Winding down summer days

Summer is over, and I find myself asking if it was ever really here. Wednesday last week was the last day to spend with the girls before they had to go back to school, so I let the housework slide and made a "fun chart". The girls got to spin the spinner and we had to do whatever it landed on right away. The first thing was a doll and stuffed animal war. I didn't get any pictures of that, because it was pretty crazy. We were all exhausted and sweaty by the end, and a few harder dolls did get thrown at a few faces. In the end, Evie and I were victorious with 47 stuffed animals captured to Kara and Kiersten's 25.

After the war, we spun again and landed on "make a snack". So I got out some nilla wafers, peanut butter, and nutella. I let the girls make any combo they wanted. I probably shouldn't have set out a light colored table cloth, but oh well.

The mess potential was pretty high, but luckily, this was the worst of it. She went to wash her hands 3 separate times, but ended up getting it all over herself again the second she sat back down.

Kiersten went for a double decker.

So Kara had to show her up with a triple decker...

that she could barely even get a bite of.

The last thing before we headed to the pool was to play with sidewalk chalk. It was sweltering out, so we didn't last too long out there.

Ben bought the girls these sidewalk stencils. They are pretty cool. They don't come off when it rains, so they can just go out and re-color them in. They are pretty easy to rub off, though, when you want them gone for good.

Those butterflies have been there for over a month now.

I helped Evie spell out " I love daddy". But she tried to color it in before it was dry, and it got messed up a little. He still noticed it, and could tell what it said.

Of course Kara took 10,000 years to do one stencil. She can be pretty perfectionist when it comes to anything artistic. I just let her do her thing. The other girls did 3-4 each while she worked on hers, and didn't quite end up finishing it before they all decided to go to the pool.

Kiersten had her first soccer practice on Saturday. She was excited and ready to get back to playing!

Afterward, she was tired and sweaty, and wanted nothing other than a shower. She is on a great team with lots of her little besties. It should be a fun season!

Several weeks of Summer

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately, or posting many. But I did finally download the ones I have taken.
These park pictures are from mid-July when my parents were here. We took the kids to play at the park.

Kiersten ran 20 laps around the playground.

So Kara decided to do it too, but in crocs. I think she ran 6 or 7 before she gave up and went off to play.

And of course Evie just played nicely and had a grand time.

After the park we went to Silky's for frozen custard and rootbeer floats. It was a fun afternoon.

While they were here, we also went to Ben's softball game, Evie's T-ball game, and to see the Minion movie. It was a fantastic week.
These pictures are from 2 weeks ago at the park where Ben plays softball. I made the girls actually watch his game, and then afterward, they got to play at the park.

And then they all had sno-cones.

A few pool pictures from the past week or so. We haven't taken the camera with us too many times this summer.

It's kind of amazing what a difference a few weeks makes when you are at the pool almost every day. At the beginning of summer, Evie was afraid to put her face in the water, and now she swims confidently in the deep end, and can even dive to the bottom to get dive sticks. It really did just suddenly click one day for her, and off she went.

We also took them to hurricane harbor at six flags, which was  a blast, but I didn't have the camera. It was a pretty great day.
Kiersten earned a makeover by doing her chores, so she was pretty excited to cash that in. She said she looked like a rock star!

She also got to give me a makeover, which always goes so well, haha. She's not shy with that eyeliner, that's for sure.

Evie got a little jealous, so I gave her a little sparkle as well, since we didn't have plans to leave the house that day. She thought she looked like a mermaid.

I guess that's what we've been up to mostly. we've done tons of stuff, but it's hard to remember everything. Evie got to go to cooking camp with the big girls this year, so that's something you'd think I might have wanted to get a picture of. Oh well. We've got the memories!

She turned 5!

As of 2:32 AM on the 13th, our littlest princess is 5, and we have officially moved completely out of the baby/toddler world.

She asked if I was going to streamer her door, which I hadn't planned on, but of course I had to once she'd asked. She was pretty excited about it when she woke up.

 

For breakfast she requested yogurt. To make it a little special, I turned it into a parfait with granola, bananas, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. She also got to drink some powerade from a champagne flute.

Of course Kiersten had to have the same when she woke up.

After Grandma and Grandpa Boot got here, it was time for her to open gifts.

Such a happy baby!

Ben was very anxious for her to open the Elsa dress he ordered for her.

She wanted to try it on immediately.

Cute and fancy princess. She is pretty thrilled with the dress, and I have to say it is quite fancy.

It wasn't easy talking her out of wearing it to the movies. But she did end up going in her party dress instead.

He even got her the matching fancy shoes.

They all had a few minutes to play with Evie's new toys, and then we went to see the Minion movie. They all liked it pretty well. Kiersten only cried twice.

After the movie, we got some sorbet, and then Grandma and Grandpa took her to pick out a gift from them. Her palace pet collection is now complete. That afternoon/evening, we had the swim team awards night/party. So that was a pretty fun way for her to finish up an already exciting day. Kiersten got Most Improved award for her age group, and they were all pretty tickled about that.