First Day of School

Well, here we are at the first day of school again. The girls are in 4th and 2nd grades respectively. Wow. It is a sobering thought to realize that Morgan is only two years away from middle school. Woah. She is getting old. That must mean that I am too...nah.

Morgan's backpack. This year Morgan decided that she did not want to use her pink bag as she was worried that it might be 'too baby-ish' for 4th grade. This was a bag that Chris got a Plastic Surgery Council Conference. He was not using it and said that Morgan was welcome to it if she wanted it. She was pretty jazzed as it is a little different from the traditional style backpack she had before. It had some embroidery and a sheep patch on it that means something to all the plastic surgeons out there, but just looks kind of creepy to the rest of us. I picked out some of the embroidery with my seam ripper, and covered the sheep patch with this peace sign. It still needed something, and Morgan suggested the bling. It was just what the bag needed. Great idea Morgan!

Rachael's backpack. This is the fourth year that she will be using this bag. Yes, the fourth year. I LOVE Land's End backpacks. They are made so well that they just last. Your child will likely outgrow the bag before it falls apart. (We experienced this with Morgan.) To change it up a bit, we washed it (love the front loader), added some new butterfly patches and a little bling, and voila! New bag. Sort of.

Zoo Trip

After our trip to Arizona, we still had one whole week with Chris home before he had to head back to work. It was pure bliss. We filled it with a few day trips to favorite sites around town. It had been a long time since Chris came to the zoo with us, so we packed a lunch and made a trip of it. So fun.

Outside the manatee exhibit. This is one of our favorite exhibits. (Especially when it is hot outside...)

Kate's first carousel ride. She loved it. It was great to have Daddy there for this first.


Also outside the manatee exhibit. Morgan saw a picture of Rachael like this and could not wait to have me take one of her. Why is this so funny to them? It may have been funny to me when I was under 10.

What's that? Something behind me? You don't say... Okay, maybe it is kind of funny...

Arizona

Every summer we get together with my siblings and their children for some good ol' fashioned family bonding. The summer trip is something that we all look forward to. This is really the only time I have to spend with my sibs as we are spread all over the country. Also, getting together each year has made it possible for my girls to forge some pretty sweet bonds with their cousins; something that would not happen without the annual get-together.This year, we met up at my parents' home in Arizona. It was a BLAST!! We swam, hiked, swam, did some site seeing, swam, ate at In-N-Out, swam, roasted mallows, and we also swam. My parents have a pool (as many do in AZ) and it got used just about every day. My girls couldn't get over the sweetness of going swimming right in the backyard. Here are some of our favorite pics from the 2 weeks in Zona.