Fall has come and with it comes our littlest’s birthday. This year marks the sixth celebration. Wow! Every year there is such a change, but this year has some of the biggest we have seen. First and foremost is that Julia is a school-girl. Kindergarten has been a joy for her. The second and just as huge is the explosion in communication we hear from her. She asserts herself into any conversation she can, she learned the art of interrupting Emily’s stream of words, she is learning the first sight words, and big words are no longer intimidating. Just yesterday she informed her mama, "you misunderstood what I said". For our late verbal bloomer this is such a big deal!

She loves picking out her own clothes and has learned the love of all things shoes. Her play involves a lot of imaginary play and involves small figures. Her collection of homes, schools, playgrounds, and clinics for the figures continues to grow and brings her delight. School has been incorporated into this play and there is a lot of learning, rules, and lines.

Facial expressions are also a difference between the girls. Emily seems to have her normal mood faces, but Julia has those and more. Taking photos of her is a challenge when she is wanting to pull from the less standard smile face. But on the other hand having a collection of different smiles, pouts, grins, and pure silliness is fun too.

We love our girl for all of her new skills and years we have been blessed to have her with us! Happy Birthday, Julia!

We enjoyed a beautiful and a bit muddy morning at the pumpkin patch. The girls love the extra fun games that go with the maze and pumpkin patch. They rode the slide and bounced a lot. It is a wonder they had energy to do anything else. We did half of the big maze with the girls taking turns leading the way. Each girl searched the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkin. Emily wanted a small one and Julia wanted one she could carry. The sun shined on us and a breeze kept us cool. It was a perfect way to spend the morning with Grandma and Grandpa.

We celebrated the return of cooler weather with a short hike in the arboretum. The rain wanted to celebrate too, so we didn’t stay out too long. The girls were more interested in playing than posing for their Mama.

The bridges are fun to explore and dance on.

Shy grins can be shared.

A short hike, lots of silliness, a few shivers, fresh air, and a fun visit.

How this little girls has grown! Today was her first day of Kindergarten! She has been pretty excited all summer. Last night she had trouble falling asleep because of excitement.

The backpack sure looks big, but from previous experience it will shrink during the year.

Daddy walked Julia to class this morning. We asked Emily if she wanted to join Julia and she wanted to. When we got to the class Julia was bold and answered the questions asked of her and didn’t try to hide behind anyone. She is ready for her new adventure.

Julia with her teacher!

Here is our spirited second grader. She had trouble going to sleep last night, had no trouble getting up this morning, and carried herself with an extra bounce today.

Outside of school while we were taking first day photos Emily’s friend came by and joined in a photo. Emily has several friends in her class this year.

First day with our teacher. She made a great impression with Emily last week when we met her. This just added to Emily’s excitement. It is going to be a great year!