A Glimpse of our Summer

I always feel like after the first week of school that summer was ages ago, but that is not the case. Kate started first grade last week and I will be posting about that along with preschool and Claire's birthday very soon. Here is a small glimpse of our summer June-August.

Kate's birthday fell on a Sunday this year. It also happened to fall on a day that Kate had her end of year Girl Scout party. So, it worked out perfectly! They had a swimming party at the Outdoor Pool at the Tom Muehlenbeck Center. We had already reserved the indoor pool at the Tom Muehlenbeck Center for Kate and Aubrey at the end of June for a joint birthday party. It was now like Kate got to have two birthday parties. So fun! They sang "Happy Birthday" to her there. After church we let Kate open up some of her presents and then she opened a couple later after the swimming party. These were just presents from us. Her other presents would be opened at her birthday party at the end of June.  Kate was so excited to get this big beanie boo!  She had specifically asked for it. 

This was one of Kate's other birthday presents. We got her a little diary with a key. She loves to have different journals! She wrote in it every day for weeks. It was always random thoughts or pictures, but very cute. It was an added bonus that it helped her with writing and reading. 

Kate and Miss Serlin at her end of year party at school. They had their party on the second to last day of school because the last day was a half day. Kate really loved Miss Serlin! Miss Serlin was not going to be coming back the next year, so it was even harder to say good-bye. 

Kate's last day of Kindergarten! She made it through her first year of elementary school. We are so proud of you Kate. You worked so hard and did a great job! Now we are ready for summer!

Kate and her best friend Mckinley on the playground on the last day. There are no words for how grateful I am that Kate and Mckinley became so close and were in the same class. 

With June came swimming lessons! We did what is called a "sprint week." We did two sprint weeks back to back in June with Aubrey and Ryleigh. This was on their first day. All four girls really improved on their swimming from those two weeks.

The Rogers came in town for Kate and Aubrey's birthday party at the end of June. We also had the Howards over for lunch to join them. It was great having that extra time with them. 

Kate and Aubrey blowing out their candles at their party.

At the end of June we went on a Pruett family trip to Broken Bow, OK. We had a great time! We found an awesome cabin that met our needs perfectly. Here Lauren and my man are getting some food prepared. 

Here is our family picture.

Sweet picture of Emie reading with Carly and Kate before bedtime.

Morning time with Mom Mom and Dad Dad.

We enjoyed playing games while we were at the cabin. Here Kate is playing Old Maid with Uncle Jason, Aunt Lauren and Cole. 

I love this picture of Claire!

Claire enjoying a string cheese on the deck.

Claire was enjoying some snuggle time after bath with Mom Mom. Sweet moments. Mom Mom was such a trooper on our vacation. She had just recently had hip surgery before we left and was managing the pain so well.  

Our cabin was right off of the water, so we got lots of good fishing in. Here Carly is fishing with Dad Dad.

Carly enjoyed fishing, but would get scared of touching the fish. It took all she had to stand this close to the fish for the picture. So funny!

Kate and Dad Dad made a fishing pole out of a stick. Then, Kate worked really hard for a long time to catch a fish with it. She was so proud of herself when she caught this little fish. It was a neat sight! We had many more wonderful photos, this was just a glimpse of our four nights/five days there. We had a great time getting out on the boat for two days. Kate and Carly loved getting on the tube that the boat pulled. They handled getting thrown off of the tube so well. They of course had on life jackets! They also enjoyed jumping off of the boat when we had some swimming time on the lake. We had so much fun! It was a treasure to have that family time, too. 

Now to the Fourth of July in Grapevine. We always enjoy taking our fourth of July picture in our patriotic colors.

Sweet picture of Kate and Aubrey.

I love these two pictures of Carly and Ryleigh.

And now to the babies! Sweet Hannah and Claire. Look at those smiles!

Twin picture

There was a Frozen performance at the Oh Look theater. Some of the cousins were singing there and Elsa made an appearance.

Keari's birthday is also on the Fourth of July! Here she is blowing out candles on her traditional patriotic pound cake made by my Mom.

Before the fireworks the girls went swimming in Lake Grapevine. 

I love Carly's smile in these picture. Such a face of pure joy!

Our annual picture of our three girls and Mommies on the Fourth of July.

Carly, Ryleigh and Ellee

The brother in laws minus Chad. 

Dad and Mom

Everyone sitting waiting for the fireworks!

Claire was a little anxious at first.

Look at those beautiful fireworks!

Here Claire is when she warmed up to them. 

All packed and ready to go to Sea World! This was our first family vacation with just our family. It was a special trip! Zack and I were so impressed with the girls. We did not stop once on our way to San Antonio which was about a 4.5-5 hour drive. Then, on the way back we only stopped once to get gas, but the girls did not even get out of the car. Amazing! We had snacks and food in the car.

Arrival at Sea World.

We are ready to go see some shows! Carly and Claire did not look too thrilled, but we were all very excited. 

At  one of our first shows. We have our popcorn bucket, too. We bought the popcorn bucket, so we could get cheap refills on popcorn. It made for a nice snack every day. 

We got some fish to feed the seals. 

Kate and Carly with Franklin.

Zack wanted to fist pump Franklin. I told Zack he needs to use this picture at his school some how to promote reading.

Claire took her naps in the stroller every day. They never lasted long, but it was enough to hold her over until bedtime.

The girls absolutely loved sleeping in a bunk bed in their room at the hotel! One of the reasons we chose this hotel was because it had two room options. We put all three girls in one room and it worked out great. We had such a great time in San Antonio!

At the end of July we had a family reunion in Abilene. The Howards invited us to come over and swim at their hotel while we were there. Kate and Carly swam while Claire slept back at the house. They had a great time swimming with Olivia and Georgia! Olivia and Georgia are great older cousins!

Our girls love playing on the piano at Mom Mom and Dad Dad's house. Zack and I would love it if that love continued for future piano lessons.

Our traditional picture with Dad Dad and the girls on the tree. 

Dad Dad and Kate are so silly!

Mom Mom treated the kids to fudgsicles. As you can see they loved it!

I love this picture of Mom Mom and the girls! We had a great time in Abilene with all the family. We were disappointed that the Rogers ended up not getting to go, but we enjoyed the time with the rest of the family. The girls did not want to leave.

Growing up my Mom always made homemade popsicles. So, I used my Mom's recipe to make grape popsicles. All the girl's loved them.  They are full of sweetness!

Kamara and I had a short girl weekend together. We stayed at a hotel in Frisco one night and then checked out late. We enjoyed sleeping in, seeing a movie, eating out, getting a pedicure and lots of swimming! It was so nice!

This summer my parents took a picture a little early for their traditional Christmas Card. At location I captured this adorable picture of Claire with my phone. So cute!

Kate had her second trip to the dentist this summer. Overall, she got a good report on her teeth. She has a couple of spots that could be of concern if she doesn't floss more. She handled the appointment like a brave girl. Since then Kate has worked even harder to brush her teeth both in the morning and evening.

We had a wonderful summer full of activities full of blessings from above! Lots of swimming and family time. It is hard to believe it is September now. I will do a post soon about school starting!