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G’Mom and Grampa came into town to celebrate Leah’s birthday. And since Friday was a day off of school, the girls had plenty of time to play with them. First stop - a playground. Grampa couldn’t bear to let Molly be taller than him, so he gave these trees a climb as well.

Later, G’Mom and Grampa got to see Leah do some gymnastics.

Grampa got a sweet hug from Leah during a short activity break back at our house.

They then headed to the school to ride their bikes on the blacktop and play on the playground. Leah likes to keep her helmet on so she can jump back on her bike whenever she likes.

How long do you think G’Mom can stay on this log roll?

Saturday included some games. Leah’s excited for winning this round of Crazy Eights.

Next up was a game of Hedbanz.

Next stop - pottery painting. Molly chose to paint this monster box.

Leah painted this magic wand.

After the girls finished, they waited for Jen to finish painting her plate. Getting the details right takes time.

That was a lot of activities, but it was just the warm-up. We hadn't even started celebrating the birthday yet.

Since the previous post on karate did not include shots of the actual class, I took a few at their second class to give you a better idea. Here’s Leah practicing her punch.

And here she is practicing her high block.

Molly is learning her stances and punches.

Molly’s foot is moving too fast for my camera.

Nice punch form, Molly.

Monday was Leah’s first day of her last year of preschool. Here she is, ready to go.

For comparison, here she is on her first day last year.

Note that Leah has redecorated her duck bag for this year. Last year’s glued on gems did not stay glued on very well. So, Jen cleaned it off and Leah started fresh. Note that it includes pictures of her sister and cousins.

Last year:

This year:

Last year, we hosted a Back to School BBQ for Leah's preschool class. This year, Jen decided to change it up and switch to an ice cream party. Yet again, we had around 60 people (a bit under this year) at our house.

Immediately upon arrival, the kids decided running or rolling down the steep hill in our back yard was a fun activity.

We supplied the ice cream and everyone else brought lots of toppings. While everyone couldn't fit in the kitchen to fill their bowls at one time, here's a shot at the initial onslaught.

We fixed bowls inside, but then headed outside to eat. It was very nice in the shade on the porch.

Some decided that the hill was not just for running/rolling, but also for eating ice cream.

After ice cream, there was a lot of playing. This included frisbee throwing. It only got stuck on the roof twice.

The hill is not just for running, rolling, or eating ice cream. It can also create new sports. Here the kids put the soccer goal at the bottom, carried soccer balls to the top, then rolled them down toward the goal like a bowling ball. I call it hillside soccer bowling.

While many of the kids played outside, many others packed into our basement playroom for some fun with toys.

The party was a lot of fun. It's a bit sad to know that this is the last beginning of preschool we'll ever celebrate. But we'll just focus on the fun year of preschool we've got ahead of us instead of thinking about that.

As they do every year, Molly's school had their back-to-school picnic. Leah couldn't wait to get her face painted.

Molly got her face painted after Leah, which gave Leah plenty of time to check out her reflection.

Face painting, complete. The girls were actually very excited about the result, despite their faces.

Molly participated in the hula hoop contest. She didn't win, but had a lot of fun.

These four friends had a lot of fun together.

The picnic even had a green screen photo booth to put you on exotic backgrounds.

And here's a look at what the photo booth spit out for the girls.

The Friday before the first day of preschool meant it was time for a classroom visit. Leah was excited to see the new ponies and trains to play with.

Here's Leah with 3 of her teachers. Sadly, number 4 was sick. We hope you feel better soon.

We're looking forward to a great final year of preschool.

The girls have started a new activity - karate. Here they are ready to head to their first class, which they enjoyed a lot. And even better, we found an all-female dojo for them to join - no boys allowed. In case you’re wondering about their faces here, they’re showing off their kiai!

We needed to print some pictures for Leah’s preschool, so I asked Leah if she would sit for a quick photo shoot. I thought I’d share a few of the shots here (OK, more than a few).

Leah didn’t want to be photographed until I told her we’d take some pictures with toys. Then she was excited to join in.

Such a cutie.

Despite what it looks like here, she’s not actually saying cheese.

Things started to get funny.

And Leah started cracking up.

It can be hard to stop laughing.

Eventually, Rose managed to calm Leah down.

But then she started laughing again.

I don’t think she’s going to stop laughing, so this is the end.

Thursday was the girls' last swimming lesson of the year. It's amazing how far they've come, particularly Molly. At the beginning of this year, we were worried about her being too scared to put her face in the water. Now, she's underwater all the time and spends her lessons working on technique rather than fear.

Leah's come a long way as well, and is becoming a great little swimmer. She still has some trouble coming up for air (she prefers to just hold her breath for the entire length that she is swimming), but she's getting better at it.

Here are a couple of shots of Molly swimming during her last lesson.

And here she is showing me her underwater handstands while Leah is having her swim lesson.

Hard to believe she didn't like to put her face in the water just a short time ago.

Now, to really give you an idea of how they're doing swimming, here's a short video of both of them from their last swimming lesson. Enjoy!

Our playgroup has been a constant in our week for the last 6.5 years. Some friends have gone, and others have joined in, but there has been a core group of us watching our kids grow up together. Two years ago when we were considering whether to move locally or back to the South, this playgroup was one of the reasons why I wanted to stay. I loved that Molly, Leah and I have made such great friends through this group.

With three of the younger sisters heading off to Kindergarten this year, and Leah's preschool schedule changing, we got together for one last "official" playgroup on Thursday. I reassured my girls that just because we will no longer have playgroup every week, it does not mean that we will not see our friends. Playdates and sleep overs here we come!

A little trip down memory lane...

May 2008. Shortly after it all began.

March 2009. Molly's 2nd birthday

October 2009. Trick-or-treating together

April 2010. Simon and his girls

Summer 2010

October 2010. Trunk-or-treat at Glen Mar

December 2010. Brookside Gardens train display

June 2011. Strawberries at Larriland Farm

September 2011. Leah's 2nd birthday

Easter 2012

July 4th 2012

December 2012. Garden of Lights

March 2013. Molly's 6th birthday

September 2013. At The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

April 2014. Road trip to Philly

We love you guys!