Doesn't everyone eat their ice cream like this?

 

My sisters wedding

 I have realized that I never posted about my sister, Emily, getting married in June. While it wasn't the occasion she was hoping for with 200+ guests to help her and Jeff celebrate their special day it was still beautiful. 

It was a special day and I'm so happy that Jeff is now a part of our family!

We can officially call him Uncle Jeff!!!

Kid date night

 There's nothing quite like one of your children asking you to go get ice cream. She even brought her wallet. Just the two of us. And it was perfect.

Even her mask matched the occasion. 

Summer

 Our summer may not have looked exactly like years before but we still were able to cross off many things off our checklist before school beginning. 

Going to the Miller Park Zoo to see the animals. The kids did great wearing their masks and we even got to see the animal handlers feeding the crocodiles which was fascinating!

We also drove over to Peoria's Zoo. 

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Bonnie were gracious enough to let us come swimming a few times this summer.

Many days we just got the sprinkler and our small pool out and the kids had a blast running around.

Our VBS was virtual this year but the kids were still excited every night to watch our pastor present the lesson for the night and sing their VBS songs.

Pentwater, Michigan is a family tradition that not even a pandemic can wipe away. 

Time away with family was much needed and we all always love spending time at the beach. 

One of those stories

One fine day, in June, all three kids were playing on the playset after dinner. Evan and I were talking and all was right in the world. 

Then we heard a scream. We looked over to see Liam at the top of the slide with Lucy and Caroline attempting to climb up the slide. Caroline then came over to show us that her mouth was bleeding and informed us her brother had kicked her in the mouth. 

I took her inside to assess the damage. For many weeks her left front tooth had been very loose and I had been begging her to let me help her get it out. Her right front tooth had been just slightly loose. Now they were both blowing in the wind. With Caroline's ok we pulled them both out. After the bleeding and crying stopped she decided it wasn't so bad to be without her two front teeth. Eating corn on the cob is a bit trickier than normal but my girl isn't a quitter. 

Sisters

"Sisters, Sisters, never were there such devoted sisters...."

I absolutely love how well Caroline and Lucy play together. Sure they have their moments of disagreement but it is very rare. They love to play with one another and its fun to listen to them and how creative they are in their playtime. 

I'm sure one day when they are teenagers they will have many more disagreements but for right now we are going to live in the moment. And we are loving these moments. 

Caroline at six years old

This is our long and lengthy post about who Caroline is at the age of six. It is more so we can look back and see who our girl is at this age.

Caroline at 6 years old is 3 feet 8 inches tall (58th percentile) and 38 pounds (10th percentile). She wears her 5/6 and 6T clothes. She mainly wears  t-shirts and shorts but occasionally will wear a dress.

Caroline did a great job in kindergarten this past school year. She can count over 100, understands the concept of addition and subtraction, knows her shapes and is a good beginner reader. She needs help remembering her reading techniques but we are working with her this summer to help her get more confidant.

Caroline finished her first Sparks book in AWANA and enjoyed her Wednesday nights there. She would have loved to take swimming lessons again but with COVID we have decided to wait on that for now. She is really not interested in baseball and changed her mind about taking dance but she told me she may be interested in gymnastics.

Caroline is still a stubborn and feisty girl when she wants to be. Most of the time she is very quiet and sweet but if she has made up her mind that she will or will not do something there is little to persuade her differently. The most recent example was at Aunt Emily's wedding where she refused to have her picture taken by the wedding photographer for the family photo. She had her back facing the photographer and would not turn around and smile even with the threat of losing wedding cake.

Caroline still loves to draw and write some of the words that she knows. She is very creative.

She loves to play with bows, play zoo, Mommy and honey with Lucy and swinging on our new playset. Again she is very creative with her play and she and Lucy can entertain themselves for hours together. Once in awhile Liam checks in with them and when they all can get along its a lot of fun to watch.

Caroline goes to bed around 8:30 or 9, depending on how loud Lucy is, and wakes up between 7:30-8:30. Honestly it's been such a long time since we have had to be anywhere in the morning with the kids it's hard to say, but I'm sure she is still my slow riser in the morning.

Caroline is still very adventurous with her food. She likes many foods with her favorites still being pasta, squash, black bean burgers and watermelon

Caroline is very good with animals. The dogs that live behind us love to come to the fence when the girls are out swinging and absolutely love when Caroline goes to pet them. She is also good with Archie however he is still a crazy puppy as well.

We absolutely love our Caroline and any time we get to spend with her is such a joy. We can't wait to see how her personality will continue to blossom!