is still talking about them!
It was so beautiful that weekend, and the girls had such a good time watching Wimbledon, after the ladies singles final, we headed out to our local tennis courts to hit some balls around. B insisted on doing her hair like the ladies at Wimbledon. M, of course, insisted as well (and had a great time chasing the balls down for us).
All too soon, it was time for the rest of our visitors to leave. It was a great couple of weeks!
B had a GREAT first year of school – learned a ton, loved her teachers, and made lots of new friends! She never earned less than a 3 on her report cards, and she even got a few 4’s (which is extremely hard to do – it means she was performing at the next grade level in that subject). At the end of the year they had a little celebration where they sang a “graduation song” to the tune of “New York, New York!” – “Start spreading the news. We’re leaving today. We want to be a part of 1st grade, 1st grade!” After getting their diplomas, they all got an ice cream treat and each child showed their family their writing notebooks, which showed how their writing changed over the year.
Here are a couple of photos from her special day:
Graduation was actually the day before the last day of school, so here she is on her last day of kindergarten!
June started with B’s first Field Day! I volunteered for a couple of hours that morning, and had a great time watching all the kids have tons of fun. B did a GREAT job in the sack race, and had fun trying to hit the target to douse her friends.
Her favorite activity (at least while I was there) was this sponge game where one person fills up the sponge and then squeezes the water all over another person. She and Essa thought this game was fantastic!
She got drenched!
Per B, her favorite activity, however, was getting a snowcone at the end of the day.
Next up: a fun day on the lake with some friends – the girls LOVE going out on the boat! Hawke and B ready for some boat fun!
B hanging out on Miss Alecia’s paddle board (Miss Alecia paddled her around for a while – rough life…).
We spent the day hanging out, swimming in the lake, and generally having a marvelous time! M refused to nap during the day, but she basically passed out on the ride back in.
B also started karate. She LOVES it! I expect she will get her yellow belt shortly. We are really looking forward to watching her grow in this sport.
Then, we went to the annual Gator club picnic. The girls are ready for some football!
They even had orange and blue cupcakes (all gone…).
The girls had a fantastic time (like they do every year) playing on the huge playground we don’t normally get to go to (not open to the public). During all the announcements, M did me proud by doing an impromptu (and loud) “Go Gators!” while shaking her pompoms!
This picture is just because I think M is cute…
Did I mention M likes berries?
