Back to School Bash

Getting ready for our back to school party was almost as much fun as having it.  Although Lilah and Kates cupcakes looked like a train wreck instead of a school bus!  They ate them just the same!  Each of the girls got to invite a few friends to the party so we had girls of all ages there.  We started out with a backpack race and eraser toss.  Then we had sack lunches with our yummy cupcakes.  Art class followed with paper clip necklaces and decorating notebooks and pencil boxes.  Then we followed it up with a get dressed for school race and a few other games.  The party went so well and I think everyone had fun getting ready to go back to school!

Deserted Isle

With two large neighborhood pools you never really do encounter huge crowds, however having the pool to ourselves was a first!  Our school was originally supposed to start on August 7th which was already a week after most of the others around.  But due to the high school being completed later they postponed our start date to August 12th so we were all on the same schedule.  Perfect for fitting in our last days of summer activities!  So I guess it's no wonder the pool was desolate!  We stayed for hours enjoying the place to ourselves, soaking in the last moments of summer.  It was almost a nostalgic feeling as we walked away, knowing we were walking away from our last day of summer, leaving the pool in it's own silence.

Making the Climb

Day four brought us to rock climbing.  This turned out to be an awesome lesson of pushing yourself beyond what you believe you can do for the girls.  The first time around only Neeley and her friend Caroline made it to the top.  But that even took some coaxing.  The next time around we made a goal and gave a pep talk.  Each of the girls reached a limit where they didn't think they could go any farther. I just kind of ignored them for a bit and let them work it out.  Since I was belaying and wouldn't let them down they didn't really have a choice.  I just pretended I couldn't hear their pleas and each of them eventually reached the top.  It was fun to see them gain strength mentally for their physical climb!

Goooo D-Backs!!!

Yet another thing to tick off our last week of summer list!  Day two was having friends over and we didn't get any pictures.  In the morning of day 3 we all went to the trampoline park and jumped till Kate and Lilah were tired enough to not care they were staying home with a sitter while all the big'ns went out!  Driving to the stadium and parking right across the street seemed all too easy.  I kept thinking it was too easy to be true but I was wrong.  We settled in at the grill next to the stadium and had a yummy dinner.  Then we headed in to cheer on the Diamond Backs!  Baseball is my favorite sport to watch live.  Maybe that's because its slow enough I can actually keep up with it! The girls were getting tired so we left just after the seventh inning stretch and they were asleep almost the instant we hit the car.  Good thing it was parked nearby!