Here it is the traditional first day of school picture on the front steps...

We had one 1st grader who was NOT about to get up this morning and when I finally got him going it was no stop tears... we made it through breakfast and into school to find his desk...

He was good until we just about got out the door and then he ran after with tears... tried to calm him down by having him work on a project but it was a no go... finally went over to his teacher and told her he was having a hard time this morning and that we were just going to leave. She took his little hand while he sobbed. Poor little guy... I know he will have fun once he gets involved. Will be anxious to hear about it this afternoon.

We had one 3rd grader that was already up with bright eyes and a huge smile on her face when I went to wake her up this morning... from then on she was non-stop talking about how excited she was to go to school! She didn't want to go inside to school like the rest of the students with parents were doing... wanted to wait outside in line until the bell rang.

After we left Walker's classroom I snuck over to Ainsley's class and was happy to see another Mom was still in the classroom so I ran in and grabbed a quick picture of her in her desk... so yeah... mortified was her first response but at least I did get a smile. Preparing my ears for non stop chatting about her first day this afternoon.

Every year right before school starts we take the kiddos to Outer Limits for dinner and to play arcade games.

They seriously have the best fries and zucchini chips ever! With our cup of tokens we headed to play games... and who hit the jackpot of 1000 tickets???

Was a fun time... kiddos were super excited to pick prizes off the WALL. Here's Ainsley's choice:

Webkinz purse, licorice rope and pom-pom ring.

Walker's choice:

Ninja set, big bubble wand, humongous pixie stix and blue plastic fish... was a great end to summer!

4 days and counting until school starts...

All 40 pencils have been sharpened... a variety of school supplies bought... new first day clothes picked out and are ready to wear.

This cutie girl is VERY excited to be starting 3rd grade...

She's been counting down the days and getting more excited with each passing one. She can not wait to see old friends, learn multiplication tables and cursive writing. She can not wait to wear her new Twinkle Toe shoes and new school clothes and is most concerned about how her hair should look on the first day. When asked if she wanted us to walk her in to her classroom with her supplies the first day she said a big, "NO!" with a geesh are you kidding look.

This cute little Bug is NOT excited at all to be starting 1st grade...

He is dreading the countdown that is happening... in fact he told me so matter-a-factly today, "Oh, I'm not going to school Mommy!"

I'm preparing myself already for those first few weeks... they are going to be rough and heart wrenching as I'm going to have to shove him in the door and walk away while his tears are streaming down his face. He's not much of a Mama's Boy in the sense of cuddling up and lovey but he does like his time around his Mama and our fun times of curling up on the couch with popcorn and movies which happened so often this summer and in the afternoons when kindergarten was out.

So were trying to stay positive and mentioning all the fun things like lunch at school and 3 recesses that go along with being a big first grader.

Taking a little break from blogging until the fall.

We went and saw this over the 4th of July weekend..

Super cute show... not 10 minutes into I was already crying. Hard to believe that in 10 short years we will be deciding whether to take Phyllis to college or not...

So look who is a bike rider now...

So now that Walker is a bike rider he only has one speed... fast. When he gets going too fast instead of learning to brake gently he just bails off the bike. Funny the difference between he and Ainsley... she's so slow and cautious... nervous to turn and go down a small hill and he's all about speed.

Glad he's accomplished it this summer as well... and it only took Ainsley learning and me telling him that I threw away his training wheels! So he had to do it if he wanted to ride his bike.

Picked our first raspberry yesterday... kiddos thought it was pretty tasty. Can't wait until the bushes grow a bit more and we can make pies or jam!

Started the day out with the parade... guess it was painful for Walker to have his picture taken..

Short parade... very chilly in the shade.. but a lot of candy...

Made these yummy smore brownies..

Ainsley did a 4th of July painting... used crayons and then did a watercolor wash over the top of it all..

Had a few "filler" fireworks while we waited out the day... such determination..

Lots of hanging out..

Lots of watching the neighbor's firework extravaganza show... they also had a visit from the fire department... they ended up talking themselves out of a ticket for illegals... but some of the "good stuff" was taken.

Did a few early sparklers..

then we watched the amazing show in the front yard... little Bug just about made it through this year.

You take our kids to the hardware store and they are all but giddy... talking a mile a minute about what they could build with each thing they touch. Walker's always talking about his "machine" he is going to build in the backyard... today he talked Ainsley into designing plans with him.

Our kids have got to be the only kids currently saving their money for machine parts... will be a fun time when they can use power tools. Going to try and get them signed up for the building projects at Lowes on Saturday mornings.

Still editing 4th of July pictures... embarrassed to say I took like 400 pictures. I did get a current family picture which was on my to do list for the summer..

Been to the parade first thing this morning...

Have a wonderful holiday!