Last Day of School!!

Since it's almost August, I figured I should do my last day of school post!!

Here they are, the soon to be 5th and 2nd grader!!

Graduation - YOLO!

Our neighbors from Boston live here and we often get together for dinners and events. When we met them, their daughter, Lauren, was Zoey's age! And she graduated this year from high school. It makes me stop and hug my kiddos as I realize once again how quickly time goes by!

I actually got to take Lauren's senior pictures this year... here are a couple from our sessions...




and this one was for fun, just to see the little girl we used to know:)



So, Lauren introduced us to the popular phrase YOLO! It stands for "you only live once" for those of you not quite as "with it" as we are. It kind of became a joke whenever we would see her to yell YOLO around her. And then she told us it was their graduation theme, and well, Ross couldn't help but be supportive...

he kept another shirt on all day, until he revealed:



her reaction... she loved it, of course!


Posing while trying to keep a straight face


Gotta live it up, you do, after all, only live once!


Congratulations, Lauren.

And just a cute one of Max at the party...

Zoey's Week, part 2

During the week of Zoey's talent show, she had to go to a practice, and a dress rehearsal after school and then do the performance during the day. And each evening, she went to a soccer tryout for our local select soccer club. She decided she wanted to try a competitive league for the following year, so she had four nights of tryouts. I knew she also had nerves about this (she didn't know anyone at the tryout, where most girls new each other from playing together before, as they tryout again each year), but she did great and hopefully had a little fun. She would tell me that she didn't care about the results and whether or not she made the team, but, of course, we were all hoping she would.

Tryouts ended Thursday evening, but they wouldn't tell us the results until the following Monday or Tuesday. So we waited and waited and finally got an e-mail inviting her to be a part of the team! We were so excited and proud of her. We yelled to the kids to get their shoes on and we headed to the local ice cream shop.

Once we got the ice cream, we told Zoey the news!

Her face as Ross reads her the e-mail.


Max smiling for her!


Proud of you, Zoey and excited for the season to start!

Zoey's Week, Part 1

The second to last week of school for Zoey was definitely an interesting one. It was mildly stressful for me, so I can only imagine what her thoughts were. She had a lot going on and I was so proud of her in so many ways, that I needed to capture it here.

First, she decided that she wanted to participate in the school's talent show. She had done it the year before with friends, but this year wanted to go solo. Zoey isn't a singer or dancer, which are typical things seen in the show, so I figured she'd do some Tae Kwon do forms or something. She decided she wanted to hula hoop, and not only that, she made up her routine and picked her music. They had a couple of practices and only after they did that did she mention being a little nervous up on stage. But, it didn't seem to bother her too much and she pushed through and put on a good show! And I totally loved her music choice... Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys!













And true to Zoey, she adds in a big kick and ends with a yoga pose!

The pictures do not portray it well, here is a video...

Random Ross

Just a couple of pictures from Ross doing what he does...

make things (this is a table... it is closer to being finished now and very interesting, so I will show you when it's done)



and get dirty... he was like a little kid here and didn't even know his face was like this!



love you, ross:)

Up Close and Personal...

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” ― Claude Monet

“All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God” – Thomas Browne

“The earth laughs in flowers.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Family Fun Evening

Back in May when it was a little cooler, we had a fun evening hanging out, and I took lots of pictures!

It started with some scootering...




The flowers, at the time, were just starting to get good too!









And then we decided to have a campfire in the back yard...


What is it about fire that draws people to just sit and stare...



I love this picture of Max... his smile and sweaty head...



And then we made up courses to run for time...

Zoey went first...



Those are targets and clay pigeons in the background... We technically don't live in the city, so we can shoot in our backyard! These were set up for our Cinco de Mayo get together.

And next went Max...



And Ross, serious and competitive...



I expect nothing less.

And then me, and this picture totally looks like I am posing, right? I am actually running (trying to go fast) but while keeping my flip flops on... I think I came in last.



And then the team race...


Way to lean into the turn, kids.



Max is keeping Ross in check on the turn there.


And then, more FIRE!










This one looks like a dancing figure, I think.


As it started to get dark, we made pictures with flashlights. I really needed a tripod, for these shots, but you can still get the idea...



I told Ross to do something sweet, like a heart...


And then he went and took the G rating off my blog...


your mother would be so proud (Hi Bette!)

And, moving on...


and then it got dark and the crazy bugs came out...


the end