Mom and Jim's Wedding

On August 8th, we attended the beautiful wedding of Mom and Jim! It was a fantastic beach themed wedding attended by friends and family.

Summer Sweets

What is summer without a few summer time sweets?

July!

July was all about swim and dive. We attended 18 meets in five weeks with practice almost every weekday! The girls had so much fun, especially with dive team. Sophie placed first in the Starburst meet and 6th out of 21 girls at Crackerjack!

Madeline was very adventurous. She signed up for a 3 meter (high dive) event and a synchronized dive meet. She also won the high point trophy for her age group at the end of the season banquet!

The girls did not enjoy swimming as much as usual. Sophie stopped swim team about halfway through July, but Maddie continued to the end. She was very excited  to be able to swim two events at divisionals, back stroke and 100 meter individual medley (her favorite event!).

Capon Springs!

We spent two nights and three days at Capon Springs again this year! The kids were so excited; it is the highlight of their summer! They love the outdoor games, bunking with their cousins, and the meals. We had a great time hanging out with family, and relaxing. The boys played golf, and the girls visited the spa. We are hoping to extend our stay next year.

Swim and Dive Season

Swim and dive season is upon us! Both girls have joined both teams. They love dive and are not as excited about swim this year. Sophie has made huge strides with swim and is able to participate in three strokes legally. She took ten seconds off her freestyle from last year, too.

Both girls participated in the first dive meet. Here is a picture of Sophie doing a back dive. The first meet was extra exciting because Sophie sang the National Anthem all by herself, and Maddie placed first in her age group! We are off to a great start!!

Sixth Grade Graduate

Madeline wrapped up her elementary years in June. She was so excited about her promotion ceremony and party. How pretty are these young ladies!!


Below is a picture with some of my colleagues who also had graduating sixth graders. We are really going to miss spending our days with them next year.

Madeline received a Presidential award for academic excellence for maintaining a 3.5 minimum GPA since fourth grade and earning advanced state test scores. As you can see below, she was one of many. Her award was signed by President Obama!

Following the ceremony, the kids had a huge party complete with food, soda, a DJ, and a photo booth!

Ginger, Dog #3

Once Kent approved of my getting a second dog and he saw how beautifully she fit into our family, he began to ponder adding a third. He visited the rescue group Cali came from and found a skinny shy hound with huge floppy ears. The rescue said we could take her home for a trial period to see how she fit in. She is very sweet, and Madeline adores her. However, she is definitely more work than the other two dogs put together. Maddie is rooting for her, so we are working really hard on training in several areas. I consider her on probation . . . She is pretty cute . . . when she's sleeping.