5 Cousins

Having cousins is such a blessing. Somewhere I've read that cousins are your first friends. This is very true for Sam and Toby. They love Cameron, Haley and now Chase. Getting a chance to play and share time together is always top on their list.
This past Sunday we had our monthly Family Dinner at Mima's house. We celebrated Jeff's birthday and and had a little Back to School goodie bag for each of the kids. Then of course I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of our 2nd and 1st graders. I would like to do this every year in Mima's backyard to see how they have changed, who is taller (we lined them up by age) and see what silly faces they make next year.

Hip Hip Hooray for 2nd Grade

Today we start our journey known as Second Grade. We hear it is one full of responsibilities, chances to explore new information, challenging spelling words and opportunities to become a highly effective student and person.
We started our day in the usual way. Sam was up early, playing video games. Toby didn't sleep in, but was the last person up in the house. We had pumpkin muffins for breakfast and mom packed our lunches. We have all our clothes picked out for the week and that made getting dressed super easy. (Although by the time we arrived at school it was already too hot, so we gave Mom our button down shirts.) Mom took our picture in front of the tree like she does every year, and we were off to meet the first day of Second Grade.
Excited...a little.
Calm...a bit of that too.
Comfortable...yeah I'd say so since Toby was chatting with the principal during opening ceremonies.
Adorable...Yeah, definitely.

A New Look for 2nd Grade!

We are on the countdown to that first day of school. We have picked out new shoes, a few new to us shirts and pants (we have been shopping at Saver's to find some gently used clothes for school all summer), started gathering our school supplies and today we cut a few hairs to get a new look for 2nd grade. 

So our locks of summer that we let get long and unruly came off today, by our choice. Mom and Dad were both shocked that we wanted to cut it all off and become clean cute cuties. Of course that meant Mom had to snap some photos. We pulled out Grandma Joan's kid desk and started our goodbye to Summer, in our swim trunks of course! Lucky for us there is still one more week of fun to be had because we will be sad to see Summer go. 

I don't want Summer to end! Do you?

I just can't help taking photos of these boys! We played a little with a back to school theme. Sam really wanted to eat the apple and I made him wait until the last of the photos. He couldn't bite into it because of his missing front teeth. I helped him get it started and then he was happy. Enjoy the last days of summer vacation.

Cannonball!! Well more like a flop...

This week we have seen an big jump, no pun intended, in the kids swimming skills. Both boys have taken the floaties and life vest off, and are swimming! They even began jumping into the water and swimming back to the edge. We are trying to keep them swimming as much as possible this last part of summer, so we can really sharpen these new skills. Good thing we can swim until October in Vegas! We may even have to try out the public pool under the bubble this winter.
While swimming at Pipa and Grandma Joan's we noticed two hummingbirds that kept flying in to check on the little nest that has been there for a few years. We climbed the ladder and found 3 tiny, jelly bean sized eggs. We will go check them today or tomorrow to see if they have hatched. For now the swing the nest is attached to is off limits.

Toby just flops in, but Sam was getting fancy with a spin in the air!

Yesterday we celebrated Chase's 2nd birthday with more swimming and jumping into the pool. The Herb's pool has a higher ledge so they can really catch some air. Jeff was teaching them to dive, and they are working on getting down low enough to touch the bottom of the pool. 

What teacher did you get?

Summer has been excellent. We have played hard and experienced much.
Yesterday we received our letters in the mail sharing which teacher we have next year. Once again we are going to be in different classes, per our parents request (we like it that way too). This time our teachers work together more, so we will get to do some things at the same time or even with each other. Mom has been keeping us informed on other kids that will be in our classes, and we are getting pretty darn excited about the new school year.

Toby will have Mr. Roy.

Sam will have Mrs. Williams.

Now back to summer!

Summer is Slipping By

Deer Valley, UT

But we have been soakin up the fun!
Wanted to give you a heads up that we are back in the posting mode, and will be updating you on all our adventures over the past few months. (We have a little down time while Toby recoups from his tonsillectomy.)

Chat with you soon!

Blue and Gold Banquet - Arrrgh!

At the Boy Scout Blue and Gold Banquet we decorated our table with a pirate ship showing what we treasure. Food, games and family topped the list!
The party was a blast. We ate yummy food, watched our leaders get awards and celebrated the history of Boy Scouts.

Cookies with the Principal

Part of earning the award for being a Mustang Kid brings the chance to have milk and cookies while the principal reads a story.

Toby got a patch and pencil. Love the pose!

Spheres and Sam

 My super smiley Sam.

My scientific Toby learning how spheres roll.