The Falls

We really had a lot of visitors this summer. Five sets within a month to be exact! One of our last was Grandpa Don, who we had to take to the Falls. Kids hiked almost the entire way on their own and it is a pretty steep hike! This specific trip really meant something to me-The last time I hiked this was days before I broke my back. After two years (and some pilates) I felt like I was ready to take it on. I made it up and down with very minimal back pain! It showed me just how far I really have come. And just how much I do love pilates. :)  Enjoy the millions of pictures!

Isn't it beautiful?!

Just taking a quick breather. 

This picture is by far my favorite from the trip. She is such a goof. 

Finally, we made it to the top!

After getting to the top, we decided to take a quick cool off in the water before heading back down.

Some of us a little more than others. :)

Ella decided this was a great opportunity to get Grandpa even more wet!

Love this picture of these two. Come to find out, Grandpa didn't think it through all that well. He still had to hike DOWN the mountain with very heavy wet jeans on. Oops!

After this long of a hike the kids certainly deserved some shaved ice!

Stay tuned, we are almost caught up!

Friends.

We love them. These kids are the best. We used to do a weekly playdate with them (switching houses every week). It was bliss. I got a lot done even when they were at my house! There was no fighting and they played so well together. Unfortunately our friends had to go and move away on us! My kids miss them SO bad! I think it's Ella's first really close friend to move away from her. She was sad to see her go. Luckily they only moved an hour and a half south so we have plans of meeting halfway every once in a while. :) These pictures are of their last day together before the move. 

Cute little best friends. :)

We made a little reading nook in our closet this summer. Ella spent a lot of time doing story time for kids in there!

Summer Reading!

I finally figured out how to add pictures to my blog! I'm embarrassed to say it was the browser. Isn't Chrome owned by Google? And Blooger? Why didn't it work? Whatever. I figured it out.

Back in June...my kids had their summer reading done in a week! They were super excited to go back to the library and turn in their charts the first day they were able to. Here's Ella with her book she picked. Already starting into it. This girl is crazy. She did it all by herself this year! So proud of my girl. :)

See what she chose for her free book? She is NOTHING like me in this way! Crazy girl.

My cute boy. He loves fire trucks!

More of our summer to come since I finally figured it out!

The performer

This girl is quite the performer! She has personality on stage and is all smiles. She knows her stuff too! So fun for me to watch her up there loving what she is doing. Obviously I love it too so it sure is fun to share that with her. :) Here are a few pictures of the night of the show. First up, a few of her dance friends...

 All finished here! Loving the goods they sent her home with this year!

 Ella and Mia. Such cute little friends. :)

 Ella and her Papa. He surprised her by coming in an hour before the show. She was thrilled!

 What else would she want to eat after a dance recital? Gogo's it was for sure!

 Don't you just love those dimples? I do! :)

The Rehearsal

Here she is all ready to go! So excited. :)

 Grammy came up for a week and got to watch her dress rehearsal!

 Not good pictures since I couldn't use the flash. Cute anyway. Look at that smile plastered on her face! :)

  All done! On to the show!

 On the way home she took some pictures herself. Doesn't she look old? Stop growing up girl!

The video will come later. Won't upload and I need to do it on youtube apparently. 

The final weeks

Finally starting to slow down so I can get some blogging done! Here is a few pictures of Ella's final weeks in dance class. She is trying really hard a doing quite well. She has been invited to take the 5-6 year old class this summer even though she is younger. Go Ella, that's my girl! :)

 Here's Carter watching through the door they left open on the last week. Wishing he was in there!

 Love this picture. :)

 Ella and Miss Lynn! She has been her teacher since the start. She sure loves her. We have gotten to know her quite well this year and Ella does NOT want a different teacher next year. For now we will be sticking with her!