First Day of Kindergarten

We weren't surprised at all when this fierce girl chose to wear knee-high Santa socks with her uniform dress on her first day of school.

We parked down the street and walked to school. She held daddy's hand until we got up to the gate. She gave mommy a high-five, gave daddy a hug, posed for a quick photo and then turned around and marched right on in to the Kindergarten playground. We stayed outside the gate long enough to see her set her backpack down in line and then run over to the playground equipment and hop right on in.

And when mommy picked her up from school she said she had an awesome day "and even ate all my lunch." So we went out for ice cream to celebrate.

Here are some photos from later in the week...

Fleeting babyhood

All of a sudden, Eloise is not a baby anymore. She loves to climb up at the little kid table and color with crayons. She is using more and more words to communicate (although still screaming as well).

A girl and her dog. 

She loves to dress-up and play mommy to any one of the many babies that live under Natalie's bed.

Meet the Teacher

Natalie was super excited to go to Meet the Teacher night, which was held just a few days before the start of school, at her new elementary school. She was eager to see the inside of her school, her classroom, find her desk and check things out. Mommy and Daddy were pretty excited also.

Camping with 3 kids and Gus

Now that Eloise is walking pretty confidently, we decided to take the kids camping. But since we had never taken all 3, we decided to go for just one night. And for one night out in the wilderness, this is how much crap we took...

Yes, the back of the truck was full. After doing some off-road exploring, we picked a campsite. We had a picnic lunch and determined that it was quiet, not full of bugs and perfect. So we began to unload. And while unloading and getting our new mega tent set up, we noticed that our trusty new steed had a flat tire. Oops. Good thing we have Mr. Handy to fix it.

After going for a walk, we came back to our campsite and it was perfect. And the truck tire was still full of air so that was a definite sigh of relief for the grown-ups.

So we played, lounged (Gus), built the world's smallest fire ring, made dinner and, of course, roasted marshmallows...

 

 

The next morning we packed up and set off down the road a bit to explore Potato Lake...

After a lil morning exploration, we headed back into town to find some lunch, at a brewery (duh). Then we hit the road back to Phoenix. And how do you know you had a good trip? When Natalie is tired enough to actually fall asleep in the car.

Natalie's first Karate Belt Test

Natalie took her Hi-White belt test and nailed it. Although it seemed like she spent most of her energy trying to keep her loose tooth in her mouth.

A representative from the family of each kid comes out onto the mat to put their new belt on.

Next up, yellow belt!

Last Day of Preschool

After 3 years in a loving school, it was hard for all of us to say goodbye to Preschool. We owe a very sincere THANK YOU to everyone who nurtured, loved, accepted, taught and challenged her to make her first school experience so amazing.

We are all so excited to watch Natalie continue to grow as she starts Kindergarten in a week.

Fourth of July!

The day began when Scott announced he was going to build a picnic table... today. So off we all went to Home Depot to gather the supplies. The number of comments we got from everyone regarding the girls and their dresses was quite amazing. And then it doubled when they had little American flags to wave while walking around the store 300 times.

And then home to begin working on the picnic table...

Once daddy ran out of screws, it was time to cool off and run in the sprinklers...

  

Road Trip!

In an effort to get out of the house, Scott planned an impromptu trip up north to the Out of Africa Wildlife Park (http://outofafricapark.com/). The girls were both super troopers in the heat. Natalie was even brave enough to feed the tiger. The kid was so calm - she just marched right up to the step and fed the tiger. Eloise and mommy were close enough (in the shade) that Eloise could hear the tiger growling in between each delicious bite.

The concept of the park is pretty neat but I think we'll wait until it's cooler before we try this one again.

Riding the bus through the African Bush Safari...

 

We ate lunch and watched the Tiger Splash show, which was a crazy show involving people playing in a large cage with a swimming pool and tigers. Then Natalie was off to feed the 475lb tiger.

 

 

 

 

 
After feeding the tiger, it was off to the nearest local brewery, Verde Brewing Company. A nice find. It's nothing fancy (which is perfect for me) but it is nice and cold, kid-friendly and has board games AND good beer.

 And then we took the scenic route home...