Summer fun has begun!!

Our summer is in full swing.  So much fun stuff going on!!  Where do we start??

So far, Jocelyn and I have been blueberry picking, and she has been to the pool many times, including for her first swim lesson of 4 she'll have this summer.  She did really great!  She's going to be swimming without a floaty next time!

Every summer I sign Jocelyn up for summer reading at the county library.  This is something fun we have done since she was a baby, believe it or not.  This year, when I signed her up, the Historical Society was handing out books of places in the county you could visit to learn more about county history.  If you visit 15 or more, the kids get a prize.  Well we don't care about the prize, it's the touring that's the most fun of all!  We got our friends Nicki and Colin to join us one day last week and visited 6 places!!!  We made a day of it, brought a picnic lunch and learned a bunch about local history.  

The only existing iron bridge left in the world.

And we also learned a bunch about this giant bug we found!!!  He is called a Dobsonfly and he was at least 3 inches tall.  Ewww....  gross but fascinating!

We had an awesome ending to an awesome fun day by topping it off with a trip to Rita's!!  We can't wait for the next adventure!

The 4th of July we spent the evening with more friends.  Lily and Jocelyn had fun chasing fireflies before the fireworks.

Jocelyn's first fireworks finally!

This week Jocelyn is in Lego Girls Camp in the afternoons.  More crazy fun!  Last night we decided to compound the Lego insanity by going to the Lego store for the monthly Lego build.  Traffic was horrid so we decided to stay put and have dinner at the mall at Chick-fil-a.  As luck would have it, our change of plans turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  It was kids night at Chick-fil-a.  We visited with the cow (Eat more chicken!) and they had and AMAZING balloon guy there.  Have you ever seen a balloon shark??  Incredible!  We're terrified to touch him now.  We don't want him to pop...  ever...!

And this brings us up to today.  This year we raised butterflies again and this morning we released them.  And then we were off to the park for a play date with an old Mom's Club friend.  We forgot to take pictures of the girls, but that just means we will need to see our friends again soon!

Our summer has been a blast so far.  And it's barely started!  So many more great times to come!  Stay tuned!! 

Last Day of 1st Grade

 Another school year has come and gone.  I can't believe Jocelyn is done with 1st grade.  Just like last year though, I'm not allowed to say I have a 2nd grader until the very first day of school in August.  That's ok, I'm intimidated by the thought anyway.

Our usual tradition of photos on the last day.  This day was a little sad because it's also our last day walking to the bus stop with our neighbors Memaw and Shawn.  Shawn is off to 6th grade.  We will miss them both.  We had a fun tradition in the mornings to see which one of us was ready first.  I still think Jocelyn needs to go knock on Memaw's door every morning just to do the countdown!!

So, my almost 2nd grader...   I couldn't be more proud of how far she has come this year.  Her reading has just sparked, especially in the last few months.  She reads to us every night and I'm amazed at how far she has come.  In May, her teacher Mrs. Rutan told me she had skipped completely over level L books and moved right onto level M.  Considering I think she started the year at level D?!  That's amazing!

Her favorite subject is Math.  I have to give credit to Daddy and his engineering brain for that.  The assessment testing put her in the 83 percentile for Math.  It clicks for her and I'm so glad.

So while my girl was off celebrating her last day of school with her friends, I joined some of my friends for breakfast.  This was a tough anniversary for one of them, so we got together to support her and each other in this milestone day.  

And when the kiddos got out of school we made our first trip to the pool for the summer.  Jocelyn is getting swimming lessons from a friend this summer and she's becoming a little fish.  I suspect we will be water logged for much of the summer.

Welcome summer break!  Welcome playdates and camps, swimming and fun days all ahead of us.  And don't tell her I said so, but I am so proud of my 2nd grader!

Fun With Daddy

Over the last few weeks, we've done two fun day trips with Daddy.  On Mother's Day and my birthday, we took a trip to the Land of Little Horses.  Jocelyn and I had been there together last year, but this time Pat came with us and it was such a great day!

Today we went to Clark Elioak Farm.  Another place that Jocelyn and I have been to - many times in fact, but Daddy has never had the chance to go with us.  We were so happy to have him along and show him our favorite spots.  AND we got to do some gem and fossil mining which was lots of fun!

Feeding the baby goats.

Riding the cow train.

This Goofball!!

One of her all time favorite slides!

Hatching from our egg.  

Jocelyn's New Quilt

I can't believe after 6 months, Jocelyn's Rainbow Heart Quilt is finally done!!

From the individual squares.

To the sashing between the blocks.

To quilting while visiting Pepere and Memere in Arizona.  Thank you Memere for the use of your wonderful machine!!

And finally finished with borders and all.

I think she likes it!!

Our Little Ballerina

Jocelyn's 3rd Ballet Recital was last weekend.  I can't believe she's been doing ballet for 4 1/2 years!  She continues to love her classes, and performing on stage.  Up until now, she has done Ballet and Tap together, but this year she tried out Jazz with Ballet instead and she loved it.

We're so proud of her!!

And when the pressure is off....

In our back yard under the Dogwood tree.  For some odd reason it only blooms every 2 years, but this year the timing is perfect!