The End of the Summer photos (I promise) & the Beginning of a new school year

First Day of School

My sweet little Katey is officially a preschooler! She loves getting up and dressed for school with backpack in hand. She tells us about her "fends" and her day with such excitement. It is incredibly fun to watch and listen to her but also makes me sad. Where did my little baby go?

Kelly started 3rd grade on 8-26. Thank God we are still in the same building. She is growing into such a beautiful, smart girl. I am so very proud of the person she is becoming.

Shawn's First Triathlon

We were very proud of our Daddy on 8-16-08. Shawn participated in his first ever triathlon in Pleasant Prairie. There were tons of people biking, swimming, and running. His friends Shawn and Rob joined him in the race. We were quite impressed with how well he did, great job Daddy!

Wisconsin State Fair 8-5-08

Our annual trip to the fair was so much fun, as always. The girls enjoyed the rides and the food! It was a hot, summer day... Kelly and I were lucky enough to go to the Corbin Blue and Vanessa Hudgens concert that night. We loved it! It was so much fun for Kel to see two of her favorite High School Musical stars in person.

Camping trip

We celebrated Aunt Jenny's birthday with a camping trip to Indian Trails in Pardeeville, WI. Our friend Michele and her family joined us, too. We had a great time relaxing in the sun, swimming in the lake, and hanging out together.

Six Flags with Kyle & Sam... our best buddies & cousins 7-30-08

Grandma & Grandpa Reed's golden anniversary

July 25-27 we drove down to Quincy for several very good reasons. First, to celebrate our dear Grandma & Grandpa Reed's 50th wedding anniversary. My mother-in-law Mary and her sibling thru a great celebration to honor Gr. & Gr. Many family members (which in the Reed family means tons of people!) and their friends came, they are an amazing couple who have lived out biblical marriage for many years. They encourage and challenge me to live out that kind of marriage every time I think of them.

Second, we drove down to meet our very special little cousin Garrett!!! He is so precious, Aunt Rachel & Uncle Blake's first baby. Katey was IN LOVE with him and had so much fun holding him and talking to him. She talked for the next few weeks about having her own little baby brother, yikes. Kelly, of course, loved him to pieces, too, who couldn't? The girls are thrilled to have a new baby cousin.

I love this photo of the girls with their great-grandparents.

Whenever these big Reed family reunions happen, the girls are reunited with some of their favorite cousins. Nichole, Ashley, and Amanda are close in age to our girls but live far away in Tennessee. It is so much fun to watch them always pick up right where they left off last time.

More summer fun in July

Happy Birthday to Mommy! We celebrated my birthday with a dollar kids' movie at the theater, lunch with friends, and a trip to the Lake County Fair. Here are the greatest two gifts I've ever gotten... my sweet girls. Thank you for letting me be your mommy.

One weekend in July we headed to Daddy's favorite campground, Crystal Lake in Lodi, WI. The girls loved their pool and lake with lots of toys in the water. The scenery there is beautiful with miles of trees, hills, and big sky, it is just gorgeous.

July 15th was another day of fun at Six Flags, lots of use out of those passes this summer. This time we spent the day with Kim, Kyle, Nick, and Karli. We had a great day together! Kelly tried some new rides, thanks to the boys and Katey just wanted to be with her Karli!

Our Family Talent!

Kelly and her two cousins Kyle & Sam did a great job performing in the CYT day camp show. All 3 kids had lines and solos and we were so proud of them. They really enjoyed their week at camp, learning to sing, dance, and act with a group. They are all quite the little performers at home, so it was fun to watch them on the big stage! Katey was their #1 fan!!!!

American Girl Cubs game

July 10th was awesome! We headed down to the city for our annual American Girl Place- Cubs game day. We had so much fun exploring the store and trying to pick out what to bring home. Kelly chose a sleepover kit box for her dolls and matching Kit movie t-shirts for her and her doll. Katey chose (this is hilarious!) the little plastic potty seat for her Bitty Baby and the little potty accessories box complete with Bitty Baby underwear. So funny because she just successfully finished potty training and apparently now feels it's her Bitty Baby's turn. :)

So on to the game... so much fun! We loved taking the girls to Wrigley, Katey watches the Cubs every night game with her Daddy, and affectionately calls them "her Cubs". The girls picked up their dolls' new outfit this year, the hat & blue jerseys. We snacked on hot dogs and cotton candy, yum. Mommy's highlight was towards the end of the game with a surprise pinch-hit by her favorite Cub, Carlos Zambrono!!! Whoo-hoo!! SO happy I got to see him! Even those the Cubs had a rare home loss (at that time) and we got rained on, it was still a great day for the 4 of us!!

Happy Birthday Karli!

I love these photos of Katey with her best buddy in the world, Karli. We celebrated Karli's big birthday at Build-A-Bear and the girls had fun picking out new bears. (thanks Kim!)

Aren't these two just adorable? I have so many great photos of them since birth together and they're only 3! I may need to make just a Katey & Karli scrapbook album, now that would be cute!

4th of July weekend

We spent the 4th at the Wisconsin Dells at the Great Wolf Lodge. The girls had a blast on the water slides, splashing around. We went bowling and Kelly beat Mom again! I stink at bowling but we always have fun. Katey scared me as usual swimming all around, pushing my hands away. Yikes, but lots of fun.