Peach Picking

We loved spending our Saturday morning peach picking at Martin's Hillside Orchard. :)

We picked a few raspberries too.

We always love the tire swing and playground. They loved reaching their feet all the way to the tree on the swing set. They also loved the corn box.

Watermelon Day

Better late than never! :) It wasn't quite as much of a celebration as previous summers, but we couldn't pass up a summer without eating huge slices of watermelon in the grass. :)

One Of My Favs Ever!

Lorelei's First Day Of Kindergarten

Our girl had a WONDERFUL first day of Kindergarten!
I was not sure how it was going to go. She has been very anxious about it for weeks so I was trying to be prepared for any type of morning she would have.

She was taking deep breaths during the walk into the school but went over to the table to string beads without any tears. I wish I could have captured her huge smile when we picked her up. :) She ran to me very excited and said, "Mommy I want to come back tomorrow!"

The reports from her first day included: The Kissing Hand activities - coloring page, scavenger hunt throughout school (way for them to learn where everything is in the school) and last but not least, a cookie shaped like a hand with a Hershey's kiss in the middle! And yes, I'm a big fan of the teacher so far! :) She also said she made 2-3 new friends. :) I got way more details about her day than I ever got from preschool. (Which, in my opinion, is because she was not exhausted when I picked her up like she was when I was picking her up at two o clock...leading to my next topic...)

I guess here would be a good chance for me to explain our choice of school for Lorelei's first year. She is going to Columbus Christian School because they have half day Kindergarten. I believe whole-heartedly that half day is developmentally appropriate and will be an advantage for her in the long run. I want her to have a love for learning and still be able to enjoy her freedom at home each afternoon. I have had many friends whose children struggle with all-day K and I'm so thankful that we are not having to deal with those issues. I also have friends in Virginia Beach, where they still have half day Kindergarten, and those children do not struggle academically. I could go on, but if you disagree, just contact me and I'll elaborate. :) This is the perfect fit for our family and it was an answer to prayer. 

The other tidbits of her day...

Her First Day Breakfast request was a cinnamon roll and strawberries.

I saw the idea on pinterest of making a felt heart for her to keep in her pocket while at school. I told Lorelei about it and she seemed to really like that idea. Brad actually ended up sewing it for her Sunday night (yes very unlike me but I was labeling school supplies etc very last minute...crazy week or denial I'm not sure which) and she absolutely loved having it in her pocket. She said, "I only touched it...about 5 times throughout the day I think." :) The other quotable moment from this was then I first handed it to her and told her Brad sewed it for her she said, "I didn't know daddies could sew!"

The sock melt down. This girl has been in flip flops all summer and needed to wear tennis shoes for school. Not one single pair of socks would fit her comfortably. At this point I didn't even care if they didn't match! So, after roughly 20 minutes of tears, she went without any socks. This is what the war zone looked like afterwards.

Kissing Hand Paper

We went for an ice cream treat after we picked her up. :)

Love that happy smile.

After lunch she played with Makin and Drue and there was lots of laughing before quiet time/nap. Was so great having her still be part of our day that afternoon!

We checked out some great school books from the library, but this one was my favorite.

Fun-Packed Two Weeks

I have never had such a deadline for summer fun. Now that we have an actual date where we have to follow a school schedule its cramping my usual mommy-style! There are still way too many items on my summer bucket list that have not been done, and I realize summer isn't officially over when school starts, but it feels like it. :(

We have been very busy the last couple of weeks. Having lots of fun, but also cramming in appointments to the eye doctor and dentist, shopping for school supplies, etc. That has added to the chaos and stress for everyone, but thankfully we had good news with Lorelei, no glasses and no cavities! :) Makin is up for his first appointment next week so we shall see what they say about his unique set of teeth. :) It was a huge relief, and although I reassured Lorelei that all appointments would be fine, they definitely made me anxious as well. Brad and I are also still very much in project/purge mode so working hard on that as many Saturdays as it takes until we can enjoy some winter hibernation with all tasks checked off the list. :) Whew. That all being said, here are the picture-worthy moments of the last two weeks. :)

Zoo Trip #1

We planned a trip to the zoo with some friends, and they ended up getting sick and couldn't come, but the kids and I still spent the day at the zoo. Although we have had a lot of zoo trips close together lately, we really have different highlights from each one. Always something a little different that is special.

One thing that was not-so-special was that the sea lion training was cancelled that day because they were cleaning out the pool and Makin had his heart set on seeing that. The other pics are the bridge where they feed the fish and watch the monkeys in the tree and the giraffe.

Makin mentioned wanting to make sure to see the hippos in the rain-forest.

They loved running through the spray misters and Brad had just been telling them about Komodo dragons, so they were really excited to see one! Will have to go when they have the training one of these visits.

Feeding the budgie birds was both of their's favorite part of the visit.

Backyard Science Experiments

We had a great time doing some science experiments!

First I just let them concoct whatever they wanted to come up with with the containers and ingredients I had out. They had such a fun time with this. Lorelei was an especially big fan of this aspect and loved coming up with her own thing. Her favorite part of this was her own concoction she came up with which had three layers of oil/water/vinegar? and were different colors. Makin really loved being able to die so many things green. :) After doing their own thing, they asked what I had written down to try out. We tried about four different experiments. Salt/oil/food coloring (it turns the salt the color and not the oil), baking soda and vinegar, melting frozen colored water in oil and another similar to the volcano which was supposed to be sparkly so we had to make sure to have glitter in it. :) It was a huge hit and I'm guessing this will be a regular summer thing for us!

Giant Bubbles

This one, we have to call a do-over! I'm not sure when we will give it another shot, but the giant bubbles were very hard to make! We had many, many huge almost-bubbles, but only a few floated away in the air. And this recipe is supposed to be "unpoppable" so I will be doing more research and we will try again. I mean how can't we with those awesome giant home-made bubble wands?

New Park/Gobs of Fun

We headed to Norfolk to check two more items off our bucket list. :) The kids were very excited about this fun, new park. Their favorite part was a unique area that had buttons you could push and lights and music came out. I do not even know how to describe it! It would be really fun for some older children as they could get more into the game part of it, but ours still thought it was fun!

They love this place...can't get enough of it. There was not a picture where Makin was not blurry in the ball pit. :) He had another boy to play him in air hockey, and they also loved popping bubbles flying from a bubble machine, to name just a few. :) Drue is definitely up for going again this winter. :)

Little Eye Doctor

She held up the paper with the tiniest letters EVER written at the bottom and said "Can you read this letter?" :)

Zoo Trip #2

We headed back to the zoo in order to see the sea lion presentation (not available in the winter of course) as well as try out Sting Ray Beach, which is a new addition to the zoo and was closed our last two visits because of getting new water. We went with friends, Braiten and Elllorie (and their mom), from church and they had such a fun time!

At the aquarium they got to touch a sea star and that prickly red thing I don't remember the name of...they were totally fascinated.

Sting Ray Beach was a huge, HUGE hit.

"I love sting ray beach!" was something both children said at least once while we were there.

I was totally amazed. The rays actually love being petted, so they swam up under their hands on purpose! And they are wayyyyy slimier than you would imagine. Yes I even touched them! The kids couldn't get enough of it. There was also a man going around with food so they each got to feed one as well. In the pic on the top left you can see how it is "kissing" her hand to get the food. Very fun experience.

Fun With Friends!

Such a fun two weeks! So thankful for special times with my kiddos.

1C VBS

1C had a two-evening VBS and it included preschoolers, so this is also Makin's first VBS! :)

At first Makin told me he did not want me to leave, but as soon as Michelle showed up he was fine. They had more than enough helpers and not a lot of kids, so I went home and power tidied the first night and Brad and I went out to eat the second night. Michelle said both kids were very intent at listening to the stories and great at asking/answering questions and participating. Makin loved reporting to me at the end of each, "Mom! We watched a movie!" (Their choice for the Bible stories for VBS.)

They had songs around a campfire, made lion masks (for the parade mid-August the kids are totally pumped to be in, and the song will be playing "Gods Not Dead"...in the song it also says, "He's roaring like a lion" so Lorelei is more than thrilled about that part. :) I'm sure you will see the lions in the parade posted in a couple of weeks. The game they are playing in the bottom pictures they are wearing shower caps and throwing Cheetos to get them to stick. 

No idea how this ties in, because I was not helping, but it looks like they had fun! :) 

(Ellorie's mom actually took the pictures and was kind enough to email them to me!)

Love and so blessed by our church family!!!

Zoo Camp

We were so excited to sign Lorelei up for zoo camp! It was an interesting little preview for what we can expect for her first day of Kindergarten as well. Sadly, the anxiety gene did not skip a generation. She woke up and was already fairly nervous first thing and had extra melt downs getting ready. When we got there she told me I could go ahead and go, but looked like the saddest girl on the planet because her mom left her at zoo camp...well the girl next to her may have tied for that role. ;)

While we were at the aquarium her class came through as well. She had a smile and a, "Hi Mommy!" for me as she walked past. I had to sneak a picture from behind and they didn't even notice. :)

The first thing she reported about her camp was that they played a relay game where they raced like penguins, crabs and sea turtles. She also came home with a few papers teaching about sea turtles and a sea turtle craft. She also reported she touched a turtle shell and fake egg and watched a video about sea turtles. She is already aspiring to take the classes for teens where you can learn about being a zoo keeper. :) So glad this zoo has so many opportunities for her! Next on my list is a family camp out sometime this winter! :)