school's out!!

Ahhh.....the sights and sounds of summer break! For the past several years, my parents have hosted a little last-day-of-school party. We fill a pool for the little kids, turn on sprinklers, grill some hot dogs, and grandma always puts out a few balloons to mark the entrance of summer. This year my parents spent the last day of school in Anchorage, Alaska (they are 2 weeks into their 4 week trip). And yes, if you are wondering, this would be the longest amount of time any of us girls have gone without seeing our parents. No worries, one of us talks to mom every day, and we are keeping her up to date...but we are reserving some summer plans for their return. Anyway, I hosted the party this year (not as good as papa and grandma...but close enough). We added in a water balloon fight, which was hilarious!

On your mark, set, throw!!

Run Ry! She's gonna get you!

Jace was looking slightly special ed. with his newly purchased $1 goggles. He has worn them non stop for 2 days. The goggles were fogging up when he was trying to ride his bike and keep them on. Notice how his ears bend in half from the strap...oh dear!

Hunter doin' some fancy movin'!

I don't think any of Lady's balloons went fast enough to actually break on a person.

One last picture before the pizza (yeah....we weren't about to go to the trouble of grilling hot dogs...we'll save that for papa's return).

That face says it all!

By 3:00 in the afternoon, friends started arriving for dinner and movie night. Yep, pizza again...the kids didn't mind. It didn't get dark until nearly 9:00, so there was lots of time to kill and trouble to make. Maddy and her friends did eachother's hair, put on makeup, and made up some new songs.

Carter and his friends spent the night plotting against the girls and teasing...typical. Carter also took a nice spill on his bike. Poor kids came in with a bloody nose, bloody hand, and dirt over the whole right side of his body. His glasses survived, but not the right lense. When I washed off the dirt, there were 3 deep scratches...glad we got the "free lense replacement thing". Carter learned a valuable lesson, never take on the pile of rocks if you aren't sure you can make it through.

"Pixie sticks are sour!"

Almost dark enough.

The movie went until nearly 11:00. I think we ended up with about 35 neighbors...needless to say, we popped a lot of popcorn, ate several bags of chips, polished off every bit of licorice and candy I set out...and probably could have eaten twice that. Such a fun way to start the summer!