Ballerina Claire, Napping Claire and Bear....

Claire has FINALLY started a dance class and for those of you who know Claire well, this has been a long anticipated event. Neither girl took dance last year and this year both are taking a class and loving it. Claire is taking ballet/tap and Anna is taking jazz/ballet. Here is Claire in her outfit before her class.

Here are two sweet pictures of Claire napping on the couch. We've been out having lots of fun since it's just the two of us during the day and sometimes we stay gone too long and she ends up "resting"on the couch. Amazingly enough, she sacks out every time.

Joel went bear hunting this past weekend and my cousin shot this huge bear. Thankfully it went home w/my cousin and not my husband. :)

Back to School...

And we are off to another fun-filled school year. These pics are about a week or so late getting posted but these were taken on the morning of the 1st day of school. Here is Ethan - all excited about starting 3rd grade. I can't believe my baby boy is already in 3rd grade.Which leads me to my 2nd (toothless) baby.....off to 1st grade! I think it might be harder for me to adjust to her being gone all day every day but so far so good. She likes it but says it's kind of long to be gone. :) Just so you know, there is yet another loose tooth in that mouth.

And the true baby of the family....little Claire who is stuck home w/mom. She's really been missing them but we're having alot of fun together. Her favorite things so far are to go shopping and out for lunch....I am in serious trouble. :)

And the whole gang....

Pools, Fairs and Beaches....

Here is where we spent many summer days....at the pool! Here are a few of the kids enjoying the hot tub.

Please notice the lack of teeth in Miss Anna's mouth. :)

Our tiniest glamour swimmer. By the last day the pool was open she was SO close to swimming all by herself. She really did great this year and loves to check out E. and A. underwater w/her goggles.

They have a huge waterslide and Anna was finally tall enough to go down this year. It took 20 minutes of convincing the first time around and then for the rest of the summer she want down about 20 times each time we were there.

Of course, our summer is never complete without a trip or two to the Lowell 4-H Fair. Ethan found a few super cute cows that were so gentle and loved to be pet.

Claire wouldn't dare get near this one! :) Too much bigger than her I guess.

Sadly, they love the rides more than the animals so we had to visit the midway. This is E. and A. on the Paratrooper. Joel was worried that Anna would fall out of the bar...I was very sad that he brought that up b/c that ride was going super fast.

Claire rode the more tolerable rides. She was queen of the motorcycles. :)

This really doesn't need any explaining.... they all loved sticking their heads through this sign. It was too big to get the whole sign in the picture though.

Here is a better picture of Anna without her two front teeth. Since this picture, she has lost another one on the bottom for a total of 5. Ethan just lost his third but still has his top two.

We also took a trip out to Holland this summer but the wind was not our friend that day. It was super windy and almost chilly. We still had fun watching all the boats and playing in the sand.Now that Ethan and Anna are back in school, expect a few more regular updates as I know have somewhat of a life again. :)