Our Second Grade Girl!

It's here! We officially have a SECOND GRADER in our house! Maddie has officially completed first grade. But first...

She ended the school year with field day. I was at the doctor with Sydney so I missed it. Fortunately, a lot of my mama friends sent me pics and loved on my girl.

When it sprinkled they made towel tents.

And, just a few days after field day, we had the LAST day.

Look how she's grown!

First grade was a lot of firsts for us!

Maddie has grown so much as a student this year. She is a good mathematician but her favorite subject is reading. She's currently reading big chapter books by herself. I love talking about my favorite childhood series with her. I almost cried when she told me she was reading Boxcar Children! Ha!

One of the big things in first grade is sleepovers. I've only let Maddie stay with 2 close friends, but she's had a few over to our house. Her and Emerson spent the morning after crafting, drinking strawberry smoothies.

Another big thing was getting your ears pierced. Maddie just got hers done, following the foot steps of some friends, and we went with Lizzy to get hers done a few weeks ago. The girls held her hands and she did great!

I looked over at one point and saw this.

Finally, I will always remember first grade as being the year of SLIME. We spent so many hours making the gooey stuff. 

Now that it's summer, the girls are back to sleeping together. Maddie has only fallen out of the bed once, so I call that a win!

Looking forward to a fun summer!

Huber's Strawberry Season

On Sunday, we headed to Huber's for our annual strawberry picking! This is one of our favorite things to do. Our usual group (K and D, obviously) couldn't come this year (something about a vacation to Bermuda!). We thought about asking some neighbors but decided to just go the four of us. And it was AWESOME! 

Sometimes when you're in the orchard, it feels as hot as the face of the sun, but not Sunday. It was perfect. 

We got there early and were the first on the wagon! 

We reviewed what to look for in the perfect strawberry.

We had to coach little miss on being gentle. She would spend a lot of time looking for the brightest, reddest berry...and then throw it in her box. There were some samples along the way of course! Strawberries hot off the vine are SO good!

The fruits of her labor. 

We had some cider and fudge samples in the store and paid for the our fruit. The girls asked to go into the Farm Park. We never do this, but decided to let the littles have some fun and run around. They had a blast! There are climbing structures, big slides, inflatables, wooden play houses, bamboo maze, train, etc. So much to do.

The grain train was super fun. It took us all over Huber's so we got to see a lot of their different farms - berries, grapes, Christmas trees, peaches, etc.

We drove a four person cart around. Chris almost crashed us twice which the girls found hilarious.

We had lunch in the Farm Restaurant and Maddie tried her first bite of chicken and dumplings. Those things always make me think of my childhood. YUM!

We had a great day together!

HOMESTRETCH!

We are on the homestretch people! Everyone else is out of school, but we are finally in our last week. I had one last lunch with Maddie and her friends.

She had her last field trip - this time to the Children's Museum. I was out of town so Tia was her chaperone.

Sydney's preschool is wrapping up as well for the summer. They still do a lite curriculum throughout, but a lot of her friends are leaving to head to their elementary school's summer programs.

Both girls are doing awesome at gymnastics. They both moved up to the next level for summer. Maddie is one step away from competition team, so we'll have to see if that's something she's interested in when the time comes. For now, it's excellent at building their strength, discipline and coordination. I am 99% sure I could never climb a rope like this. Maddie does it all the time!

In addition to gymnastics, Sydney has started her private swim lessons.


Swimming is such a critical skill in my opinion. We are literally surrounded by pools and swim several times a week. 

Chris had his BIG race and we headed to Chattanooga with another couple. 

He did awesome!! It was a much harder course than the one he did last year, but he kept his same time. As a spectator, I much preferred this course. Chattanooga is beautiful and Lauren and I were able to shop and eat during each leg while the boys were racing.

Spectating is more fun with a friend!

As I was pulling in pictures for this post, I had to laugh. There were about 6,148 of us eating ice cream. 

Other than eating ice cream and swimming, we're spending a lot of time with our neighbors.There's a great sense of community in our neighborhood and we really love it!

I'm soaking up my last Friday this week with Sydney. Starting next week we will have Maddie with us on Fridays. Lots of summer adventures to come, I'm sure!

Three more days girls - it's almost officially summer!