Get ready for it....

...massive photo dump of our summer part one.

 4th of July festivities.

 A naked Addie with Aunt Rachel get ready to light fireworks. Apparently getting a rainbow(his choice) painted on your face is serious business.      

 Addie's reaction to the fireworks.  And yes, she gets so excited at one point that she kicks a chair over.

 

 This picture pretty much sums up Addie's reaction to the fireworks.  I just crack up every time I look at this picture.  To say she was a little excited is an understatement.

 Berry picking at a cottage not far from our house.

 Aunt Julie came to visit this summer and we did a few things like this Amish buggy ride.

   

  We got Brighton a tag-along-bike so we were able to do family bike rides this summer.  On this particular trip we road 16 miles on our local rails-to -trails.  We took a picnic lunch and it was a lot of fun.  Brighton was a champ and rode the entire way.  In his words: "I'm not a bike rider, I'm a bike racer!"

 

Fall is upon us...

 we decided  to get out and take in the fall colors.  Sorry about all the pictures of my kids, I just love every picture of them so I have a hard time editing them down.

New Camera Love

 We finally got a new camera!  I just started playing around with it today and I am in love.  I have had a really hard time blogging lately because I always like to post pictures with my blog posts but I had to take a hundred pictures on my old point-and-shoot just to get one that was not blurry.   My friend is a really great photographer and she gave me some good advise on what to get.  I am so excited and I think I am driving everyone crazy today with my picture taking.

 

The Preschooler

 Addie started preschool this week and she is thrilled!  On Monday evening she tried to trick me into thinking is was morning already so she could go to school.  I had to chuckle because when Brighton started preschool it was such a big deal to me, but on Tuesday morning when I dropped Addison off at her preschool it was no big deal.  I didn't even take a picture.  I realized this while she was at school so I made sure to get some pictures as soon as we got home.  Here she is in her outfit that she dressed herself in.  Thank heavens she didn't dress herself the way she sometimes does.  Remember this!  As a side note, she has eaten a bowl full of sour cream for her afternoon snack for the last three days.  Silly girl.

Brighton is a Kindergartener!

How did this happen?  Brighton started school a couple weeks ago and he loves it.  He loves riding the bus too.  I was reluctant to let him ride the bus, but he insisted and it has turned out great.  This boy is getting so big.  He lectures me everyday and he is usually right.  Addie was so jealous that Brighton got to ride the bus and go to school and she cried all morning.  I finally got her to stop by painting her fingernails.  She is such a girl.  We have been trying to potty train Addie for a while now without much luck, but the day after Brighton started school I told her she that she could start preschool this year but they only let kids in who are potty trained(I know what you are thinking, but I swear I did not make this up).  She decided that she was potty trained right then and there and she has been ever since, day and night!  She starts preschool tomorrow.  

I love these two so much...