Pardon me while I try to soak up every last drop of this summer. It's fading away and being replaced with little hints that fall is on it's way. Like cool mornings, earlier evenings and a couple days ago I noticed some pretty leaves that were just beginning to put on their Fall gown:) I love this time of year and the fun activities that are ahead. But it won't be long before I'll be feeling wistful for the lazy days of summer again:)
We went out for an impromptu drive the other day and ended up at Duck Creek. We browsed through the little town for a little while before wandering over to the fishing pond and following the river for a ways. It was so nice to get out and enjoy the peace and quiet and do some exploring. We found a fallen log that David and Mckinley wanted to walk along across the river. It wasn't long before everyone, including Dolly and Rome had taken a few trips across. I love these little adventures. We were so sad to leave when it began to get dark.
For David's work party, we went to the park for burgers and fun. There was an amazing face painter there who painted our faces, there was a bounce house slide, a rock climbing wall, prizes, and of course food. It was a fun day. Romee even found someone's shoes unattended and took them for a test drive on his hands. I love the slide picture with David sliding with 4 kids. That's the good life:)
Baby Rome used to be so afraid of water. Even during his bath he couldn't relax and enjoy it. But now he's starting to get the hang of it. He still doesn't like getting his hair washed.(or anything, for that matter.) but we wanted to remember that he is a tubby boy, in more ways than one. Quack!
Do you know what is the top of the top and the Creme de la Creme? It's the first day of first grade of course! This is the day that little girls and boys everywhere show their Mommies and Daddies how big and independent they are and how ready they are for a full day of school they are. Even if their Mommies aren't.
Kinley was so excited to go on her first day. I was nervous, but I had to hold it together because the only little tears at our house belonged to Dolce. She felt so sad that her best friend was leaving her behind. Kinley was so cute and kissed Dolce on the palm of her hand and told Dolce to hold the kiss until she came back. I thought this was so cute. Now the girls share this cute ritual every day. And some days even I get a kiss to hold:)
This summer, Mckinley did a very adventurous thing. There was a family reunion on the Jackson side of my family that was being held at the girls camp in Heber. Both David and I had to work and so we were not able to go. My Aunt Michelle told me that she would takes Mckinley if she wanted to go. Of course Kinley wanted to go. , but I worried that she would have a hard time without her parents there. Silly me. She told us that she would take some pictures of us with her so that when she was missing us, she could look at the pictures and then she wouldn't be sad. Her idea:)
So we packed a suitcase for her and sent her with Aunt Michelle. She had such a wonderful time, with cousins to play with, canoes and paddle boats to ride on, hikes to take, more cousins, yummy Dutch oven food, sleeping in a cabin and cousins galore. David and I worried. Every. Second. ( mostly because I forgot to send a jacket with her)
Selfishly, my favorite part about this story is that Kinley got so homesick the first night she was there, that she took out the pictures of her family and cried her cute little eyes out:) Thank you to my wonderful Aunties for being her adopted mommy for a few days.(and for loaning her a sweater) it was the highlight of her summer.
While at camp, Kinley made this tie dye shirt and when asked what she wanted to wear to back to school night to meet her teacher in, this was what she chose.
We went to Salt Lake last week for a check up at Primary Children's and were so excited when Dr. Garvey explained that because Dolce has had no breakthrough seizures in the past year, he feels like it would be a good idea to try to take her off of the seizure medication if she will tolerate it. It will take some time to take her all the way off because she has to be tapered down slowly, but we hope she will keep doing well without it. We love this little girl so much!
While we were in Salt Lake we took the kids to Gardner Village to walk around and eat dinner. Of course, the kids loved the ducks, and the doll shop, the candy shop and surprisingly, the quilt loft. I can't believe how fast summer has gone by!
