Summer Fun, Part 1

After our fun vacation at the beach, we zoomed back to Nashville so that Kaitlyn could be at her last day of preschool. They had their traditional popsicle party, along with lots of hugs and goodbyes for the summer. Kaitlyn loved Ms. Betsy's class, and she is going to miss her BFF's terribly next year since Halle and Meredith are both moving to the MWF class :( But we're super-pumped about her pre-K class for the fall and already know several of the kids in the class.

Here's a picture of her class on the last day of school. Sniff, sniff!

By mid-May, the cicada invasion was in full force! Fortunately, we didn't have a very high concentration of the creepy creatures, so the kids were still able to enjoy our backyard while temps were still reasonably mild. Kaitlyn actually loved the cicadas--well, more specifically, she loved finding the cicada shells that were left behind by the emerging adults. True to her "collecting" nature, she reveled in trolling around the yard looking for cicada treasures to put in her cup.

Ethan was happy to tag along, although his cup contained his own treasures--rocks (pronounced "gocks").

(Speaking of cicadas, Kaitlyn and I went to Vanderbilt's campus one day which was literally crawling with the red-eyed things. Once the live ones started clumsily flying and bumping into her, she wasn't so enamored with them anymore. And she may have picked up a bit of her new fear from her momma, who may or may not have screamed a time or two when dive-bombed by the evil-looking creatures!)

Long summer days cry out for play-dates with friends to pass the time. It's always a treat when Hannah and Elanor come over. And this time, Hannah brought her dress up clothes, so there was more than enough princess attire for everyone!

And Ethan was not about to be left out :) Oh, buddy, please don't hate me when you're 16! You understandably wanted to be like your playmates and were so pleased to be included. There are plenty of years for rough-and-tough stuff, but for now, I'm treasuring your 2-year-old innocence and open heart.

And of course, we wouldn't be good parents if we didn't let the kids engage in some good ol' backyard water fun!

I love summer!