Outside

Bike ride!

Yes, I had to keep both of these similar pictures.

A stick!

In the pinestraw.

Look closely...

There is a butterfly!

Dad's work party for families- carnival games, pizza and a movie.  Dad and Anika stayed for the show.

Oh, and airbrushed tattoos.

Strolling 

First Grade, got it made!

Anika is in 1st Grade! I've noticed a lot of Facebook posts saying first day of first grade, which is fine. But it made me want to post a picture of her second day of second grade next year. Her teacher seems nice. She is excited about having two kids in her new class from last year and seeing other kids from her old school.

(I hope my lack of photography skills and cute sign won't ruin her childhood.)

She was very excited that she got to go to the school library today. First grade and up can go anytime their teacher allows, up to 3 kids at a time.

A few memorable  moments so far... Thankfully the neighbor drove her the first day so she didn't have to catch the 6:50am bus that ended up coming at 7:30! But she did ride the bus home... For over two hours! It's quite hot and has been super muggy lately. No AC in those buses and only wind while driving... It was mostly stopped.  That also made for an exciting time for me and Seth. Walking part way to the stop. Going back home and inside to check on Kari. Watching for the bus from our yard since we can get to the stop in time after we see it come in our neighborhood. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

The second day she still didn't get home til about 4:00 (they dismiss 2:15), so we're going to pick her up at least this week until things become regular.

The post title comes from a song about first grade that we found on a library CD about elementary school.  Seth would occasionally and randomly sing out that phrase.

Peek-a-boo

Sometimes she covers her face/eyes, but it's still fun and cute when she covers her head.

Midway United Methodist Church VBS

I have been hesitant to redo this post. Sometimes doing something again can make it better, but I know this will be worse because I can't remember everything. Oh well.

Seth was so excited. When I asked him about the first day he said, "It was the best day ever!"  He had a similar response each of the other days.

Anika and Emmy got to be in the same group.  The first day they were all excited about the rocks they got. They were plain on the outside, but if you broke them open they were beautiful on the inside. Like we might be 😊

Wearing their shirts! 

 I got a flat tire one day on my way to pick them up. Thankfully Kari was a good sport. Our neighbor, Mike, was able to come rescue us with his kids, Gabe & Elsye.

Singing and dancing. I bought the Bible School CD and surprised the kids when I picked them up by playing it in the car.

Anika really enjoyed it and Seth thought it was wonderful.

They learned about a different animal each day and talked about why that animal is unique.

Frog, YMCA. Sister Jacobs, Gack Dad, Fence

Sometimes the kids find these little frogs. During the summer we often see them on our window above the front door.

Emma and Kari at the YMCA 

Anika's water slide progression:

She was so excited that she did it! Several times!

Goodbye, Sister Jacobs.  She is being transferred after over 6 months serving in out ward.  Notice the fashion sense my kids have... They must get it from me.

Who needs a Gack when you've got Dad?

(Reference to Dr. Seuss)

Good dad.

Our broken fence after Nathaniel made it sort of stand up.  Bad luck and the HOA have been dictating which projects we work on and when 🙄

Fixing the fence.  Way to go, Than!

One of my kids took this picture...

Fun with Friends

Seth, Anika, Emmy and Rex eating Popsicles- Weir's turn to babysit. For our date, Nathaniel and I got sub sandwiches, made a pizzookie, watched some YouTube and then he read to me from his book (my request) while I did a little preschool and a gift thing and finally some more work on our baseboards. 

Seth, Anika and Emmy "performing " for us. Nate & Briana came in after their date to see it. The three acts included displaying and describing their magformer creations, Seth shooting his Captain America spinners into the air, and dancing.

The kids wanted to charge us to see their show. I wonder if that idea came from recently watching Little Rascals. They each earned $.50, a cookie and cookie dough.

A fun day with Maturas and Mortensens. Left to right: Anika, Liana, Jonathan, Eric, Ella, Louisa and Seth.

The Mortensens invited is over for fireworks. Bonnie helping light sparklers.  Seth kept trying to light other things like leaves and discarded sparkler boxes on fire. 🙄

After fireworks we went inside for a treat and all the kids ran around playing until we finally left at 10:30 or later, but Bonnie was still there.

Swimming at Bonnie's neighborhood pool.

Anika is doing better and better with swimming.

Seth wanted to wear the snorkeling goggles. Very stylish!