First Day of School

I still have a ton to say about Summer, but let's talk about the first day of school.  Both girls were very excited to start school this  year...even though this picture might not convince you.  Lauren is so excited to be a 6th grader!  Addison is ready to see some of her friends she didn't get to see over the summer months!

These girls know how much I love taking pictures of everything....especially the first day of school.  Addison did not want her sister touching her...

Both girls are much happier here...and those legs....wow.  Where did they get those long legs???  Not from me of course! 

We did not get a picture with Ginger last year...probably because she was toooo crazy.  This year was a struggle as well, but I love this one. 

These girls take some amazing selfies! 

We only had to wait for the bus for about 5 minutes...and it poured.  The kids loved it! 

Like I said...Lauren is super excited for 6th grade.  Look at that smile!

Addison's twin Sydney.  They are the best of friends...born about 12 hours apart...and a neighbor right down the street! 

Addison let us snap a few pictures in the classroom....

I did a great job of embarrassing Lauren :) 

Then I snuck back in to Addison's classroom before heading out! 

Then we hit the ice cream shop after school and heard all about their day.  Well, Lauren told us all about their day...Addison said school was boring.  LOL. 

April....May...I really have no idea...just lots of FUN pictures!

Lauren asked me if I was ever going to blog again....so here you go! 

Lauren and one of her many BFF's Paityn.  They are soccer buddies, school buddies, and neighbors...plus her parents and her brothers are awesome so we love their whole family!

Lauren had a choir concert back in April.  It was a fundraiser for Alex's Lemonade Stand.  Their choir did amazing and they raised over $6000 that night.  I could not believe it! 

Our cousins were in town celebrating Addison's first communion so they came along to support Lauren as well.  We loved having them in town.  

Addison thought she wanted to give swimming a try, but after a few conditioning practices, we decided maybe next summer! 

We wrapped up our Girl Scout year.  One badge we earned this year was the pets badge.  I let the girls bring their dogs to one meeting...the girls loved it! 

This one climbed up here one night when I was not looking.  She is not allowed on the furniture in the living room...only in the basement.  But, she was pretty cute so I let her sleep there for a while! 

Lauren has a fantastic first year in strings playing the violin.  I can't believed how much she learned.  Her Spring concert was fabulous. 

These girls talked us Moms into ice cream after the concert.  They had fun chatting and giggling away while us Moms chatted as well.  

Apparently Sara and I shop at the same cute little boutique in Lee's Summit that only carries a limited about of each item...yea...we looked good that night! 

We didn't get his autograph, but we were pretty close to Cheslor.

Our first game of the year.  We love the boys in blue.  

We wrapped up another successful Girl Scout Year with an end of the year party at Main Event.  What a fun night! 

A lot of my girls, including Addison, overcome a huge fear and tried out the ropes course.  I am so proud of them.  They did amazing. 

Lauren had her field trip at the Blue Spring School of Economics.  She was an accountant and loved the day.  That was my favorite field trip as a kid! 

We spent a lot of time this spring watching Lauren play soccer.  She did awesome. 

We had a tournament one weekend and we were gone from the house for almost 14 hours.  We had some time to hang out at Deana Rose one afternoon in between games and go fishing.  We did not catch any fish though.  

Addison has to find a way to entertain herself since we drag her to all these games....

Mother's Day weekend was also spent at the soccer field...but honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I finally let Lauren get an Instagram account and she wrote this amazing thing above.  She is the best.  

We enjoyed freshly made ice cream from a local ice cream shop.  It was sooooo good. 

Girl Scout Camping

Back in April when it rained literally the ENTIRE WEEKEND I took these girls camping.  We had a blast.  The rain did not stop us from having an amazing, memorable camping trip.  

This was my 3rd year leading Addison's Girl Scout troop and our 2nd year of camping.  It is definitely a tradition we will continue to have as long as I am the leader.  

Addison and I loaded up the car, picked up Jenna, and headed out to camp.  Look at those smiles.  They were so excited for the weekend.  

Shortly after we arrived we took a short hike.  I wanted to make sure everyone knew where the tornado shelter was located just in case we needed it.  It is outside, in a huge cement tunnel halfway underground.  Probably safer than any location in our homes.  Thankfully, we didn't need it. 

After we got everything unpacked and organized, the girls settled into some games.  The girls split up on their own and began playing games, laughing and talking, and hanging out.  

Before we know it, it was time to prepare dinner.  The girls were broken up into groups and each group cooked a meal, each group cleaned up the meal and did dishes and each group got the table ready for a meal.  The girls get to vote on what we eat at camp, activities we do, and all the fun we have! It really is about letting the girls do the planning, make the decisions, and do all the "work."  

Dessert that night was home made ice cream.  It turned out really good!  Each girl had their own bag of ice, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla.  They had to shake the bags until the ice cream formed.  They did some dancing and some singing while the ice cream formed.  Yummy! 

The next morning we had a blast playing the Pie in the Face game. 

We also went out for short hike.  It was only drizzling at this point and the girls were a little stir crazy in the cabin.  Even though it rained all weekend, we had a great time making some incredible memories!