Good Times

What a fun weekend.  We had a St. Michael's reunion weekend.  That's right.  A grade school reunion.  Not just a reunion, but a two day event.  Mark and I were in the same class with the same 35 children for eight years.  It was a very special experience to grow up together with the same group of kids.  This summer marked 20 years since we parted ways and embarked on the world of high school.  We gathered together last Saturday night for an adult-only gathering to catch up and celebrate.


This was followed by a family picnic at Gower Park (the park where we used to hold school events).




This reunion was my brain child.  My favorite part was the three legged race.  Mark and Charlie won, but only because he dragged him across the finish line!



As exciting as the weekend was, Monday actually topped it for me.  All summer Taylor has been taking swim lessons.  Although she's making a lot of progress, there are still some tasks that freeze her in her tracks.  One of those is jumping into the pool.  So I decided to teach her a mantra.  I asked her to do me a favor.  Whenever her teacher asked her to do something that made her scared or nervous I asked her to say to herself "I can do this".  She was skeptical, telling me she'd do it 'but if it doesn't work, I'm not doing it next week.  Well, guess what folks.


It worked!  At least that was her report after jumping in the pool multiple times.  I was a very proud mama.


I wasn't the only proud one.


Tuesdays were somewhat of a sacred day this summer.  We never scheduled anything on Tuesdays and enjoyed the lazy feeling of not needing to rush anywhere.  This past Tuesday was no different.  In fact, the kids did not want to leave the house at all.  That is until their Aunt Jessica called with an invitation to a picnic dinner at the park.




Morgan loves the swings!


Speaking of Morgan, she started something cute.  She now likes to slurp her yogurt (or applesauce) off the spoon.  It's actually much less messy that way.


We are also trying to teach her how to wink.  She usually ends up looking like a pirate.




Today marked one week until Taylor goes back to school.  We are still working at checking off more of our summer wishlist.  This included a sleepover with Grace.  Check.


It also included a tea party.  Taylor has a Fancy Nancy book about tea parties.  It's complete with recipes, theme ideas and decorations.  She and Grace schemed for 20 minutes on the phone yesterday about their Tea of Two.  It was to have a nature theme.  They made lady bug cookies, watermelon shaped like flowers and animals, ants on a log and pink lemonade.


They also made their own tent in Taylor's room where it was to take place.


I was very impressed with their creativity and the way they followed through on every one of their ideas with very little help needed from me.


Tea Party. Check.