School's Out For Summer

So school is officially out, and I think Teag and I are in a bit of shock that it happened so quickly. I can't believe an entire school year has passed already, it's madness. In just the first week, however, we've managed to pack in an impressive amount of summer fun.

Just before school let out, Maisie became the proud owner of these:

That's right, we have our first brace face. In recent years, we've made the unfortunate discovery that Maisie is missing half (HALF!) her permanent teeth. We have no explanation as to why this is the case, but it is. As such, she's had braces put on earlier than usual to make room for the two permanent teeth making their way up, and we're hoping to hang on to the rest of her baby teeth as long as possible.

Maisie's also been working on, with the help of two of her friends, a sort of clubhouse behind our shed. They spent some time painting a sign for it the other day.

"Cyber Girls" is what it says, though I have no idea why. One of the other mothers even furnished some carpet remnants to lay down on the ground, while one of the dads provided the sign materials. I'm hoping it becomes a great place for them to spend a lot of time outdoors.

A few days after school let out, we hit the pool for the first time.

Dany learned how to get herself around the pool with the aid of some floaties, Maisie had fun being tossed around by Teag, and Finn spent most of the time splashing in utter delight, while Rory bossed around everyone in the kiddie pool. Good times.

The next day we went hiking, as our plan is to do as many of them as we can this summer. This first picture is of us acting out various woodland animals, though Dany and Rory's impressions are a bit of a mystery.

 Finn loved being out in the fresh air, bouncing along on dad's back.

 The girls thought this part of the forest, located in Mueller Park, looked a lot like the forest in Narnia.

 They found some sort of wooden structure to explore that someone had spent a fair bit of time constructing previously.

And on the way back, Finn decided he'd already seen everything he needed to see and caught a few Z's instead.

The kids love the hikes, and are enthusiastic about being out somewhere new. Hopefully this will continue to be the case as the summer wears on.

Later that night, we went over to a neighbors house for hotdogs and an outdoor movie.

Finn was a big fan of the licorice portion of the evening.

Watching "Tangled" at the Kiser's.

Even Grandma and Grandpa Rogers were there!

This summer has started out with a bang, and hopefully the kids stay active and entertained for the whole of it, be it with activities, imaginations or vacations.

Happy Summer!