Summer so far...

Tonight I'm doing some spring cleaning of my camera card and unloading all the pictures that I haven't had time to hardly look at so get ready for a long post. It hasn't even been two weeks since Jack's last day of preschool and our summer has been jam-packed so far with all kinds of fun. I plan on making a list with Jack of all the fun things we want to do this summer, but we'll already be able to cross off several things.

Here he is on the last day of preschool with his friends and teacher, Miss Adriane. They had a water party followed by picnic brunch with parents. I know Jack loved his first year of school and changed a lot from the beginning when there were tears and hesitation about going. I think he's pretty smart and loves to tell me what letter words start with or what the opposite of something is. Whenever he'd learn a new letter at school he wanted to know whose name had that letter. One day he came home all excited that even though Jack doesn't have a "p" in it, "my Paul name has a p!" (Paul is his middle name)

We've spent a lot of time in the backyard planting a new tree, getting wood chips around the swing set, blowing bubbles, eating popsicles and playing in the hose. The deer even come back once in a while even though they found a new place to spend most their time.

One day we headed to the driving range where me and Ryan watch while Dad and Jack hit balls.

We also discovered a pretty cool park area with a duck pond. Last week we headed there with the cousins and had a picnic lunch and fed the ducks. We noticed a swing hanging from a tree over the pond and JP couldn't resist trying it out. He gave us a good laugh by swinging then falling in fully clothed. All the girls took turns swinging out and back and next time we plan on wearing suits so they can jump in.

Something not-so-fun that we did was take a trip to the dentist. This was the first visit where Jack had to get cavities filled and while that wasn't the best news, he was so brave and didn't even cry when he got shots in his gums. He was such a trooper even though he started to get upset toward the end because he was sick of the cotton in his mouth. Now it's easier to brush and floss his teeth since we can convince him it will help avoid having a visit like that again!

Next up we leave for our big summer vacation to Cannon Beach, Oregon with my family. I'm excited to get away for a few days and hopefully relax (trips are stressful with kids, no?) and enjoy the beautiful sites. We won't even be back for a week before we head to Page for the all-night softball tournament, but then things should slow down before a road trip to California. I'm sure plenty more pictures of fun to follow.