Samuel started first grade. He is going to a new school about ten minutes away because he is in a Spanish Dual Immersion program. He has the first half of the day in Spanish and the second half in English. When I asked him how is first day went, of course his only response was, "good." I asked him if he understood his Spanish class and he said he did. I asked him if anyone else understood, and he said that Emma, his friend understood. How does Emma understand? Because Samuel translated everything for her. :)
Lauren also FINALLY started "big" school. She has been waiting a year for this day! I am glad that Samuel and her are only a year apart in school. It would have been too painful for her to wait 2 years to start instead of only one. She of course loves it! She is making new friends and is so excited to finally bring homework home. The down side is that Kindergarten is only half day...it is a long wait for school to start every day.
It has been an adjustment to have them both gone more. I am sure that it will be very strange next year to have them both gone all day every day. It makes me more aware of the time that I do have with both of them, more so Samuel, since he is gone all day. I am so glad that we have already established a routine of eating dinner together so that we can all talk about our day. I have noticed that this is when both Samuel and Lauren talk about the specifics of their day. I am also grateful that we have a bedtime routine of talking about the what went good during the day and what made them sad. This has been an eye opening experience for me. I am so thankful that I have a job that I can be home when they get home and that I can spend time with them. They are getting so big so fast!!!!
We had a great time with the Houston Smith cousins this past summer. My brother even baptized his son while they were here. It is so fun to spend time together and for our children to be building relationships and memories with the cousins.
Of course we swam a lot this summer. Kids are like fish! Especially little eighteen month old fish. So tiring to take her to the pool! She doesn't understand that she could DROWN!!!
Hiking the Y. A yearly ritual that we try to do with our Houston cousins. That is a hard hike! The kids did great! Lauren had a piggy back ride most of it from my bother, but Samuel ran most of the way. Bella stayed home with me. :)
Summer BBQ's are the best!
Random...
Totally the summer fav are Real games! The boys love their soccer!
Can't forget all the Star Wars battles that were fought this past summer. There sure are a lot of fierce fighting scene's that need to be re-enacted.
Isabella in her favorite spot with her favorite blanket, otherwise known as "Babbu."
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