Brenna's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, the big day finally came!  I can't believe my little girl is going to Kindergarten.  Where did all the time go?  I'm so thankful for the wonderful husband I have that allowed my to spend these first 5 years at home with her.  It's been such a blessing to have that time and very hard to let go of it.  She looked so grown up in her uniform on that first day of school.

The Obvious Next Thing........

I posted earlier that Brenna took her training wheels off.  However, she continued to ride with the speed and assurance of someone with a safety net.  With that information, the obvious next thing to expect was her first bike wreck, which came within 3 weeks of taking off the trainers.

We had friends over for dinner and afterwards the kids got out and rode bikes.  Brenna made the turn to come back alittle too sharp and alittle too fast and ended up eating the concrete face first!  Yikes!  The initial inspection was horrifying.  She had come down directly on the her chin, taking off all the skin and bit down on her lip in two places.  So, when a neighbor pulled her from underneath the bike all you could see was blood coming from her mouth and chin.  She was hysterical!  After we got her inside and cleaned up we immediately started the inspection for loose teeth or the need for stitches.  After she finally calmed down, we realized that while the total injury was ugly, we were very fortunate.  She walked away with a severely busted fat lip and a skinless, bruise, swollen chin.  Of course we had our bike helmet on, but that didn't do much to protect the underside of her head.  Maybe we should consider chin straps.

These pictures were from the next morning.  The bruising hadn't set in fully yet, so by the next day, her whole chin was black.  Over the next week, we went through every shade of the rainbow as it slowly faded away.

A Day with the Strickland Bunch

One of our last days of Summer we spent with the Strickland crew.  The Stricklands' and their extended family have been very good to us and we are blessed to have such wonderful neighbors and friends.  We started off the morning at the pool where the kids played and burned off some energy.  Next it was back home so everyone could have a nice nap and a quick rest.  Then, back to Stacie's for some fun back yard playtime.  Everybody had dinner together, and then it was off to the pool again.  Our group closed the pool down and then headed over to the playground to wait while the crew set up for "Movies Under the Stars".  Our neighborhood association sponsors these events several times throughout the year.  Tonight's movie was "We Bought a Zoo".  The kids stretched out on blankets, help themselves to popcorn and gummy bears, and settled in for the show.  While we didn't stay for the whole movie, our young bunch managed through more than half thanks to the energy boost from the gummy bears.  Just before 10 pm, we loaded them all up in the back of the SUV and headed for home. I was a very fun, long, and exhausting day.  Brenna was asleep before her head hit the pillow.  What a great way to spend one of our last days of Summer!