"First" First Day of School!

Don't call me bitter or anything, but growing up when we had our first day of school, my mom actually had us do school work! What does Stephen get to do on his first day of school you ask, well... fun things, like trips to the beach and eating out, etc. So I decided to embrace my mom's "new" way of starting the school year (still, not bitter here that, you know, Stephen gets to stay up as late as he wants, they actually have a tv that works, McDonald's happens to him once a week not once a year, and he got to go to Disney World TWICE!) and we went to the beach to kick off our school year of homeschool preschool! And I don't know who had more fun, us or the kids! Above is our first attempt at a picture of the five of us! Aubrey wouldn't come out from hiding behind me though! Oh well, captures this season perfectly I think!
Drippy Castles!
Love these shots!



Jake dug a huge hole that we filled with water... it was so cute to see the girls get so excited and into it!
Capri Suns! Special Treat!! (I mean, they were for me growing up, I only got them on vacation... Stephen drinks like 2 a day now!)




Jake had so much fun burying Kenzie in the sand... he had to keep telling her to keep her mouth closed cuz she was laughing so much she kept getting sand in her mouth!




We stayed on the beach for a couple of hours and then we went to the board walk where we did a few rides and got ice cream! Aubrey is terrified of rides! In order to get her on the merry-go-round I had to hold onto her tight and put her on a horse that didn't even go up and down and I wasn't allowed to let get of her the whole time! Finally by the end she got brave enough to only cling to me with one hand, but by then the ride had slowed down and we were about to get off! Haha, with her crazy personality, it really does blow my mind that she isn't a ride loving girl! Kenzie on the other hand can't get enough of them! I can't wait to take them to real amusement parks when they are old enough for real roller coasters!! (Which reminds me of the fact that I went to 6 Flags probably 3 times with my family growing up... and it was a huge treat that I'm really grateful for! You won't hear me grumbling that Stephen and my dad do it together once a year and their record of how many times they rode Nitro in a day is 10+! Noooo comparison here...)

P.S. Mom, have Stephen read this blog... I wrote it just for him! I know he loves it when I'm jealous of him! I really am grateful for all the creativity you brought to our childhood, the memories we have, and what you did with the little you had to make us feel special! I couldn't ask for a better mom and dad! (Now, if you buy Stephen his first car, we might be having a different conversation... :-)