first day of summer vacation

The girls were excited for summer but sad to say goodbye to their teachers and friends. They both loved their teachers and had a great year of school. We immediately started counting down the days until our big Wisconsin trip. On the first day of summer vacation the kids found a turtle in the driveway and kept it as a pet. At least until it escaped while we were at the library later that day. We signed up for the summer reading program and checked out a million books. Donuts seemed like a great way to start summer so we picked up some of my favorites from Rise (they have donuts AND delicious biscuits). I also attempted a trip to Target which is always total chaos with all 4 kids. Simon and Oliver do not get along well sitting next to each other in a shopping cart.

And of course the true sign of summer is fireflies!! We spent a few nights catching them. We get tons of them in our yard which is fun.

Fireflies!

It never quite feels like summer until we can start catching fireflies. Our yard has been filled with them which has been so much fun. I love watching our backyard woods start to twinkle every evening. Feels magical.

sunday evening stroll: firefly edition!

It rained all morning on Sunday but by the evening things had dried up and the sun was out. We ventured downtown for our sunday evening stroll. We started at the FDR Memorial (after getting a killer parking spot), one of our favorites, and then walked along the Tidal Basin to the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial.

 Classic Amelia face when she sees my camera/phone.

 The first fireflies of the evening!

 The kids were having a ridiculous amount of fun sliding down these benches. Ben and I just enjoyed sitting and watching the kids amuse themselves.

We ended our evening in a big grassy area where fireflies were abundant. This was my favorite part of the night, running around with the kids catching fireflies and playing games. Perfect summer evening.

iphone plus hardly any light does not make a great photo. But I loved the happiness in his face.

 The fireflies never stood much of a chance in Oliver's hands.

 Playing "What Time is it Mr. Fox?"

We brought the kids' pajamas since we knew we would get home after bedtime. Oliver escaped while getting changed (first with no diaper on).

pizza picnic.

We celebrated the last day of school with a dinner picnic on the waterfront in Old Town. We picked up pizza from Pizzeria Paradiso and then spent a few hours just enjoying the pleasant weather, playing in the grass, watching boats, and catching fireflies.

Oliver walked around with this pizza crust in his mouth for a long time.

Airplane rides!