Dog days of Summer

Well, you can see we've been rather busy. Between play dates and school and swimming and parks, we've been running around like crazy and having lots of fun. Ainsley and Emma both seem to love their mother's day out program ("school" as they call it) though Emma can barely make it home before falling asleep. And the free time is nice for mommy too :)

On Saturday, Ainsley and Chris went on a "daddy date" to the Farragut Fleet, where the town of Farragut pulls out a lot of its vehicles (from ambulances to tractors) and lets the kids ride on them. They had a blast, as you can tell. Funny though, Ainsley came home from that declaring what she wants to be when she grows up "a cowgirl, so I can wear a hat and ride a horsie, neigh"- not sure what that has to do with tractors and fire engines, but ok...

First day of School

Today was our first day of school and I just wanted to share some "back-to-school" pictures of the girls. Emma was all ready wtih her froggie lunchbox, and you'll even see that she nicely scraped up the side of her face when she fell off our deck yesteday. Ains had a great first day as well, even got to read "The Bear Snores On" at school- and apparently, much to the teacher's surprise, knew every word (thank-you cousins Jacob and Payton).

Tiptoeing into cyberspace

Well, I'm following the footsteps of numerous friends and family by joining the cyberspace age and starting a blog. We thought it would be a fun way to share the exploits of Ains and Em and a good way to connect with friends and family who are far away.
We've had a great summer. Ains and Emma have spent a good deal of time at "big grammy and pop-pop's" (my parents) house... and especially in their pool. Ainsley is almost swimming on her own and Emma is happy that she finally can stay above the water in her swimmies.
We had a great week with Little Grammy and pop-pop (Chris' parents) as well, that included a trip to a dinner theatre in Gatlinburg which the kids just loved.

Another highlight was our weekend with our small group at the lake house. Contrary to my assumptions, the girls adored riding in a boat (so you can imagine the ribbing I'm getting from my husband and others) and it was really a great time with everyone who came.
The girls start school next week so this week has been squeezing as much fun in as possible- pools and parks and slip n slides, and a trip to a water park with a great friend on Saturday (I'll let you know how that one goes...)