day two hundred seventy-three: graduation!

My three-time goldfish has graduated!

Onto penguin she goes...

day two hundred seventy-two: red on green

And humid. Have I mentioned the humidity yet?

day two hundred seventy-one: silly bandz

All I can hope for at this point is that they exit my life as swiftly as they have entered it.

day two hundred seventy: summer's still hangin' on

The whole week is supposed to be glorious and warm. The humidity could stand to subside a little, but no complaints about the weather from me.

day two hundred sixty-nine: st. john's bridge

I was so bummed to miss out on the Photo Club trip to Cathedral Park that Caroline, Rachele and Christie took last week, so we headed there today. Although nobody else seemed too impressed, I was really taken with the setting.

And there was a make-shift stage at the park, which made the kids happy. Video to follow here.

day two hundred sixty-eight: perfect day for soccer

I got a sunburn today.

Not complaining at all. Just sayin'.

day two hundred sixty-seven: lots o' carts

day two hundred sixty-six: by the light of the moon

...and a star.

day two hundred sixty-five: hunger games = crazy ass dreams

day two hundred sixty-four: copycat

"Mommy, can you put this baby on my tummy like Julia holds Zinnia? It will make my baby stop crying like Julia makes Zinnia stop crying. I want to look like Julia holding Zinnia in the backpack on her tummy."

day two hundred sixty-three: muddy, foggy, gray bay

day two hundred sixty-two: mangled

day two hundred sixty-one: my niece is cuter than your niece*

*except of course if your niece is my niece's long-lost twin, and then they're tied

day two hundred sixty: wrong side of the tracks

day two hundred fifty-nine: first day of preschool

(finally)

day two hundred fifty-eight: morning goodbye

Every morning, Josie rushes to the front window to say goodbye to Daddy, Avery & Cayden as they leave for work and school, respectively. Sometimes that goodbye happens before she has time to get dressed.

day two hundred fifty-seven: gulp

Josie handed me a card this morning. "It's a Valentine for you, Mommy. It says 'EIF' and it has a picture of you which means I love you very much."

day two hundred fifty-six: hint of fall... already?!

day two hundred fifty-five: dinner at the condo

Could they get any cuter?

day two hundred fifty-four: goooal!

I'm slowly attempting to move all of my pictures and editing software onto our other computer (pc -->mac). I'm a total sucker for what's easy and familiar so this has been a trying and tiring process. I still can't quite figure out how to size the pictures the way that I want to... and since I'm so Type A it's kind of driving me crazy. I'll work on getting my daily photos uploaded, but I can't promise it will be quick!

I should mention that the above photo is from Cayden's very first U9 (3rd grade) soccer game. This year they've started using goalkeepers and Cayden got chosen (through the scientific "rock, paper, scissors" method) to be the first keeper of the game. He did an awesome job, and since nothing got broken or bloodied in the process, I was quite pleased.

day two hundred fifty-three: gull

The mascot for Avery & Cayden's school is the seagull.

I've always thought that was really, really lame.

day two hundred fifty-two: web

I had to use manual focus to get this photo. It never really occurred to me beforehand why anyone would ever want to manually focus a photograph.

day two hundred fifty-one: campfire burn

About a month ago, Cayden got a small burn on his leg from the campfire.

(That is his version of events and highly doubtful if you ask me, but that's neither here nor there.)

Ever since then, Josie has been trying to convince anyone who will listen that she, too, has a burn on her leg from the campfire. Some days the burn is blue, other days it is green. Today there are multiple burns and they are purple.

day two hundred fifty: first day of school!

Avery: 5th grade
Cayden: 3rd grade, and still wearing that damn hoodie
Josie: just tossed in there for good measure; she starts next week

day two hundred forty-nine: 4 cousins, only 2 looking at the camera

day two hundred forty-eight: leaf

day two hundred forty-seven: somewhere up there

That's my boy up there. In the blue shirt and black shoes.

I'm pretty sure.

He's totally fearless when it comes to these ridiculous rides. He'll go on any ride, any time, with anyone or (usually) by himself.

Even moments after inhaling an ice cream cone.

day two hundred forty-six: 479th picture from the pool

If it's summer and we're in town, we're at the pool. Therefore it's only natural that I would have so many photos taken there (and absolutely no indication that we need to find other ways to spend our time). Today was the last day of swim lessons for the summer. A sad day indeed.

day two hundred forty-five: belated bday breakfast

I wish every day could be my belated birthday.

day two hundred forty-four: swimming (and probably some singing) in the rain

When we arrived for Cayden's swim lesson today at 10:30, it was cloudy and slightly balmy. Not exactly "warm" but definitely humid and on the verge of comfortable. By the time Avery & Josie's lessons rolled around an hour and 15 minutes later (don't ask), it had dropped what felt like 10 degrees and was downright cold. Then, as the lessons were just getting underway, the skies opened up and it started raining. Not just raining but RAINING and pouring and almost hailing. But that didn't stop Josie--in fact, I think she was excited to get into the pool and have a private lesson. She was the only kid in the shallow half of the pool* for the first 15 minutes (the ones when it was POURING) and I think she loved every minute of it.

Then it stopped raining and all the other wimpy kids joined the class.


*Apparently older, more confident swimmers are not afraid of a little bit of rain. Avery's class in the deep water was full the whole time.