Random Summer Fun (so far)

 The first week of summer we had Princess Camp and Real Life Camp. Both girls had a lot of fun. This year in Princess Camp they covered: Snow White, Moana, Elena of Avalor, and Beauty and the Best. As usual, Juliet had a lot of fun with her old Stay and Play teachers and made some great crafts. It's her last year for the camp, and she was feeling a bit down about that as the week went on. On the last day, they had a tea party and sang some fabulous songs. When I can import them from my phone, I totally will because they were great. 

 Leah had a lot of fun on the farm. She's making all sorts of crafts there. So far she's come home with several pot holders, several perla bead creations, and "rock climbers" which I used to call lanyards when I was a kid. She's made some new friends, and is always ready to wake up and go. She now asks me to pick her up later and later each day. It's bittersweet. 

 One day she brought home this great goat. He was just like a cat and would sleep in your lap. He got really sad when he wasn't around people, though, and would cry. Luckily, his cry was pretty quite, and he did settle down and go to sleep at night, unlike the goat/sheet from last year that we had to bring back that same night. Leah woke up early and fed him his morning bottle.

 He also really like to chew hair.

 We've had several cats so far this year. The girls have loved them all. They are very sweet and love to cuddle. They are all scared of Ollie at first, but all Ollie wants to do is cuddle them and be near them. 

 Juliet is never totally sure about cats, but tries her best to love them as much as her sister does. She doesn't like the unpredictable nature of animals. She thinks they are adorable, and wants to hold them, but once she gets them, she gets scared and wants them off!

 We made slime, too! It was an easy recipe and the girls played with it for 3 hours straight. I see a lot of slime in our future, if it can maintain its appeal. 

Fireworks

 We had a lot of fun at our annual firework experience. This year Juliet won a "camping" basket at the fun fair, so we had nice chairs to sit in, glow sticks, and lanterns to add to the experience. The girls picked out a ton of junk, and were happy as clams to eat junk and play with/try to impress their big cousins. 

 Aunt Renee brought them even more glow sticks, and they thought that was awesome. 

 Cousin Picture!

Strawberry Picking

 We had our annual strawberry picking evening. We went later in the season, so the berries were smaller, but still very sweet. 

 I decided that we needed twice what we usually pick because I wanted Chris to make strawberry jam. It ended up being a little more complicated and time consuming than I remembered. But, I think it still turned out pretty good. I made a pie and it did not turn out AT ALL. I don't know where I went wrong because it was the same recipe I always use. 

They had a lot of fun picking, and I feel like that's the most important thing. 

Dance Recital!

 Look at this girl! She had an amazing year. Leah took Ballet and Lyrical this year. This was her fourth year of ballet and her first in Lyrical. Lyrical was, by far and away, her favorite dance class of all time. She is already telling me that she HAS to be in Lyrical next year, hopefully with her same teacher. She's had 2 dance classes for 2 years now, and because she has done so well with it, and continues to love it, we told her that she could do 3 next year. Girlfriend is pumped. 

 This little chicky had a great year, too. She also did 2 dance classes. I feel like that number is still her "just right" number, so we will stay at that for next year. She was a little nervous, but did her best on stage. There were a few times that she TOTALLY forgot the movements and was just on stage kind of swaying. However, she was in good company, and most the other kids from her class were doing the same. I just about died laughing in the audience. I was totaling how much we had spent on the classes and costumes, and how awful the final product of her tap number was.  Of course, I wasn't serious and wasn't angry or anything, but it was just SO BAD (so bad it was good, of course!). The "Dancing Poodle" number was much better. 

 Juliet was insistent that she could lift her leg just like Leah. 

 These girls have had a lot of activities in the past few years. Dance is the ONLY one that I NEVER hear complaints about. They love it. We will stick with it as long as each girl is interested. Leah sometimes talks about wanting to join their team because she has 2 friends on it. I don't think I am quite ready for that. 

 Miss Leah Bean. 

 J. Boo!

 I love this little 4-some. 

 I'm glad Anna and Juliet got to do this together. They love each other so much. 

 Afterward, each girl got roses and some stuffed animals from their Grandma and Aunt Renee. We got ice cream at 10:30 and then went home and to bed. It was a fun night!

Graduation Girl

 Juliet Graduated! First they took the stage.

 Then they said the Pledge of Allegiance. 

 Then they prayed. This was Juliet's favorite part. This girl loves to pray. One time someone teased her for praying at school. Juliet still talks bitterly about this. Real Life taught Juliet to love God and Jesus, and she takes it very seriously. One time Leah got something random that she didn't and she wondered a loud, "Why did Leah get that? I'm the one who prays!" 

 Looking like she thinks that she's pretty darn cute.

 The big moment! 

 Juliet had the best group of teachers. Leah had the same ones for Kindergarten Readiness. These teachers pushed her and loved her and adored her. Juliet has randomly cried many times already this summer about how she misses her teachers, and they were the best she has ever had. When they did a rehearsal for the graduation, they showed a slide show of the year, set to sad music (it made me cry). Juliet started crying and saying how sad that it was that she had to move on and go to a new school. She said, "I just keep wishing I had one more year here, with my teacher and my friends!" She made her teachers cry, too, and they stopped the slideshow. J Boo is such a tenderhearted girl. 

 Leah will miss picking up Juliet everyday and reading books in her classroom each afternoon as we packed up Juliet's things (that girl brought home A TON of art and papers every day). One of my favorite things about picking up Juliet was when we went outside to get her each afternoon--they were almost always having recess. Leah would run up to Juliet and try to get her to hug her first. Juliet would always dart away and say, "I hugged you first last time!" and try to get to me. It was the same thing every day. I will miss that! 

 Juliet had such a great year. I credit her teachers for a lot. Within a few weeks of starting, Juliet immediately showed much more interest in drawing, writing,  reading, and counting than she ever had before. She made a close group of girl friends, and one "boyfriend" that she always played with. Many of those girls will be at her school next year which I am glad about. 

 Juliet learned several sight words, reads beginning books, counts by one's and tens,  writes her first and last name as well as sentences now (with some support). She loves to play teacher. At princess camp, she actively tried to help the little ones who wanted help and rolled her eyes when they didn't pay attention to the teacher and said, "Maybe these girls just aren't ready for camp." We hear over and over how funny Juliet is and the random comments she makes to make others laugh. We also hear that she is a lover and always is kind and nice to others. 

 We are SO PROUD of this girl, and can't wait to see what she does next!