Swim Team

The girls joined our neighborhood swim team this year - the Tall Grass Lightning.  This was their first year swimming and they LOVED it.  They were in the 6 and under group and swam 25 free and 25 back.  They improved so much from the first time trials to the final meet.  It was really amazing how well they did.  I mean - they are no where near the first heat good, but they dropped a ton of time.  As we said each meet: Do your best and forget about the rest!

 Looking adorable at swim practice!

 Hanging out with their BFF Reece

 Brooke getting ready for the time trials

 Team picture day

 More sassiness on team picture day with Reece

 Audrey on deck to swim!

 Getting ready to swim - love how they look like they are going to dive in!

 One of them swimming back....no way to tell who that is!

 Decorated car for the parade through the neighborhood before the big classic meet at the end of the season

 Audrey's side

 Brooke's side

At the classic meet with Reece and Caroline

First Visitor!

The last week of May we had our first visitor to our new house - Grandma!  It worked out great cause both of the girls were the star students for the week in their class.  So Grandma and I got to go read each of the classes a book.  And based on the pictures below, it looks like we just sat around all weekend and did some reading.  Though I know that we actually did some shopping, some dining out in downtown, Audrey had a birthday party, and the girls had their first swim meet - though it was really just the time trials.

 Brooke is showing off her star student book - each kid wrote what they liked about her and drew a picture to go with it.  Both classes did this all year long.  So cute!

 Audrey is showing off her star student poster that she decorated.

And here are all three of us in Brooke's classroom in front of her poster.

Guinea Pig Drama

At some point when the girls were four, I made some comment about them not being old enough for a pet.  They somehow cleverly got me to admit that they would be old enough for a guinea pig when they were six.  And they immediately grabbed onto this random statement and clung to it for years.  So as they were getting ready to turn 6, we pushed them off with the idea that we would look into it when we were through with Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Then around Christmas we learned that we would be moving.  So we pushed it off again.  Upon arrival in our new house, they brought it up again.  I was willing as I like little rodent pets but D was not a fan....

But the girls are persistent if not anything else.  In one weak moment, D agreed that they could get one.  So the next day we set off to get a pet.

 Meet Scooter!  So adorable!!  And he was a tiny little thing.  Super sweet and calm.  After one week, little Scooter suddenly took a drastic turn - very lethargic and seemed to have trouble breathing.  The girls were super sad and insisted that I take him to the vet.  And I did in fact take him to the vet (much to D's consternation!) He got a shot and seemed to be better, but a few days later he died.  For those of you who have not bought little pets at Petsmart, each pet has a two week return policy.  For any reason.  All you have to do is return the pet.  In any condition.  So I sadly had to take a dead little Scooter back to get my money back.

The next week we went on our beach trip.  And when we got back we went right back to get another guinea pig.  This time we decided to buy two so that they would not be lonely.  But it was very hard to find two that the girls liked.  So after two long days of traveling to all the different stores all over the area, we ended up with two little piggies.

 This is Acorn - sharpest little claws ever!!

Here is little Bessie - she was super shy.

Sadly these two little piggies did not get along at all.  They totally stayed away from each other and Acorn seemed to be the more dominate one (from all of my research on the web!) and they really did not like to be picked up at all.

So we returned those two little ladies - within our two week window again to get our money back.  At this point, I am pretty sure that we are on some type of do not sell list at all the petsmarts and petcos around here.

But they say that fourth time is the charm.  So I will introduce our new pet: Peaches and Cream!  We have had her for two months now and she seems to be a keeper!

Mother's Day Girls' Trip

 So I was feeling a little down in May - still adjusting and trying to find my place in our new home.  And as luck would have it, I was chatting with one of my favorites from LA and she said that they were going to go to Pensacola for a little girls' trip fun for Mother's Day.  I thought that sounded great and D was able to swing it to handle the girls.  So off I went (though to be clear there was a great amount of angst in me as my girls laid a pretty major guilt trip about missing the Mother's Day Tea....fortunately my friend Rachael was able to be my stand-in at the tea!!)

 My favorite little selfie!

 Me and my girls - Heather, Aimee, and Dana (preggo with little baby boy)

 Hanging out on the beach - it was cloudy all weekend but we all managed to get severely burned!  I like this picture cause it sort of makes my abs look ripped.  Clearly a trick of shadows :)

I am such a dork - this is my planking.  Do people still do that?

Other stuff since we moved....

I think that every post I start, begins with a few sentences regarding how I am so far behind!  And true to form, I will start that way again.  So in an attempt to get caught up, I am going back through my pictures and putting in stuff that I think is memorable - at least stuff that I want to print out and put in my yearly book.

We got a trampoline since our yard is so much bigger than our last one.  The girls LOVE it!  This is about the only picture of me on the trampoline - primarily cause I have had a hurt neck/shoulder since May.

Here I am on a girls night out for a friend's 40th birthday.  This was my first out-and-about time with new neighborhood friends.  We went line dancing - thus all the boots!

The girls have really enjoyed free dress at school.  And even funnier, they really have been enjoying wearing matching clothes.  I have mixed feelings about this - they certainly look cute and it is a limited amount of time that they can get away with doing it.  But I really don't want random people to think that I am making my kids match.

Easter til the End of School

I feel like we have settled into a pretty good routine here in our new life.  The girls are really enjoying school - primarily the kids in their class as I am not sure a ton of actual work is being done.  But it is Kindergarten and I think it is great!

I have been volunteering at school - primarily in the library (which they call the LMC) and in Audrey's class.

I have met a group of girls who are all there at pick-up. They are all very nice - seem like a close knit group which makes it a little difficult to squeeze my way in.  They almost all have kids in kindergarten which is nice as well.  I did get invited to go out for one of the girl's birthday and that was a ton of fun! (I am now writing this in July and this group of girls are really the only group of people that I hang out with.  Still trying to work my way in more though!)

It has been a big change to go from a place where we had a bunch of family friends to a place where we have only one family friend (and they are super nice - but we just met them!!) 

School up here got out late (in my opinion) on June 6.  Apparently they had to add 4 days to the school year due to the freezing weather that they had before we got here.  The day before the last day, they had Field Day.  Kindergarteners were assigned to wear yellow.  I volunteered and had Popsicle duty (easiest job!)

 At home before field day.

 Eating popsicles with their favorite Reece (who was in Brooke's class and lives about 10 houses down from us)

 Action shot of Audrey

 Brooke with her teacher Mrs. Yore

Audrey with her teacher Mrs. Alley

 Last day of Kindergarten!!!

 Last day of Kindergarten!!!

 They were so cute walking in that last day!!  They love to dress matching and the last day was no exception. 

After school that day, I picked them up and told them that we were going to a party at the playground.  Little did they know, that the moms had filled up a ton of water balloons and were ready to attack.  It was adorable!  Though they really did not end up that wet as we then let them throw the balloons themselves....I think that I was more soaked than them.

Flowers

I think that I may be turning into an old person....I have really gotten into looking at plants (and I am a little weather obsessed which also points toward getting old.)  Of course I know absolutely nothing about plants at all, but I am trying to learn....at least so that I know what we have in our yard (though really our yard is in some rough shape...I am blaming the previous owners)

So in keeping with getting old, we went to an arboretum  (back in May over Memorial Day weekend) when it was a nice warm day.  The girls were good sports, but it really was not that exciting for them.  Fortunately the weekend we went the arboretum was also having a big thing for people to bring their dogs and that was super entertaining for us all.

Here are some nature pics from the day....

 Where we went

 The girls being super sweet sisters while doing the maze.

 Artsy shot of some pretty flowers

 Love this picture of me and Audrey!

 Brooke being a diva - it was not a stretch.

 Audrey loved this little bed of yellow flowers

 Trying to get an artsy shot of the girls

Another attempt at artsy - this one was more successful!