Ellie's First Day of Kindergarten!

The day started early---before the sun came up.  Both Ellie and Quincy were ready, though.  When we woke them up in the morning, Quincy sprang out of bed like Tiger in the Winnie the Pooh Books.  We had a delicious breakfast of Cheerios and then walked out to the bus stop.

I was afraid Ellie would tear up or be afraid.  Looks like I was wrong!  She could not wait to get on!  My baby's growing up....

 

Her first-day lunch?  Melon balls, goldfish, raisins, milk, and an avocado-turkey-spinach sandwich.

Next year is Quincy's turn....

The First Broken Bone

And hopefully the last.  At least it was only a toe....but it will keep her out of ballet for the first few weeks.  Boooo...(Taken with my phone...)

Chocho's and Coco's Birthdays

There reaches a time in every little girl's life that they decide when their baby doll's birthday is and then they decide to throw her (or him?) a party.  That day came a few weeks ago for the girls and oddly enough it was both of their doll's one-year birthdays....really odd since they have had these dolls for 2-3 years.  Anyway, I made pink cake-pops to celebrate the day, stuck a candle in one, sang Happy Birthday to both, and then blew out the candle.  After the cake was gobbled up, Quincy gave each of the dolls their presents---wrapped in blankets.  It was soooo cute.  Tomorrow they go back to school and I am going to miss moments like these a ridiculous amount.  Sob...

Quincy's Dress Rehearsal (from last May!)

I never got around to purchasing the actual DVD of Quincy's ballet recital, so I am uploading her dress rehearsal instead.  Keep in mind that this took place about 30 minutes after she was sawed out of the car by the nice policeman and several (really handsome) firemen.  What this video shows is (1) kids have short memories (but not me...I went home and had a big ol' glass of wine afterwards), (2) four-year-olds really aren't professional in their dancing (but they sure are cute!).

Swimming...

Ellie and Quincy have the most wonderfully perfect swim instructor, Emily.  She is a beloved former AP Physics student of mine who also is one of the Fabulous Three trio of babysitters we used for two  years while they were all still in high school (we now use the trio as vacation house-sitters when they are home from college).  In addition to being super smart and ridiculously fun, she is also an AWESOME swimmer who has a knack to get the little ones to swim really well considering their young ages.  Above is a video of Ellie doing the butterfly---at five years old!  Considering Ellie's first time in a pool was only two years ago I think this is just amazing (well, I actually think Ellie is amazing!). 

...and Quincy (age 4) doing backstroke....

...and Ellie doing freestyle.....

...and Quincy doing freestyle.  I am soooo proud of them!

Blueberries, 2011

A couple of weeks ago we went to our fourth annual blueberry-picking playdate.  As usual, we picked a ton of blueberries and ate way too many. 

This year my girlfriend, Julie, and her daughter, Emma Rae, came with us so I have a few shots with me in them (this is for you Judy!).

 

Emma Rae spent her birthday with us!

...and brought cupcakes!

Vacation, Part Two: The Fourth of July (and our last night of vacation---sob)

We were steered to a great spot to watch the fireworks:  A large patio overlooking the Ohio river.

By this time it was day four of no-naps (for Q) and running on about 7 hours of sleep a night (for the kids---which is not enough).  Q was really trying hard to stay awake for the fireworks...

...and she almost made it.

The last elevator ride before we all parted ways....

 

...and one last shot of the girls (until next  year---when we really are going to Disney World!).

Vacation, Part Two---The Louisville Zoo

Our last full day in Louisville began with rain.  We had originally planned on going to the zoo in the morning to beat the heat but had to alter those plans at the last minute.  In the spirit of the entire trip, this change of plans ended up turning out to be super fun!  After breakfast we went to an early showing of Cars 2 rather than the zoo.  This was Q and E's very first movie in an actual movie theater and it was on our list to do when we got back home.  They had sooo much fun sitting next to Kali and Karson and sharing popcorn!

By the time the movie ended, the skies had cleared and we hit the zoo.  It was a great zoo-day:  Not too hot (until we were leaving...see sweaty family photo below) and not at all crowded. 

K and E walking like penguins.

Karson ran through a mister---this photo reminds me of the monkeys that sit in the hot springs in Japan in the snowy winter.