Summer is Gone

Wow. Summer is done. August flew by. And, I haven't posted anything on here since the end of July. So, I had to take a look at my pictures to figure out what all you've missed. :-)

At the end of July, we went to Chesapeake Beach. I had taken one of the Thursday morning's off when the girls were home with Butch. I'd hoped for a few hours of fun before coming home for a conference call. But....the weather wasn't great....drizzling off and on, so we only stayed about an hour.


There was this little stream that the girls were playing in a lot.



And, Lacey loved looking for sea shells.
I found a couple pieces of sea glass, too.

The beach is called Brownie's Beach. It's not usually too crowded & was free....until August of this year. They have added a per person fee now for non-county residents and for the 4 of us, it would be over $30. Not bad, except the kids sometimes only want to stay for an hour or so.

Like this visit. Lacey was happy to keep playing & looking for shells, but after about an hour, Leah was pointing to the exit, saying "Mimi, done pool". And, since it wasn't a great day, she won.

I'm sure we'll go back next year....$30-35 isn't too bad to give the girls some fun. :-)

One of the things I'll miss most about summer is the fresh corn! I think Leah will miss it, too! She can finish an entire ear on her own .... and still ask for more.

At least we will still have a few nice days this week. I love the Fall & all the festivals there are in the area, too!

Church

One weekend in August, Butch went out of town. I decided to be bold & try the kids in the gym childcare. It worked!!! Neither kid even looked back at me. I got in an hour workout.

The next morning, I tried them at church. It's been ages since we have been. The main reason we hadn't been going is that the girls were not fans of the child care there. Since I send them to Lisa's 5x a week, I wasn't willing to have 1 of our 2 days spent with tears from going to child care.

However.... they did great at church, too! I had them in the church with me for a few minutes. When it was time for the children's sermon, Lacey didn't want to go up for that. Leah was another story. She walked right up...never looking back. Sat down and listened and watched the kids. So cute. Then, she followed the other kids back to me. I walked them to the child care & they went in pretty easily.

We went back a couple of weeks later. Leah again walked right up for the children's sermon. Lacey wanted to, but was afraid, so I went up to the front pew to sit with Lacey. They fussed a little about the child care on that day, but eventually stayed without tears. We've missed 2 weeks now because of dad's party and family camp with Chuck & Nancy. I'm planning to go back this weekend, but with Lacey's cold, I'm not sure I'll put her in the nursery.

Lacey Started Pre-K!

In April, I had registered Lacey for school. But, Pre-K in public schools here is really designed to help kids that need it (financial, ESL, etc.). So, Lacey was considered category 3 and we weren't sure she would get in.

Her friend, MK had gotten in (she had been a premmie). Leading up to MK starting, I was telling Lacey that MK would be going to school and we didn't know if she had a space, yet. She wasn't happy about that! So, I was glad when we found out there was a space for Lacey! She started on Tuesday.

I wasn't sure how she'd do. She has always been so shy. But, the last month or so, I've noticed her coming out of her shell more. She did better at dance class and gymnastics class. I was debating on whether I should go watch her get on the bus.....or if that might make her more nervous. I went.

I also wasn't sure how Leah would do. Everytime we talked about school or the bus, Leah would say "me, too!". Um, you aren't old enough. Sorry kiddo. But, she did okay. Of course, she now insists on taking a book bag/back pack to Lisa's every day.
Listening for the bus....
Lacey & her "best buddy" MK:

She did great! Climbed right on with no fear!
Sniffle, sniffle. I was close to crying, but stayed in check because Miss Lisa was there. Honestly, I'm sure I would have lost it if she wasn't.

Her class is afternoon, so she is no longer getting a nap! It's been 5 days with no nap. You'd think she'd be passing out by 8:00. Nope. Still fighting sleep. One night she fell asleep around 9:05, but that has been the earliest. I was talking to another mom at the open house last week & she said her son had fallen asleep before 6:30 that night.

On Wednesday, I went to my first Open House. The only bummer about it is that they prefer you don't bring kids, which makes sense (noise level). But....after the "meeting", there wasn't anyone in the classroom to show us around. So, the parents that brought their kids had a tour guide, but I didn't. I just wandered for a couple of minutes. I got to see the dress up area that Lacey talked about. And, I saw her cubbie. She is the only kid in Pre-K with a name beginning with L. I thought that was odd.

Lisa was closed on Thursday & Friday (knee surgery). Lacey didn't want to go to school, so I told her the police would come get me if she didn't go. She got dressed then. She was like that again at the school, but she went in. Poor Leah didn't get much of a nap because by the time I got home, there was only about 90 min. before I had to get Leah up to pick up Lacey. So, on Friday when Butch was home with them, we decided she could ride the bus from Lisa's. It at least gives some extra time for Leah's nap. Turns out that MK was riding the bus from there, too. (We can't change the stops or the bus at this age.)

So....1st week of school is done. She did great and I'm so proud of her! Of course.....she already has a cold. It literally started last night.

Gymnastics

Both girls took gymnastics classes this summer and loved it. Lacey took a bit of encouraging each week, but each week, once she got into it she didn't want to stop. There were only 3 kids in her class. Some weeks, it was only her.
Practicing for a cart wheel.
Hand stand.....


Getting her medal!
I signed her up for classes again for the fall. She's taking dance lessons again, too, so she'll be a busy girl!

Leah absolutely LOVED her classes! She had a few in her class. There were a couple of boys that were OUT OF CONTROL!!!! It drove me crazy because the mom never bothered to do much with correcting them. Annoying.

Balance beam...

Forward rolls....


Back flips....
Getting her medal....
I signed Leah up for a Mommy & Me combo class for the fall. It's 25 min. of ballet and 25 min. of gymnastics. She missed the first class since we were at Family Camp, but she'll go this Saturday. Can't wait!