It's summertime and Lydia is halfway to her sweet 16!

 

 

We celebrated...a whole lot in one day!  Graduation parties, birthday parties, going a way parties, engagement parties.  It was a fun month to see our people!

Lydia went to a couple of different camps in June, having all the fun swimming, experimenting, crafting and sweating out the summer days.  Her annual 22q11 visits were so normal and boring that I'm not writing a special post this year.  YAY!

And she's 8.  My sweet girl is 8 years old.

We celebrated at Main Event, had an American Girl Party with friends, kept on partying with family and then headed for Chicago and had the ultimate American Girl Store experience. 

We did it all!  Chicago never disappoints.  American Girl, shopping on Michigan Ave., deep dish pizza, Navy Pier, hotdogs, all the parks, Shedd Aquarium, water taxis and Chicago Mix popcorn.  Dad and Lydia flew home while I stayed behind for the ALA conference.  Then I flew home the same day Dad flew to Hawaii for work (yeah, without us).  We'll all be together again in July!

 

May Day! Mayday! Days of May.

 

The days of May were filled with fun but boy were they busy.

Lydia decided to cash in her coin back for over $100! Every time she's at Grandma and Papa's she sneaks up to my dad's office and takes pennies, nickels and dimes off the pile on the corner of his desk. That change corner has been there for years! I'm sure over half of that money is his. 

Lydia was awarded the Golden Eagle aware for Inclusiveness.  So proud of her!  There was a ceremony in her pod at school where she was awarded with two of her friends, Khushee and Coco.

 

 

Soccer was cold.  Soccer was hot.  Are soccer temps ever just right?  Lydia's first soccer season with the Stingers was a success.  They won most of their games, losing one and one draw.  She had a really good time and improved so much throughout the season.  We're signed up for fall!

 

Our first Saturday Farmer's Market stop, followed by the Cider Mill and the playground.

We celebrated Dad's birthday!

We celebrated a successful year of Brownies with the Girl Scout Troop.  These girls are super fun, get a long so well, and are adding more members next year!  FYI, cookie sales start in December!

Last day of 2nd grade for this girl.  She had a really good year with Mrs. S and being in class with some good friends.  She also made some new friends and continues to probably have the most fun at lunch while eating very little - who has time to eat when you can laugh so much?

We took on St. Louis with our good friends from Indy.  We have not seen each other in over 8 years and it was like no time had passed...except we all showed up as parents!  The girls met and got along great, having fun at Union Station, the Aquarium, the Zoo and the Arch.  We fed fish in the Koi Pond, played mini golf, road the Ferris Wheel and went through a mirror maze. 

And now it's time for summer camp!