Summer’s gone…

…and I didn’t get nearly as caught up with all my postings, as I had hoped.

Disappointing on one hand, but brilliant on the other because that just means there wasn’t a lot of time for working, projects and all of that boring stuff. We did find plenty of time for some pretty fun stuff, though. I just threw it all into a movie so we could remember our Summer 2014 of fun…especially when we are knee-deep in the thick of school and work in a few weeks.

 

Summer 2014 from carrie voris on Vimeo.

Coming up for air.

Deep breaths.

The first in over two weeks.

The girls left this morning as a 3rd grader and a 1st grader.

em_ad

And now our house now has a 4th grader and a 2nd grader.

Well, actually our house has no kids tonight.

Em is in Palm Springs with her best friend.

em_aud

Ad is having an end-of-school celebratory sleepover at her best friend’s.

Daddy and I had a date filled with sushi and a little shopping.

And maybe tomorrow I’ll have some more energy to fill in the blanks.

For now, just know that we are here. Slowing down. Just in time for summer.

It is here and I couldn’t be happier to see it.

It’s Friday…I’m In Love.

…In love with long weekends filled with nothing to do!

Well, there is always something to do. And if I consult our new little Summer To Do list, it appears we might not have enough weeks of summer left to get it all done.

DSC_0079.jpg

The only things on the list that we have to do this weekend are (1) feed the cats and (2) take care of the cats. Em and Ad are cat-sitting for Uncle Jeff and Aunt JB, and apparently Addie felt very strongly that they deserved TWO checks on our list.

I also love the last one she added today…playing with sisters and mom and dad. Definite great summer goal.

However, I can’t say I’m entirely in love with the fact that it is July 1st today. HOW did this happen? It feels like just yesterday that the girls were walking home with end-of-year goodies and report cards. Since then, we have completed an entire cycle of tennis camp. I’m not sure how much they learned tennis-wise, but Coach Ron said the girls were “delightful” and showed great promise for their age if they wanted to continue pursuing tennis. Heh. I’m sure he says that about all the girls.

They have both been swimming, swimming, swimming. We have had lots of free swims, they are both on swim teams, we’ve had the first of our weekly swim parties with friends, and we’ve been to the beach – well, there wasn’t much swimming at the beach since the water was 63 degrees, but there is nothing like being (even an hour) on an ocean beach.

And we got to share some love with Aunt Meesh and Uncle DJ this past weekend. They came for a visit sans kids for their anniversary. We did a little courtyard hula-ing and dancing…

DSC_0007.jpg

DSC_0018.jpg

The girls got to go to their first real concert, Alison Krauss at the Greek theater. And of course, our entertaining standby – we got a little crazy in Disneyland…

DSC_0036.jpg

DSC_0024.jpg

(I honestly don’t know. She might be trying to “lick” her sister? Who knows…)

And even though I’ve been vigilant with the sunscreen and hats – thanks to the awe-some weather – we are starting to see some Coppertone bottoms and a smattering of nose freckles around here…

DSC_0057.jpg

Next week after our little weekend stay-cation, my little Birdie is taking on a new adventure. Sewing camp.

DSC_0075.jpg

Oh you can bet your buttons that I am just about as excited as she is. We went fabric shopping downtown today, in the camp they will be making a tunic top and a skirt. She zeroed in on the pirate fabric the very first step into the cottons section and could not be dissuaded from it. So she has the pirates for the top and the polka-dots for the bottom. Stay tuned for a Crafty Tuesday creation, I’m thinking.

DSC_0082.jpg

And the best news to love today – we have finally booked our “family vacation” for the end of July/start of August. We are tagging along with J. to Orlando and then stopping in Michigan on our way back. We are all looking forward to the trip – but we have a lot of summer living to do before then, so I best be getting back to our list. Right now!

And then?

How long did you let me nap? I swear all I did was blink, and then all of a sudden, they are official 1st and a 3rd graders.

02.jpg

All three of us are exhausted from the festivities all day. Maybe I’ll get the rest of the excitement up later tonight. But for right now…we are on SUMMER VACATION!

Now we can officially call it summer.

The girls, Em’s friend Audrey, and I all headed to the beach yesterday and we had a great time. I was so thankful for the really big waves because the girls were a little afraid to venture too far into the surf. The waves forced them to stick close to the shore, which ultimately made my job of watching three little monkeys in the water, much easier!

They did do a lot of tempting fate. Sitting on the edge of the water and waiting for the waves to come in.

DSC_0162.jpg

It was great fun when they did roll in.

DSC_0123.jpg

And a couple waves even made them move to higher ground a few times.

DSC_0145.jpg

And, today happens to be Audrey’s 6th birthday! So happy wishes to our sweet Audrey!
We hope 6 is a terrific year for you.

DSC_0193.jpg

Meanwhile, back on the towel…
I can’t decide which I love more in this picture her curly tendrils or her lovely eyelashes.
She is delicious.

DSC_0115.jpg

And my one “artsy” photo of the day. She refused to let me get a sunhat shot, but I caught this one.
I love the angle, and her slight little peek of a smile.

DSC_0260.jpg

We might have to head back to the beach this weekend.
I think our day reminded us that summer is fleeting, and we need to take advantage of it while we can.
Have a sunny, happy weekend!

School’s Out.

And then we had a first grader.

A first grader!

Every time I say that I have a catch in my voice and a lump in my throat. It isn’t just preschool or kindergarten, but an honest-to-goodness numbered grade. It just doesn’t seem possible.

But between bringing home an art portfolio that was bigger than she is and a glowing report card (seriously, she would have a hard time getting better marks or comments – she is such a good kid!), Emma left kindergarten yesterday for the last time. And she just can’t stop beaming or talking about the “most fun day ever!”

DSC_0054.jpg

I have to admit, their little “graduation” party was pretty darn cool.

Even though we (a neighbor, two friends and myself) thought it a good idea to have a garage sale yesterday and today, I snuck out for a bit and went over to help out with the party, and take photos, of course.

They had little stations set up for the kids; bubbles…

DSC_0016.jpg

…potato sack races…

DSC_0008.jpg

…and water tables with water balloon games. By the way, I was filling up water balloons at midnight on Wednesday – and let me tell you, there is a definite art to filling them. I think I have mastered it after about my 50th balloon, and only breaking and getting sprayed by about 15 of them!

I don’t have a lot of action shots, because my station was…face painting. Another mom was doing tattoos and I painted. And painted. And painted – oh, probably close to 100 ladybugs, dinosaurs, puppies, kitties, butterflies, and flowers. There were 40 kids and once we got through all of them, one of them asked for another one on her other cheek, which started a mad rush to the painting table again. By the end of the day I had kids coming up and saying, “um…I still have a spot here!” as they hunted for a spare portion of their arm that didn’t have a tattoo or painting on it. It was really fun!

Except…all my pics of Em, as her last day as a kindergartner? She has this on her forehead.

DSC_0036.jpg

Nice, eh? This was before she got more painting and tattoos…she was all inked up and the bathwater last night was dis-gusting!

Notice she did wear her dress that I “had to make for the last day of school!” But they all made t-shirts to wear to the party, so she ended up covering up the dress, anyhow. And she asked for me to braid her hair like Aunt Meesh. Although she told me in no uncertain terms, that it was not how Aunt Meesh does it. Everyone is a critic.

Then of course no party is complete without pizza and popsicles!

DSC_0061.jpg

And goody bags.

DSC_0007.jpg

And then it was time to say goodbye.

DSC_0067.jpg

The little boy on the far left is Emma’s friend-who-happens-to-be-a-boy. His mom and I are always laughing about him (he has a twin sister that is in Em’s little group of girlfriends) tagging along with the girls. And apparently B. talks about Em. A Lot. And Em adores him.

So he walked up and said, “Have a nice summer Emma!” And her face just fell. He and his sister are going to a different school next year and I think it kinda sunk in that no more school, also means no more friends every day. And then I reminded her…almost every one of her friends lives within walking distance from our house. We could potentially see them a few times in the next few months. Silly girl.

And she also had another little playmate (who has been out of school for a week already) just patiently waiting for her first-grade sister to come home.

DSC_0074.jpg