The Fourth

 It's been a 6 year tradition...the Hampton Park 4th of July Parade.  To the girls, it's the only chance they have until Halloween arrives to replenish their candy buckets that have dried up since Easter.  This year for Danny and I, it was an opportunity to dig up old photos of the first few parades and reminisce about the  younger years. 

It's also funny to think about how well I've trained them into posing for pictures...haha.  Notice the stance...Sadie in the middle :0).

 Even Calvin had a good time!

 Our neighbors

 This year, we didn't have the Dow 4th party.  Instead, some neighbors coordinated a block party.  How nice it was to make a few dishes and just show up!!!  I did miss seeing my friends though :0).

 Mr Perry aka DJ for the night, had the kids blow up balloons until they popped.  This kept the crew busy for a while :0).  One of the neighbors also got sparklers, but I put my camera away for that.  It was a little nerve wracking just waiting for someone to get burned.

We ended the day with fireworks over the lake near our house.  It was someone elses fireworks which was even better!!!  It was a great 4th spent with our awesome neighbors :0).

Pocahontas State Park

 After a week of rain, it was time to get outside!!  Danny got the kayak ready, I packed a lunch and we were off to Pocahontas State Park.  We went there once to rent a canoe, but the kids were little and we didn't venture very far.  This time we went the long way and I was surprised by how big the lake was!  We didn't even make it to the end.  It was a perfect summer day to get outside on the water and soak up the sun!

 Look at those clouds!

 Elise & I were together and we took turns paddling while the other soaked their feet.  It was harder to paddle, but it felt SO good!

After paddling for an hour, the kids said, "Can we swim?"  Well, we didn't realize it was forbidden until we got back to the dock, so we said...sure!  It was only 4 ft deep where we were at and the kids thought this was the coolest thing ever.  Even Danny got in (and managed to get back in a canoe without flipping it!).  This was my favorite summer day so far :0)!

Moving on to Middle School

It's so hard to believe it, but my baby is no longer in elementary school.  Where did the time go? 

I can remember crying after putting her on the bus for kindergarten.  It seems like it was just a year ago.

 Swift Creek Middle...here she comes!

 Here she is with the sign we made to put on the side of the road so she could see it on the way to school. 

 With her proud Daddy!

 Proud family!

 Our beautiful middle schooler.

 With her awesome teacher.

With her class.

Happy 10th Birthday Elise!!!

 Elise wanted a sundae slumber party to celebrate her 10th!  She invited her closest friends and we took them to the Y to swim, had pizza, sundaes of course, watched a movie, and then crashed.  For goodie bags, we got ice cream bowls and put strawberry bath salts w/ a new poof.  Then I typed up a little poem I found on Pinterest, put in a straw, strawberry candy, and spoon and voila!  A strawberry sundae bath bowl. 

I found these moustache straws & thought they were fun! 

 As the girls arrived, I had them sign a pillowcase for Elise to keep to remember her special slumber party. 

Here are the girls posing in their towels.  I think they had just as much fun in the locker room as they did swimming!  It took 20 minutes to get them out because they were having a ball using the hair dryers.

 Sundae w/ candles!

 Movie time!

 Here's Elise w/ 'Big as Your Head' pancakes a la Dad.

And here's Elise's softball helmet decorated for her birthday. She had a playoff game that night and Danny thought of the idea.  Sadly, the umpires said we had to wash it off.  I think she was a little bummed.  She was all smiles at the end of the night though when they WON!!!!  We brought cupcakes for the team to celebrate her birthday and everyone sang to her.  It was one of the happiest and loudest Happy Birthday songs I've ever heard!  What an awesome way to end a birthday :0)!

Hey Batta Batta Batta

Anabelle & Elise decided to play softball this year and thankfully they could be on the same team!  They've learned so much over the past few months.  There's a lot to learn about the sport when it's your first year and most of the other kids have played before.  They seem to understand how the game works now and they've really improved on their throwing & catching.  Hitting is still difficult because this is the first year the girls pitch, so they can be wild!  It also doesn't help when the umpires make bad calls.  The girls get confused on what is good and what isn't.  They're learning though :0).

Here's a picture of the Dow twins!  Everyone on the team thought they were twins until recently...haha. 

 

Their banner.

 Their best cheerleader.  Well...at least on this day.  Most days she's off riding her scooter or playing on the playground.  Who can blame her?  The games can be long for a 7 year old :0).

 Elise up to bat.  Will she swing?  Most of this season she's gotten walked, but we're waiting for that big hit!  We know she's got it in her!!

 Anabelle on 2nd and Elise on 3rd.  They've gotten really good at stealing bases!

 The Cardinals & their coaches.  The 3rd one from the left likes to call Anabelle 'Ana-B'. 

Anabelle at short stop. Notice the striped socks...haha.

 

Anabelle as catcher.  This was her one and only time doing it.  She said it hurt her knees and she had to move too fast.  Sounds about right :0).

They say they want to play fall ball.  We'll see if that's still the case at the end of the summer.  Until then, play ball!!!

Fine Arts Festival

Each year Chesterfield County has a Fine Arts festival celebrating the art program in the schools.  The art teachers select artwork to represent their schools and this year all of my girls were chosen to have a piece on exhibit!  I was SO proud of them!

Here is Anabelle's aboriginal stitchery which is a map of our house & yard.  Notice the pond and zipline?

 Here is Elise's candlestick.  She said she thought it was horrible after she painted it, but after firing it, she was pleased with the colors!

 Here is Sadie's 3D paper art.  She was excited to tell us all about the process of making it.