Almost 5

 We celebrated Evey's birthday a few days early since Tita Angela and Uncle Brett were in town.

 She picked out an American Girl Wellie Wisher (and other items) when we were in Chicago. We were impressed that she was ok with us saving it for her birthday.  Even though she already knew what it was, she was still so excited to open it. 

 The kids got to love on and take care of Cruz

 He certainly was not deprived of any attention that weekend

 She picked out another awesome cake.  She really enjoys looking at cake pictures and picking out the one she wants.

 Make a wish our little princess

 The royal family

And they're off

First day of school breakfast.  Poor Evelyn couldn't keep her eyes open for the picture.

 Middle school starts later than the grade school so he gets to sleep longer and eat after the girls are off.

 I can't believe my baby is off to Kindergarten!

 Third grade for the diva!

 Evelyn was so excited to go to school with Audrey.

 First day of middle school for this guy.  He admitted to being a little nervous.

 The girls bus was crazy late so I was able to get a picture of all three of them together.

 The bus FINALLY arrived and Evelyn ran on without looking back. 

Audrey accepted her mission to have a fantastic year of third grade.

Open house

 The girls ready to see their classrooms and meet the teachers at open house.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, there's a Royal in us all!  Evelyn has been waiting for the day she gets to go to school with Audrey.  She's finally a Royal!

 She even got to create a little introduction of herself to the teachers on the chrome book.

 The hallway has a new selfie area

 A third grader and a kindergartener!

 Audrey accepted the mission and made it through the lasers.  She was thrilled to have the same teacher Carter had for third grade!  So, was I.

End of summer

 This year no one needed stitches after our last visit to the pool before school starting.

 Reality sunk in on schedule pick up day for Carter.  He also got to move into his hallway locker that day.  He practiced his combination a bunch of times in hopes he won't have trouble with it on the first day.

 The 6th, 7th and 8th grades have their own pods in the school which makes for an easier transition.  This is the entrance to the 6th grade classrooms.

 After coming home from moving Carter into his locker we noticed something wasn't quite right with Sasha. We immediately took her to the vet. They discovered she was bleeding internally from a mass on her spleen.  Given her age and the location of the mass they didn't feel surgery would help. It was so sudden and unexpected.  The positive is that we didn't have to watch her suffer long term at the end of her life.  It also happened before school started so the kids were able to be with us to say their good byes.  She had a great 12 years of life and she left some big paws to fill. Sasha was the best pound puppy find ever! 

The vet made us a paw print keepsake for us.  

The kids immediately started their Christmas lists with a puppy (a real one), except for Evelyn who just wants Sasha back. When I explained to her that can't happen she simply stated, "Well God brought Jesus back from the dead.  Why can't he bring Sasha back?"  

Final Meet

 It wasn't easy for any of us to get up bright and early after the late night party.  We managed to get all three up, ready, checked out of the hotel and to the meet on time.

 It was fun to watch them get ready for the opening parade and ceremony.

 These kids are ready for the long day ahead.

 The team made posters for the parade

 CCP doing their team cheer

 Parading into the meet

 I love the friendships and bonds made over summer

 It's such a great group of kids

 Evelyn's 6 & under freestyle relay took 2nd place!  I'm so proud of Evelyn for being so brave and doing swim team at age 4.  Clearly, she rocked it!

 Audrey's 8 & under freestyle relay

I didn't get a chance to get a picture of Carter's relay. It was such a chaotic day!

It's great to see the kids improve on their skills over the summer and shave off time.  It was a quiet drive home as all three were exhausted from the weekend.

summer sport wrap up

 There was a rain delay for the Jr. Golf Championship.  Carter waiting it out paid off.  He was the only boy to show up for the 4-hole boys making him the champion.

Evelyn conquered the high dive at 4 years old!  She's my little fish and continues to impress me with her willingness to try new things.

 The swim team season comes to an end with the all conference meet.  This year it was hosted by Champaign and the theme was Life's a Beach.  They have a beautiful club and did a fantastic job hosting everyone.

 There were Tahitian dancers for entertainment.  They pulled 3 dads from the crowd and they all happened to be from CCP.  Yes, that's Chuck in a hula skirt.

 The dads were great sports and quite entertaining.

 They ended with fire dancers

 Evelyn, Audrey & Lily with a few of the dancers 

 The boys hanging out.  It was a blast of a party!  Now to get some sleep for the long meet in the morning!

mom's night

 Fitz and the Tantrums were coming the the river front so that called for another mom's night out. We loaded up in the party van and had dinner before the show.

 After dinner we walked to the concert.  We worked our way up to the front in time for hand clap.

It was such a fun night.  I only wish I would've gotten better pictures. Evidence of too much dancing and too much drinking.