George's 7th Birthday

William George has been ready to celebrate his birthday since the first day of summer break. He patiently waited, counting down the days until July 1st -- the start of his BIRTHDAY MONTH! 

Today, on July 12th, George turns S E V E N! 

George, we couldn't be more proud of you, and we have been anxiously waiting to celebrate you!

George's cake choice: Dairy Queen Oreo Ice Cream Cake

There is no telling what this wild man is wishing for!

Happy SEVENTH!

Lauren and Grace combed through George's rather eclectic birthday wishlist for some good ideas about what he might like. 

A big hit that wasn't on the list was a blue tooth karaoke mike. Because, hello? Karaoke!

Naturally a white crocodile is a staple that every boy should own. 

One can never have too many snakes...

And yes... the hard-to-find and exceptionally rare oarfish.  

His sisters found it all! And he was so appreciative.  

George was patient about some clothing choices.  

He loved the Audubahn Society's book of spiders.  

Grace and Lauren deserved a treat as well. After all, the band needs to be complete.  

George, we love you so much and love getting to celebrate you!

Happy SEVENTH birthday!

Cheers to Seven

Happy birthday, William George! You bring so much energy and excitement to our family, and we love you to the moon and back!

Summer Reading

We are pausing our regular schedule to take a break for some summer reading assignments. Fortunately, The Westing Game is entertaining, making summer reading fun.  

S U N D A Y

July 4th is a favorite part of summer, and these firecrackers are my very favorite part. 

We are having such a good time this summer, and we cannot believe we are at the half-way mark of summer. We are determined to wring as much fun as we can out of this last month. 

July 4th

When July 4th falls on a Wednesday, you make the most of it with a day at the pool.   

From Tiger to Wolf

This Tiger was promoted to the rank of Wolf last night. We are so proud of his work with scouting, and like forward to a great year as a Wolf.  

July 2018

We love summer and are having sooo much fun. 

While we do not want to wish summer away, George has been counting down the days until July -- his birthday month. He is excited to turn seven, and the girls are ready to help him celebrate.  

Until then, it is business as usual with the summer schedule.  

Swim Camp, Week Two

So, funny story... for the past four years, the girls and then, later, George have gone to swim camp at the Y. Camps were never at capacity, and one could literally register by Wednesday to be enrolled in any camp for the following week. The whole process was easy peasy.

Imagine my surprise when I went to register them for their usual two weeks of camp and realized that the number of camps had been slashed considerably. All of "our" regular counselors were gone. The deadline (uh... deadline???) was back at the beginning of March (3 months ago). Perhaps I should have known about this rather abrupt change but obviously did not.  

So I called the troops in for a family meeting. I had good news and bad news. The good news is that we would have swim camp; the bad news is that it would be cobbled together by yours truly and would consist of swim lessons and some long days at the pool. 

Cheers erupted!

It was the best plan ever!

They would much rather go to camp with me!

You better believe I am filing this memory away for future years when they do not want to be seen with me in public. As mentioned, George would work on building strength and nailing the swim test. Grace and Lauren would work on perfecting different styles of swimming, e.g., the breast stroke, the back stroke, butterfly. They also wanted to work on making "the turn" in competitive swimming.  

George's two week class was first, and he crushed it. The girls' class was a couple of weeks later. They worked with a swim coach to improve the different styles and work on breathing. And they both were able to complete the turn. Like with George's class, we hit the indoor pool for their class, and then we spent the afternoon at the outdoor pool. 

This schedule was a huge win for the trio, and we had so much fun. Procrastination has never been more refreshing. 

Upcycled Strollers

The girls found a great new use for their old American Girl strollers...

a doggy stroller for Pixie. She LOVES it!

Road Trip to Huntsville

For about six months we have been renovating the upstairs of our home. We converted a bonus room into a bedroom for George and added a closet and bathroom. Lauren took over George's old room, as it shared a bath with Grace's room. We also changed out the carpet, retiled the old bathroom and painted the entire upstairs (and downstairs, too. It's been a long process.).  

George, Lauren and Grace have been amazing with all of the chaos. Because we are living here, we have moved everything around about 100 times. It has been CRAZY. We promised them a trip to the SuperTarget of all SuperTargets once the time came to decorate. We spent a Saturday picking up some cute accessories for their room, ate lunch and even completed a work-related errand for Skip*. 

We have decided that we like the shopping/styling part of renovation the best.  

*LS/NWI

(Long story, not worth it.:)

Swim Camp, Week One

Swimming is always a big goal for us each summer. Grace and Lauren are both strong swimmers, and for the past two summers, George has been swimming on his own by the end of each summer, after having had swimming lessons. While Grace has long arms and legs, Lauren and George are built similarly and have had to work harder at swimming.  

Accordingly, we signed George up for some classes, and he nailed it. By the second day of classes, he swam the length of the pool, treaded for 30 seconds and passed the Y's stringent swim test.  He continued with classes for two weeks to become stronger.  

He has been working for three years to get the green band. Such a happy day for him!

Lauren and Grace, your alone time in the deep end is OVER.  

Our routine for swim camp was simple. We would sleep in, throw on swimsuits, pack a lunch and our bag, swim indoors during George's lesson, and then head to the outdoor pool. We love this summer routine and are going to be really bummed when it comes to an end.  

While George had his class, the girls came up with a lap swim schedule. The first day they swam 46 laps (1+ mile), but after that initial burst of activity, they held it to a more manageable mile.  

Summer is just the best, and these are our favorite athletes.  

Father's Day 2018

This weekend we celebrated Father's Day. Skip is such an amazing father to the trio, who know that there is literally nothing that he would not do for them.  

Happy Father's Day, from your biggest fans!

They all love him so much.

Lots of hugs...

...and kisses...

...from all. 

"I'm the card."

Happy Father's Day, Skip!