First Day of 2nd Grade...

It seems like yesterday I was in tears with this girl starting preschool...

 Now, she is in second grade!  I can not believe how fast these years have gone by!  She is now on the "bigger" playground and a different part of the school.  She was super excited to go back to school.  The huge benefit of modified-year-round school is the only 7 week summer.  By starting in July, we do not face a lot of the summer boredoms.  While it is sometimes hard to plan vacations and such with family out of state, it is worth it not to deal with the summer heat for longer with them out of school!

 In order for her to agree to a picture with brother, mom and dad...had to take a picture of her with our cat!  This girl has such a big heart.  Since we have said good-bye to two of our cats in the past 2 years, she has become even more loving towards this guy. 

 I love that we started the tradition of taking pictures by our front door.  It is amazing to me how much she grows each year. I am shocked that I no longer have to bend down to take a picture with her!  I am dreading the day she is as tall as I am! 

 While they had a great summer, they were both ready for the break from each other with school!  They have such different personalities and sometimes can get overwhelming for each of them to spend too much time together.  I love that they love each other, but also love that they know when a break is good!  I am not even going to think about the fact that next year I will be sending them both off to school.  He will start Kindergarten and she 3rd grade!  Yikes...how in the world did that happen!

I am no longer "allowed" to bring my camera to school to grab a picture.  So...one last one with the backpack before heading out the door.  She was so excited since a lot of her good friends are in her class this year.  Off to a great start of 2nd grade!

The 4th

Every year for the 4th, the kids and I head up to my parent's house.  They have a great neighborhood fireworks show.  The bonus is that we don't even need to leave their house!  We can give the kids baths, and walk outside right before the show starts.  No mess, no traffic, no sweat!  It is awesome!

Plus, we get to hang out at their house all day and swim and relax.  The kids were complete fish this year.  I could not believe that Critter started the summer not knowing how to swim and ended it being able to almost swim across their pool by himself.  Plus, Pumpkin was scared to dive at the beginning of the summer....not so much at the end!

This was the weekend we were trying to get her to actually jump and opposed to just lean in for the dive.  It worked pretty well!

 The joke for the summer started the first time we swam at the beginning.  Critter said he was going to "cool off" by laying on the side of the pool.  Now, when it is 100 out of the pool...."cooling off" isn't outside the water.  So, the rest of the summer the joke was he would sit on the side to "cool off". 

 Even more progress with diving!  You can really see that she jumped off on this one.  Once she decides she wants to do something, she will put all her effort to it.  The hard part is getting HER to want to do it! :)

 Not much better than a 3D movie at Nanny and Papa's house!  Even though only 2 of the 4 glasses were working.  Have you ever tried to watch a 3D movie without the glasses....it is a little funky.  The kids loved it though

Did you know the best way to dress for yard work is with a bathing suit, tall socks and sneakers?  It is the latest style :)

 The best part of the fireworks at my parents house....sitting outside and seeing them!  Waiting only a few minutes in the heat is awesome!  One of these years we will battle the crowd somewhere, but for now this is the best.  Especially since Hubby usually works, I am not battling the craziness by myself with the two kids!

Plus, I have established the tradition of bringing by tripod up there and getting firework pictures every year.  Each year I try to improve my skills and get great pictures.  It is so much fun to see what I end up getting

It is amazing how much entertainment two light up rings can bring!  These were the entertainment before the fireworks started and the next day.  

It was a super fun time, as always! It seems like the 4th is always one of my favorite holidays.  It is about the simple things in life and celebrating wonderful times.