Pre-Kindergarten Play Date

This summer as we came down the pipeline towards kindergarten, we were squeezing in as much as we could. Burl asked "for one last play date with James," and I was happy to make it happen. 

It was almost too much for my little heart. Bless it, I was so dramatic about the whole thing. I remember exactly where we were when I met Amanda, James' mom. We were in women's Bible study. We each had boys who were a year and a half old, we were stay at home moms, and we lived in the same zip code. Our boys became good buddies, and our friendship blossomed too. 

Here they are now, each with a little sister (and a napping Ridge) tagging along. I pulled up the first time I blogged about their friendship and showed them the pictures. That was back in the day of tools and Bob-the-builder love. Now they're fighting ninjas and kindergarteners. {Pause for a moment of silence}.

Amanda brought over The Kissing Hand and I read it and cried. We're a couple weeks into our new lives and I'm still adjusting to the change. It makes me happy to think about all the memories that these two have shared. Even though their opportunities to be together have changed, I know that they will stay friends. 

Bug Park Picnic

I need zero encouragement for outside adventures and picnics, so I was all too eager when John suggested we take our dinner somewhere fun. Earlier this month, before school nights were actual school nights, we traded in our nighttime routine for a super-sweaty picnic at a new-to-us park, the bug park.  

We enjoyed bottled cokes, wide open spaces, taking pictures of our kids, and using our pre-kindergarten flexibility to stay out late. 

Beach Trip, 2015

We love a good beach trip. We drug 2 month old Ridge with us To Florida and had such a great time. Here are three facts about our trip:

1. Burl was constantly pulling pranks. Silly faces in pictures, knocking on our neighbors doors and running, pretending to throw things while holding onto them. It was constant. He was so proud of himself (except he found himself in trouble a few times). I loved it!

2. I managed to get 40% of Fern's hair in a ponytail. She's told several people "I can do braids and ponytails now." She's so proud and ready for her hair to grow longer.

3. Ridge did not cry the five days we were there. Not at all. He's an easy baby, but he was over-the-top while we were there. John and I talked about it and we couldn't remember a single time that he cried. 

Here are a monster load of pictures with a few captions:

Ridge spent most of his time napped out on this bed. (Burl's tissues and cough drops in the background.)

Burl said that he wanted to sit and think. He did for 90 seconds. Bless those little shoulders.

She called me giwlfwiend as much as she did Mama. Hilarious. 

The kids love to "hold Ridge like we do" with him facing them. Fern cracks up every time. "he's so floppy and so wiggly."

Mello Yellows for the kids because vacation.

Our happy Ridge visited the beach three times for a total of two hours, maybe.

This picture overwhelms me. It's too much happiness for me to process. 

I LOVED Burl's teenager sulk that he gave me when I asked for a picture of the two of them. I crack up every time they give me this. 

Drip castles>regular castles

We kept this year simple because of that cute newborn. No dressing up in cute clothes for dinner. No fancy meals. Paper plates. Sand all over everything. Ocean baths for the kids. It was the perfect, easy pace. We enjoyed our days there. 

Equestrian Fern

I'll do almost anything to get a smile on Fern's face. A few months ago, Fern mustered up enough bravery to try a little horseback riding. It was a big deal for her, and a borderline spiritual experience for me. 

Since then, she's asked about riding horses again. Even though I have a strong love/hate relationship with these structured Toddler Activities where I pay money to do something silly, I HAD TO TAKE HER AGAIN. She's so happy. So confident. So beautiful. 

We went back and forth riding the horses: the real horses and the horse swing. 

I loved watching her be silly and brave. 

Ridge was along for the ride, just being easy and breezy out there. Bless his heart, he does so well with it all. 

We closed things out with a picnic because that's how we do.