Grade 2

and this photo documents not only another first day of school, but the undone project on my summer to-do list of painting the garage.  Oh well....

ending the month with a bang

So in the last week off, we spent an afternoon with Tita Judy and family and enjoyed their pool, met the Durands for ice cream (no camera for that one), and

Bea and Anthony spent a day together seeing Minions and shopping. He found this great shirt at the Gap:

and then we headed to NJ for Joseph & Karel's wedding.  First stop was New Haven, to the Atticus book shop, the one thing Bea wanted to do all summer and we finally got to it.  Man she loves this place, and when the worker found out we drive 90 miles to get there, she gave Bea a free cookie.  No wonder she loves it:

We arrived Friday afternoon and got ready for the rehearsal dinner.  Big girl packed her high heels!

(and changed into flip flops after about an hour...)  Here she is with J.J. and Annalena having a blast:

Saturday, the BIG EVENT:

This couple and every aspect of the wedding took everyone's  breath away!

(have I mentioned the cuteness of the flower girls????)

Mary Jane and her baby:

I think Joseph coined this move "The Funky Tony:"

Tired girl who was cold from the a/c:

ahhh, summer 2015.  You wore us out, but boy it was fun....

It took more than a flashlight....

But those two front teeth that have been the highlight Bea's smile all summer are history!  I finally took her to the dentist today to get his opinion on them since they didn't seem to be progressing at all.  He proclaimed her mouth to be "a traffic jam" and left it up to me. What with the wedding coming this weekend, school starting, and her complaining more and more when brushing and eating, I decided it was time to get them outta there.  I had a very sad little girl on my hands when the word "shot" was spoken:

She pretty much freaked out.  The staff at the office came to the rescue with stuffies galore and promises of more trips to the "treasure chest."  I upped the ante with a bribe of a trip to Booklovers Gourmet to get the sticker book that I denied her last night when we were there.  It was pathetic (the adults' and my behavior I mean) but we did what we had to do.  I thought of the family legend of my Dad's parents bribing him with a flashlight to go to the dentist.  I always thought Memere and Pepere gave in to him, spoiled him, and that he was manipulative. Oh well.  I get it now Mem and Pep.

So here we are back home with the novocaine almost worn off,  lots of goodies in hand (one of which she gave me "for being so brave Mom", two teeth to stick under a pillow tonight, and a referral to an orthodontist!

I sort of miss that crooked smile of Summer '15 already!

August Happenings

We had our 2nd annual "Camping with the Schultzes" event at Wolf Den:

We spent several days "sprucing up" Bea's school with a pretty big painting project including several very cool murals designed by Anthony:

Saturday was a much-anticipated event, Samm's 7th birthday party, with a "Rescue Princess" theme, and complete with a live animal show.  One kid in the class wouldn't hold the boa.  Any guesses? Hey, at least she touched it!

     Along with the pictures from the party, I got copies of these incredible photographs from the end-of-the year party back in June:
(oh how wondrous it is to have a professional photographer as a parent of one of Bea's good friends!)