End of Summer Splish Splash Dance Party

Tay had been begging to have a fun dance type party before summer's end and what do ya know...it's almost the end of summer already and I promised her an all girl party. We invited Dyllen, Ashlynn, Lily, Mical, Glory, Evie & Addie...and boy was it a full house! The girls started out trying to swim but it was the first cool night of the summer and it was freezing in the pool so that didn't last long.At least everyone did get to swim before running inside to play. We served pizza and "Sea Shells & Cheese" with "Goldfish" and twizzlers "pool noodles" as snacks & blue kool aid punch a.k.a. "Ocean water". We had sugar cookies decorated with blue icing for water, teddy grahams lounging on gummy lifesaver pool toys and beach towels cut out of fruit roll-ups...it was fun planning the fun foods for the party!

After having their fill of junk foods, they all played upstairs, some continued to swim until finally the girls went wild singing and dancing to karaoke music in the front room! It was a fun evening of screaming, laughing, giggling, goofy little girls, what more can ya ask for?!?!

August at a glance

August was a difficult month because we had to say good-bye to Aunt Kathy. Dad spent alot of time in Arkansas while she was in the hospital, then we all went back for the funeral. While Dad was out of town, I kept the kids busy, finishing up the last summer playdates and getting them ready for school. 

   
Taylor got an expander and braces, the day before her "Meet the Teacher" at the school. She couldn't even say her name yet! lol! Dad took Tay on a Father/Daughter date...they got to play glow-in-the-dark golf and all sorts of cool stuff together. Blake and I got to have a Mom and Son pancake breakfast at Cappuccino's together. We also celebrated Aunt Susie's birthday by getting her a huge chocolate cake from Costco.

The kids started school...Blake is in 7th grade, Taylor is in 3rd. Blake already got his school picture back! Taylor has been wearing her EAR headbands so she can pretend animals at recess with her friends. 

Junior Police Academy

Taylor and Evie signed up for the St. Peter's Junior Police Academy and it was the best program ever! The girls got to fingerprint a crime scene, tour the police station and jail cell, work with canine officers, help with set-up traffic stops, dispatch and so much more! It was so very informative and the girls would come home each night so excited to tell us what all they did! They really went above and beyond for these kids! I remember one of the nights, when I had picked the girls up, they were always so talkative...Tay says, "Mom, the alleged perpetrator was suspected of comitting the crime, and we solved the case!" I'm like, who is this girl using all these big, official words?? lol

They held a picnic for the end of academy celebration! Mandy and I took the girls, watched some of the ceremony, then headed to a Mexican joint down the street to have a bite and a margarita! We are such rebels! Anyways, when we came back to pick them up, they were jumping up and down in the parking lot...the patrol helicopter had come for a visit! The pilot did tricks over the park, it was super exciting to see! Then we got to meet the canine officers, the girls especially loved this part! Again, I can't stress what an awesome opportunity this was for the kids in the community, such a blessing!

The Junior Police Academy graduation was held at the City Hall during an official board meeting of the alderman and mayor. They all got their diplomas, and had a reception with cake and drinks! They made this all feel so important, they really hit the nail on this one! The kids felt a sense of accomplishment and had fun being part of their community.

July at a Glance...

Again, this month was filled with lots of outside time spent with friends, swimming, bbq's, baseball, and movies...loving summer time spent together! Dad even took Blake on a Father/Son outing...they got to go see some cool cars at the Classic Cars Museum and go Go-Karting!

One night, we heard tree frogs going absolutely crazy, being super loud...we wondered what was going on out there, and the next morning, we found out! There were tons of little froggy eggs floating all over our pool! We started to just net them out, but then decided to let Tay keep some in her critter cage, just to see if any would make it. What do ya know???? Lots of them survived, grew tails, and seemed to be doing just fine! Wow, we were so excited to grow some frogs...we researched their diet and care and even created a little home for them on the patio table. Neighbors even came to check out our new little pets. This was a short lived experience, as the very next morning, something had gotten on the table and must have eaten and killed them ALL. It was disturbing, as we still, to this very day, have no idea what would have done this. Was it a bird? Was it a racoon? Another frog? Hmmm??