First Day of School

The twinkies had their first day of 3's preschool today!  We are lucky to have their twin besties again this year in their class!  Still can't believe they let these 4 move up together, but very thankful!!

This year isn't all coloring and playing.  I love how organized the teachers are.  Their goal is to give the kids confidence and make them independent....I love both of those goals!

These two were excited this morning (although they are hard to get up and going after a lazy summer).  A sweet mom friend of mine helped me pose them and get a sweet happy pic!

We have been talking about school alot lately and the main concern was they wanted their same teachers from last year.  Ellie didn't understand why she couldn't stay with same teachers that she just adores!  But after a lot of explaining, they were ok since they would still be together.  They held hands the entire way to their class this am!

First thing they have to do in the morning now is find their name and take it off the board and put it in the "check in" bucket.

Then they have to hang up their bags and put lunch boxes away.  At this point I heard the teachers ask them to "wash the germs from home off your hands before playing in the class".  And then I was asked to leave haha!  I know school is part of growing up, but they just seem to be doing it too fast for me! This is the first year that I was the only one crying...I guess thats a good thing haha!

Looking forward to another great school year.

Goodbye Summer!

Still in shock at how fast the summer went by!  The twinkies start school tomorrow so I am trying to wrap up documenting summer!  We made a summer bucket list at the beginning and were able to check off everything in the past few weeks.  Baseball was at the top of the list.  Ellie gave her pork nachos two thumbs up! 

 Bobo wanted a hot dog like his dad...although he took one bite and then ate nachos with Ellie.

 We stayed until the 5th inning when the the sun went down.  Charlotte Knights stadium has an unbelievable few, but the night time skyline is my favorite.

We are 6 weeks into our deck renovation and still can't use our backyard.  I am trying my best to be creative.  Last week they kept talking about our construction site in our backyard so we created our own!  Out of chocolate pudding of course!

 Took them 20 minutes until they realized they could eat it haha!  Then the digger became a spoon.

The funniest was by the end Graham had all the construction vehicles in his and Ellie was cooking in hers.

 We have been going on lots of adventures too!

Ryan had a guys golf weekend in Kiawah and I took the kids to my parents house for a few days.  BG always spoils them with lots of fun new toys!  This microphone was a favorite of Ellies.

 And she still lives in costumes....

 Bobo just adores Grayson and Zachary and is in heaven with all the boy toys around!

 They loved sleeping in bunk beds.

 And watching cartoons on the screened in porch.

 Friday we took them to Marbles in Raleigh.  Best.Place.Ever.

 Bobo is still talking about this two story pirate ship!

 We went to their pool before dinner one night and the kids loved this toddler part.  Our pool in Charlotte is literally a square and thats it, so they thought this was amazing!

 BG probably read this Wizard of Oz book to Ellie 10 times!  Although it was a short last minute visit I am so thankful for our time together!

 On our way home we stopped by Brodys 4th birthday party!

 Last week we finally made it to the splash pad uptown with our twin besties!  We also found out they are in the same class again next year!!!

The thing about summer I will miss the most is being lazy.   Our school year schedules are full and I just love summer time laying around and not rushing!  But at the same time I know these two (mostly Ellie) needs to get back in a routine with organized activities.  So long summer, bring on fall!

Pasta and a Car Wash

I have been scrapping the bottom of the barrel trying to come up with fun activities now that summer is winding down.  Ryan and I love to cook so we of course have two little helpers who love it too!  We made pasta with them recently and had a blast.

 We set up the "cranker" on their little table to make it easier for them to reach.  I made the dough and then they did all the cranking!  Ryan would stand at the pot of boiling water and Graham would bring him the cut noodles as they finished.

 Ellie kept saying "this is teamwork"

They were so proud to eat the pasta that they made!

Ryan and I both recently got new cars so the kids have been loving talking about cars and driving them around so I decided to let them have a car wash!  Well it was really a tricycle wash!

 At first they were very quiet and serious....

 Then came the giggles and spraying each other!

Loving summer time and all the fun activities that come with it!!!