Carnival

Mustaches,  eyebrows,  face paint,  sack races.

There was cotton candy, pony rides, and loss of games too.

All at lizzie 's school's end-of-summer carnival.

Growing up - already

When carolyn came home this day,  she told me that she was embarrassed a little bit because of her shirt. 

It was too babyish.  

Seriously? When did that happen?  I thought she looked cute. 

To compare, I will have to take photos of her in some of the new clothes she picked out for school ... A silk shirt with flowy cardigan,  a leather coat with fur color,  tall brown leather boots.  These new clothes are pretty darn cute, but I am not sure why the current outfit is so babyish and embarrassing.

First day of first grade

A new school.   She was nervous, but loved shopping for new clothes.  

Summer is not summer

.... without a couple of red butte concerts.

Uncle scott joined us tonight.   We saw trombone shorty.  Lizzie played with her friend Baby Bones (persephone).  Carolyn found a friend from school,  ava.  And we all danced.

The other night,  steve and I saw Chris isaak.   That is the guy in the blue sequin suit in one of the photos (ever the photographer,  I only got his back when he was in the audience by us)

c3

c3.

Candy, Carolyn, and Carol.

Candy is the tireless and energetic academic advisor for our department.  

Carol is the awesome Admin Assistant who sadly no longer works in our office.  

Carolyn loves hanging out with these women.

We were at the Michael Franti concert, waiting for the 4th opening act to finish!

Muffins with Mom - Donuts with Dad

Lizzie's school had two morning events this summer -- First, there was "donuts with dad."  Then, a few weeks later, there was "muffins with mom."  She got a mini-polaroid from each event and carries them around as prized treasures.

Changed her mind

Sundays are often reserved for errands and housework.   The girls are usually with me,  while steve is doing something like building houses in the back yard!   Today,  they had a choice as steve was not doing anything that required total concentration.  Carolyn decided to stay home,  saying that she did not get to see dad as much as she sees me.  Lizzie insisted on staying with mom.  As soon as we got to the first store, she said "Go home.   Play with dad"

A special friend

The photos are blurry,  but I think they still show what a special relationship the girls have with our next door neighbor,  RJ. 

They walk over to say good night.   They love getting snacks from her kitchen.   And the hugs before bedtime are not to be forgotten.   She even carries them home and kisses them goodnight.

I am pretty sure RJ would say the same thing. ... we are lucky to have her in our lives.

A day just for elizabeth

On weekends, we are usually doing something fun for carolyn,  while lizzie just observes.   She is a good sport,  but today was a day planned just for her.   Carolyn was gone all day with a friend at a water park.  So I took advantage of this rare opportunity with only one kid and took lizzie to the children's museum. 

When carolyn was this age,  we had a membership and I brought her a lot, but this has to be the most boring place for parents.   The kids can do everything themselves and do not require much interaction with parents,  so you just sit and watch ( or in my case today, I updated the blog). 

Oh,  but look at how much fun she had.  We spent more than 3 hours exploring and playing. Maybe i should set the boredom aside and bring her more often.

Summer nights

Summer is awesome.   We have a new festival or concert or movie to go to almost every night.  Most of it is free.  

Last night,  we went to a park and rode a mechanical bull,  hung upside down in hammocks,  panned for gold, made a fish out of clay,  ate Persian food from a food truck,  learned about fat and sugar and sunblock from the doctors ( this was Carolyn's favorite activity), made rodeo princess banners, had a Hula hoop contest,  and fed a three week old cow a bottle of milk.

Lizzie was with us,  but she usually just sits back and observes things.   I need to get better at taking pictures of her too.