End of Summer

Although it was hard to come back from such a great vacation, one thing that Callie was excited for was a big birthday party for her friends Kennedy and Harper.  Kennedy, who is pictured here, was in Callie's kindergarten class and they got along famously.  They shared a locker and are kindred spirits in a lot of ways.  The theme of the birthday party was rock star, and it was quite a show.  They even had karaoke, which  meant all of the adults present heard their daughters sing Let It Go from Frozen countless times.  The smiles say it all here.

Another end of summer outing involved seeing a performance of Cinderella at the Lexington Children's Theater.  We had great seats which was especially nice because we knew the girl who played Cinderella's cat.  Kaitlyn is the daughter of a friend and we love seeing her perform.  Fortunately for us she is almost always in some sort of production around town.

With Callie now reading it makes going to the bookstores even more enjoyable for everyone.  And we have a great local bookstore a short walk from our house.  The Morris Book Shop has a really good children's section that includes these cool blocks that encourage kids to climb in and read.  Callie loves it and we should probably go more often.

This summer we also took the opportunity to visit a new breakfast joint in town called First Watch.  We are always trying to hunt down the perfect breakfast spot to match up with the Local Yolk from Manhattan Beach, Snug Harbor in West Los Angeles, or Pete's Egg Nest in Seattle.  It has been a fruitless search thus far, but the chase has still been fun.  Reese always likes to eat out regardless, so that makes the hunt even more worth it.

Only a couple of days before school started John was on trip to Oklahoma and the time was right to get together with the Johnsons. We decided to join them for a day of fun in Cincinnati as they prepared to pick up Seth at the airport as he returned from an eight-week trip to Russia.  Needless to say the excitement level was high for a number of reasons and we had a great day.

It had been a while since we had been to the Newport Aquarium which was good because a lot of it might seem new to the girls.  Although truth be told, Reese really remembers a lot, so it is tough to pull one over on her.  In any case, the kids had a great time checking out all of the cool exhibits and even humored their mothers by posing on the frogs.

We have at least one picture of Callie standing by this shark when she was a heck of a lot shorter than she is now.  It is kind of crazy to see how tall she has gotten.  It just sneaks up on you and you catch yourself looking at her and realizing that she is not a little kid any more.  And she knows it.  We just wish her attitude was maturing as fast as her body appears to be.

Reese was happy to show her height next to the shark.  She is always eager to point out that she is also growing.  Honestly, she wants to do anything her sister does, and the good thing is, most of the time her sister is willing to play along and appease her.  They work very well together and Callie is great about making sure Reese is involved and taken care of.

This final picture captures quite an array of personalities, that's for sure.  Right up front with the sass is Reese Harper.  Mason looks like he has his penguin in a bit of a death grip.  Vivie Ann has a sweet smile on her face and is giving the penguin a little hug.  And standing over everyone, prepared to give orders about what to do next is Callie.  The four of them do very well together, but they are certainly a funny bunch.