Well, it snuck up on us again — the first day of school dawned bright and early this morning, but all the girls faced up to it well, and with nary a gripe from anyone (even me!).
Outfitted in new clothes (and please note, matching shoes in the exact same size, which was their idea not mine), Maddie and Sophie felt ready to go, and even had time to spare to take some pictures in the backyard before we strolled down the street.
Sophie is a 2nd grader this year. It was her idea to pose in front of the sprinkler. I should have had Josie push her into it.
Doesn’t it look like she would do it if I asked? Poor Josie doesn’t start preschool until next week, so she was just along for the ride this morning.
And look out, Maddie has graduated to the “big kid” side of school as she starts 3rd grade. Here you can see that 1) making bunny ears in pictures is still funny when you are a 3rd grader, even when you have to do it to yourself, and 2) posing in front of sprinklers is just as attractive as it apparently is to 2nd graders.
What a threesome! And such great smiles to start out the year!
Hooray for cheap disposable underwater cameras!
As you can see, Josie got the hang of goggles just fine.
And needless to say, she’s going to make the most out of the rest of the summer!
They look like trouble, don’t they?
[Cue “Jaws” music now. Duh-duh. Duh-duh.]
Backtracking a little bit…a couple of weeks ago we took our 2nd road trip out to VA to visit family. Our girls got to spend lots of quality time with their cousins; Maddie and Sophie took full advantage of being around so many teenage girls, partaking in lots of giggling, staying-up-very-late, cooking concotions, and other general mischef!
Josie, of course, rolled with it all, not letting a silly thing like age stop her.
“Hey, JieJie - I see Cookie Monster in that tree!”
“Kate, what does this button do?…Oops.”
Cousin Kate taught Maddie how to dive off the side of the pool (our own pool at home is too shallow for diving). Note how Sophie remains perched on the edge - she kinda thought Maddie was crazy. Ironic, isn’t it?
Now this, THIS is crazy. Sophie’s attempt at a glass-bottomed boat. Except her head is underwater. Ladies and gents - I present to you the next great genius of our time…(wink).
Of course, with all that action, you had the occasional accidental nap.
And there was the beach, in stormy days…
…and sunnier ones.
“I can jump too!”
Most importantly it was a great chance to do nothing but sit back, relax and enjoy each other. The mark of succesful vacation, I’d say!