Preschool

We made it through our first full week of preschool. Yay! The picture above is of Susanna and Kerrie on the first day last week. The pictures below are of my preschool. This room used to be our playroom. Last year we converted it into Holly Mountain Preschool.

I teach a class T/Th morning, T/Th afternoon and M/W morning.

I love teaching preschoolers! I have darling students.

Susanna and Kerrie are doing great in school. They love the kids and the structure in their day.

I feel lucky to spend my days in this room. It is a happy place.

Tiny Dancer

Monday afternoon Susanna had her first dance class. I have never seen someone so excited. She carried her dance bag around all day. She keeps asking when she gets to go to a class again. She has really been motivated to show us "big girl" behaviors. What a cutie. I can't wait to see her in a recital along with all her big sisters.

Last Hurrah Part 2

We started the second day of our Labor Day Weekend mini-vacation at the Pancake House. Kerrie wasn't very hungry, so she just ordered a little cinnamon roll.( This was actually shared by three girls.)

Kiley went to Girls' Camp near McCall in June. She loved the hike they went on to Blue Lake. We like to take the girls hiking, so we thought we would give Blue Lake a try. It was awesome! We drove to the top of some mountain (maybe Snow Mountain) and then hiked a mile down to the lake. I pulled my camera out to take some beautiful pictures and found a dead battery! I was so mad. Luckily we were able to get some good pictures with Brad's phone.

The girls were great hikers on the way down. There were more complaints on the way up.

What a great weekend. We are all sad to see summer go.

Last Hurrah

We took the girls up to McCall for a couple of days over Labor Day weekend. We got up there late in the afternoon on Friday. All the girls, except Kiley, threw on their suits and ran down to play in the lake.

I am glad they did because Saturday was not a good day to play in the water. It was windy and much colder. We took the boat out for about one hour and it rained on us most of the time.

Paige was the first off the end of the dock.

Hannah and Paige.

Brad thought they might like to go out in the wilderness where nobody would care how loud they get. We found a nice campsite and roasted (cheap and not very popular) hotdogs and made s'mores.

The bigger girls enjoyed the roasting.

The little girls enjoyed the eating.

We all had a great night together.

First Day of School

As much as she denies it, I know Kiley was excited for the first day of school.

Her best friend Courtney came over and they rode the bus together.

This group was not shy about their excitement!

A couple of small girls in this picture would have gladly hopped on the bus and gone to school. They have been a little bored without the rest of the gang home this morning. Our preschool will start next week.

I make all the girls strike this pose every year.

This is Hannah's last one. I let them off the hook when they start middle school. For some reason it just isn't cool anymore.

Racing back home from the bus stop.

More Fun With Water

Last weekend we took the girls up to Lake Cascade for the day. It was a blast. Boating has been one of our favorite things to do together as family this summer.

Kerrie is such a good sport. She loves being one of the big girls.

Susanna prefers to stay in the boat to help Daddy drive and hold the flag.

Oops! We forgot to check where the rope was after taking a break and it got wound around the propeller. We had to get towed to shore and trailer the boat so Brad could fix it. He's handy.

Target had Slip'n'slides on clearance last week. I bought a couple to use for Lizzie's birthday party. We decided to break one out early to cool off. Susanna is very serious about working up some speed.

Tricky knee slide by Lizzie.

Nice form Paige.

Kerrie doesn't get a lot of speed going, but she sure knows how to belly flop.

Finally, on Thursday we used buy one get one free coupons at Roaring Springs Water Park that Hannah, Paige and Lizzie had earned for a reading program at school. A good time was had by all. We start school on Monday. I am so glad the girls will all have happy memories from this summer.

Yeah Baby!

We spent another great day on the lake. Kerrie loved trying out the surfboard with Daddy. She wasn't scared at all.

Paige loved it too! Here they are just standing up.

Susannah wasn't as into it, but was willing to try for candy.

She was happier when it was all over.

Hannah had a great time.

It took a lot to convince Lizzie to go for a spin. Kiley and I tried on our own but were unsuccessful.

Kiley, Hannah and Paige had a lot of fun on the tube.

They even convinced Mom to join them.

Tonight we went into McCall for dinner and ice cream. Yum!