Summer!

A special month of May for Julia!  She made her first Holy Communion!

At home, Ellie was right by Julia's side as she opened presents :).

Ellie knew it was Julia's special day!

A nice Mother's Day moment at bedtime!

A quick smile going out the door for mass.

 Ellie participated in the May piano recital with the other children!  She did great!

Here she is performing "Old McDonald" with a little prompting from her siblings and mom. She played three instruments: a bell, a castanet and rhythm sticks.  She was SO proud!  So were we!!!

Summer is known for pop up thunderstorms in the south...

Xavier and Julia get scared when it thunders and usually hide under a blanket.  Of course, Ellie has to join in on the fun!  Left to right: Julia, Ellie, Xavier

 We had a fun (as always) trip to Tennessee this summer!

Ellie enjoys the kids's section of an amusement park there. She is getting so big and can really hold on to the rides!

She needs a buddy for some of the rides of course.  I was happy to sit with her but she kept requesting I put my hands on the middle handle to make us spin more!  We started going a little too fast for my liking! ;)

 

Ellie rode a boat chute with us even though we had assumed she would not want to. She pointed to the ride and gestured that she wanted to go with us and got right onto the ride.  The second we got in the dark tunnel, she started to regret it and made some panicky noises but we all jumped into singing nursery rhymes for the duration of the 4 minute ride!  She was all smiles from then on.  Here we are after getting a little wet.

Nothing like a lazy river to forget about all the school work, doctor's appointments, laundry and bills :).

Ellie's first roller coaster! Can you see she's thrilled???!!

There was only one outcome possible when we got in the van to leave the park.

We've enjoyed some World Cup soccer which has taught us several country flags!

Cheering for England!

Back at  home, we had a fun 4th of July celebration.  The kids got to paint a US flag on their faces this time! 

We just love the PBS special on the 4th from DC.  So entertaining!  Ellie is so happy when all the kids do something physical like running around dancing to music and waving flags!  The benefit of her having three older siblings - there is always something entertaining happening!   

Ellie's room got a makeover this summer!

She loves her new space!  There was a queen sized bed in here that we removed and replaced it with lots of toys that were stored in the attic!  

This is an old entertainment center that worked out perfectly for a book and toy shelf!

She's so cute playing with the dollhouse.

And all four of our kids have LOVED matchbox cars!  Today she lined some up in front of her iPad and Julia said it looked like a drive-in movie!  :)  We also have some awesome Hess trucks and planes thanks to Ellie's Aunt Louise (who is continuing a family tradition). ❤

 Some older pictures here -

Playing in shaving cream at therapy.

All in red for Pentecost.

Ellie ready for church.

Ellie after a check up (and shots) at the doctor.  How relaxed does she look with her sucker?

And a sweet sister moment - Julia reading to Ellie.  What better way to end the day?!