Our First Day of Summer Break!

We had such a wonderful, first day of summer break!!! I had all the kids today and it was fun. Caitlynn and Emily painted rocks in the morning, while all the boys were playing with tech decks (finger skateboards). I caught up on a little bit of laundry, while they were entertaining themselves. After they were all finished playing inside, I got the sprinkler out. The lawn and flowers needed some watering and it was a good excuse for the kids to run through it. I was a little short on bathing suits because Ryan, Caitlynn, and Hunter left theirs at Nana and Poppy's house. Luckily, Emily had two at home and Caitlynn was able to use one of them. I had to put Brandon in an old pair of Ryan's shorts. Joshy just stayed in the shorts that he had on. And, Ryan just used a pair of his shorts. Hunter didn't play in the sprinkler, though. They all had a blast and I loved watching their excitement. They had so much fun, but I think Joshy was the MOST excited about it. He played in it the longest! After they were done, the girls went in and took a nice, hot, LONG bath.

They also went on a few bike rides around the neighborhood. The temperature was warm, but not too hot. Ryan and Hunter got their skateboards out and did some tricks on the ramp. Brandon loves to be with them. He can't wait until he is older so that he can go to Mike's to skate with his older cousins.

After lunch, we put a movie in and the little boys had "quiet time." They both ended up falling asleep for a little bit. While they were asleep, we had a surprise visit from the Soley's (Suzy, and her boys, Zachary and Connor), who moved to Williamsburg last year. Ryan and Connor have been best buddies since preschool and we have not been able to catch up with them at all! Emily and Zachary have been friends since they were 3-years old and in the same preschool class. They didn't come in, because they were just passing through, on the way to another friend's house. It was wonderful seeing them. We hope to catch up with them over the summer.

After the Soley's left, Rob took Ryan and Hunter to skate, at Mike's. It was a nice surprise for them because they didn't expect to go that early. Rob had planned on taking them at 6:00, for the last session of the day. So, they got to skate two sessions. Then, Rob took Ryan out to eat. This is their Thursday night tradition. Ryan came home exhausted!!!

Emily had ice skating lessons tonight. She is in an "Edge" class for the first half hour, which she loves! They do nothing but practice skating on the inside and outside edges of their skates, spins, and ballet moves. They also have music playing and she is doing such a great job. After Edge class, she has her regular lessons. Then, Emily and I went to Arby's for dinner. This is our Thursday night tradition. It's just the two of us and it's a special time for some mother/daughter bonding. She came home exhausted, as well!!

We ended the night with a family game of Uno! I'll add that I didn't win one hand AT ALL and we played tons!! LOL!!! But, we all had fun and we enjoyed family time together. I love my little family so much!

I'm going to close with some pictures of the kids, playing in the sprinkler. We had a wonderful day and are looking forward to our summer break!! I'm not going to label each picture tonight, as I have a ton. But, I have to say that the one's of the girls, just warm my heart. They are so close and are more like sisters, than cousins. So, as you can imagine, with that closeness comes some serious arguments. It's so beautiful to see the love they have for each other. Enjoy ~~~