The Bradford Pear leaves have fallen and the day for leaf pickup is quickly approaching so it is time for Leaf Day! Emily was disappointed that she had to go to school and miss out on jumping time. Julia was disappointed that she was under the weather and her friends couldn’t come and help. But despite the runny nose Julia was a big help to Mama while the leaves were raked.

Daddy ran by the house while Julia was playing in the pile and got some lunchtime hugs!

Running and jumping into the pile is fun! She was very intent to try to build the pile back up before jumping back in. Julia declared that it was Jump Day!

When Emily got off the bus after school she ran into the yard, dropped her backpack on the way, and jumped into the pile. There was plenty of jumping time left before the sun went down.

We had lots of grins all day long!

Julia’s other favorite game of the day was to walk up the mountain. She would walk into the pile while pretending that she was hiking up and over the mountain. Mama called her Bilbo Baggins because it seemed somewhat appropriate that a little person was taking such a big adventure over the mountain. That and we are reading the book together and she would know the reference.

Daddy was playing baseball with his girls after work and school one day. The girls had their turn at hitting, but decided it was Daddy’s turn. Before the photo was taken the ball had to be fetched off the roof twice. Not too bad for hitting a tiny ball thrown by little girls.

This day finally came!

Emily picked out her clothes the night before, ate a good breakfast, consented to a few photos, packed up our family in the car, drove the mile and half, and made the journey into her new stage of life.

Emily was a little apprehensive about the unknowns of the day, but also excited about school. She was literally jumping with excitement before we left the house this morning. When we got to school she marched down the hall with her Daddy like she knew what she was doing. Emily patiently waited her turn in line to turn in her school supplies and meet the teacher. She seemed pleased with the attention and then enjoyed her practice exercises while she waited for the class to start. We asked her to give us hugs and tell us goodbye and then she happily went back to work on her desk assignment.

When it was time for pickup, she seemed to have a bit of a deer-in-headlights look until she found her Mama in the right car. Once the "helper" was getting her in the car she was exuberant to tell Mama that "School is Great!". She wasn’t a fountain of stories on the way home, but she continued to tell little things that has given a window into her day. She loved hearing stories and going to lunch. No playground today because of the rain though. She is definitely looking forward to going back on Friday.

When we dropped off Emily in her class we took the whole family. It seemed like a good idea for Julia to know where Emily would be during the day. When we left the classroom to walk down the hallway Julia told us, "I want my sister!". She did get settled and she had her own excitement for the day that distracted her. It was pretty sweet to see how much she enjoys being with her sister.

Emily’s new homework desk ready for when she has some.

Our Big Girl!

Check out her BIG flowery backpack. Maybe we will remember to get a photo like this around the end of the year to see how much smaller the backpack looks as she grows.

Our photos had to be taken inside today due to a rainstorm.

Her favorite Kitty lunchbox accompanied her to school today.

Her first school lunch, she told me that she finished it just in time. It seems lunch ended just after her last bite. Emily can be quite a talker at lunch instead of focusing on eating.

Emily walking down the hall to the Kindergarten wing. She wanted to do it on her own and didn’t want to take Daddy’s hand. Our independent girl!

I’m sure this will not be Emily’s assigned seat, but it was for the first day with her first coloring and writing activity. She was pleased as punch.

Emily with her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Pendergrass

The first stop on our vacation was at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Robby got to spend a little time with Elizabeth, the girls got to play with Grandparents, the girls were fascinated with Elizabeth and her toys, and there was lots of swimming.

Some of the sweet or fun things that happened while we visited:

LOVE THIS! What is better than an eye-squeezing hug!

Emily is in-love with Midnight. This poor cat got more attention than he could probably handle, but he kept coming back for more. Emily would carry Midnight from room to room covering him up with blankets and treating him like a baby. Emily is asking for a cat of her own. At five she is already coming up with rational arguments of how we could work a cat into our home and promising to keep up with cat responsibilities. Please, no kind gifts of a cat for our house.

Elizabeth seemed to enjoy having other little people to play with. She crawled into the Lego cart and Emily happily pulled her around the house. What we didn’t catch with this photo was the tumble that Elizabeth took a few minutes later that ended the game. They enjoyed it while it lasted.

All the kids were taking turns wearing Uncle Doug’s hat. Julia had stolen it and was running around the house with it. She was proud of herself.

Julia has her favorite friends that she sleeps with. This trip she brought three and got a bear from Grandma. She seemed to have a firm hold on Nina the Mermaid this particular afternoon. Not to mention a sleeping kid is a perfect kid – Cute!

The girls love to borrow their Grandparents tablet and draw things. Julia was quite proud of her drawing

We heard stories that Lizzy thought she could sit on any flat surface that she could get to. Sure enough we watched her move the toys and then climb up on this shelf and try to sit. She did successfully sit, but it didn’t look too comfortable. The girls were trying to stop her and sticking with her to make sure she was safe until Sabah could get her down. Emily and Julia were surprised by this climbing thing because neither of them are climbers.

What a sweet face sitting next to Aunt Rachelle on the couch wearing a Julia dress. Aunt Rachelle was pretty lucky!

We celebrated Mama and Daddy’s Anniversary with a family weekend away to the Opryland Hotel. Celebrating our anniversary with our kids was a lot of fun this year. Emily is old enough to understand what an anniversary means and loves the idea of celebrating her parents wedding. The joys of girls!

– a room with a view! a climate controlled balcony is awesome on a super hot weekend when four people share a room.

Emily has a general love of hotels and wants to run one later in life so we thought taking her to such a unique hotel would be fun. She was a bit overwhelmed and it will be interesting to see what her long term thoughts are on it. She loved following the different trails of the garden and watching the "dancing" water show. We were always watching out for brides and grooms too. Being Memorial Day weekend there were a lot weddings going on at the hotel.

We saw a wedding set up in the gazebo earlier in the weekend and thought it would be fun to get Emily’s photo in the same spot. For the whole weekend Emily was a bit more willing to let us take her photo. Julia’s favorite things this weekend were coloring on the balcony in our room, throwing coins into fountains, and jumping into the pool over and over again.

We enjoyed riding the boat and learning a few new facts about the hotel. Another interest that Emily has is about any natural disaster or weather anomaly. In 2010 Nashville had severe flooding of the Cumberland River which flooded the Opryland Hotel. After riding the boat all Emily wanted to discuss was the flood and the hotel.

Daddy and his girls strolling on one of the many trails.

We took a walk around the state capitol building and checked out the statues and the burial place of a president. We now know James K Polk was buried at the state capitol. We also visited the State Museum and enjoyed a little local history and some air conditioning.

Our girls like to play games on our phones. They think it is normal to get to see their grandparents when they talk to them across many miles. Their world view also has music on iPods, pausing TV, and TV and movies recorded on digital media. They will never know a world with rotary telephones, typewriters, and not being able to call someone from anywhere. I can’t imagine what else will change in their lifetime.