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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!

This week, Molly went to Space Design Camp at the nearby Robinson Nature Center which houses our local planetarium. She had a great time and packed in a ton of stuff during the three days of camp, including:

• Learning about space in the planetarium, with two planetarium shows per day
• Making a comet with dirt, sand, water, and dry ice. (Note that an adult, Star Doc, handled the dry ice. No children were harmed in the experiment)
• Playing with a large parachute
• A competition to “land” a water balloon dropped from up high like the Mars rovers. Molly’s team used:
  • a milk carton landing vehicle
  • a cloth parachute
  • suspension strings
  • straws and a paper plate for structure
  • some balloons
  They were the only team to successfully land the water balloon without popping it.
• Engineering crafts like:
  • Making paper airplanes (including some pretty exotic designs involving rings of paper and straws
  • The air-powered car she is holding here after returning from her last day of camp

Here’s a close up of Molly’s car. You blow up the balloon, then let go and the air pushes out the straw to power the car.

Molly went to a LEGO camp this week, but it wasn’t just any LEGO camp. It was Bricks 4 Girlz, and no boys were allowed. Here’s Molly and Riley with some of the things they built.

They divided the camp up into groups that did all the activities together. Molly was in the Friends of Emma group with a bunch of her friends.

If you've seen The LEGO Movie, you understand this. Molly hopes one day soon to be a Master Builder.

Molly assisted our guest preacher in church on Sunday by reading (along with another girl) an I Believe essay written by a 6 year old a few years ago for an NPR program. The girls did a great job.

On Saturday, Leah had a birthday party to go to. When one of the girls has a fun activity, I like to take the other for some fun one-on-one time with their dad. So, Molly and I decided to check out the bowling alley nearby for the first time since moving to our new house.

Molly’s the fastest bowler I’ve ever seen. From barely waiting until the guard rises up, to using two balls so she doesn’t have to wait for the first to return, she wastes no time. Once it is her turn, she sprints down the lane, giving her ball a little extra speed.

The second game we bowled, Molly started using the finger holes in the ball for the first time (instead of cradling the ball in both hands). She did really well.

Nice form! Molly looks like a professional bowler here. Impressive since she only started using the finger holes a few frames ago.

Her new technique seems to be working. Nice spare, Molly. (Apologies for the blur. She was moving quickly in her excitement.)

Very recently, Molly has decided she really likes Coke. So, after bowling she asked if we could get a Coke from the vending machine at the bowling alley. I told her we could do even better. So, we went to historic Ellicott City and wandered around looking for somewhere to get a Coke float. We ended up finding we could get one at Southwest Connection & Silver Arrow Fudge, where they also sell fresh fudge and authentic Native American items. We then headed to a picnic table to enjoy our treat.

The Coke float was big enough to share. Molly loved the Coke float, and wants to start making them at home.

Molly went to Art from Nature camp last week. She created a bunch of pieces inspired by things from nature using copper, cardboard, pastels, and more. Here are a few pictures of her with some of her creations. Jen and Leah got to attend the art show at the end of the week to see everything.

After dinner, Uncle J taught me a few ukulele chords, which of course led to a ukulele dance party before bed.

Nice dancing, Leah.

The next morning, the girls decided to begin our first full day in Memphis by giving a presentation on dinosaurs. Or at least on this dinosaur.

This was the first time that the cousins were together since Jen made them all mermaid dresses. They were excited to wear them to G'Mom and Grampa's church together.

JJ may not have had a mermaid dress, but he wanted to be in the picture as well.

After church and lunch, G’Mom and Grampa took the girls to a playground for some fun.

We went to G’Mom and Grampa’s pool as well (thanks to Coach for admitting us in spite of the rules!). Despite the intense splash pad calling to the kids, Leah wanted to jump straight into the big pool.

The splash pad had a water slide, and Emmie was quick to try it out.

Molly was quick to use the slide as well. If you’re wondering about the mask, Emmie had just given Molly and Leah a snorkel set which Molly had to use immediately.

JJ got his dad to go down the splash pad slide with him.

On the way home from the pool, we stopped by the side of the road to feed a couple of horses some recently mowed grass.

Aunt ‘Chelle put curlers in the girls’ hair to sleep in for the first time. Molly’s ready for bed with four of them. Unfortunately, most of them fell out during the night.

I asked Leah if I could take her picture with the curlers as well. She immediately gave me the over-the-shoulder pose. My little model in training.

Then, after a very busy day, the girls went to bed. The adults stayed up long enough to play a game of Texas Rummy, which Susan dominated more thoroughly than I've ever seen.

Our church does a couple of weeks of Vacation Bible School (VBS), and last week was the week our family participated. I joined in the fun one day as the official preschool photographer, though I snuck upstairs to briefly check out Molly and the elementary kids before heading down to preschool.

I’m not sure what Molly’s shouting at the opening of VBS, but she’s definitely getting into it.

Jen taught Leah’s class. Here they are with everyone for opening singing.

Jen’s an expert VBS teacher. She even gets asked if she teaches in school year-round.

At the beginning of outdoor games, this counselor said the first two kids to tag him would start off as sharks. Leah was one of them. She isn’t the fastest kid, but she’s quick to move.

Jen’s not the kind of teacher who sits on the sidelines and watches. She’s right in the middle of the action.

The game they played was Sharks and Minnows (a land-based version). When they got the go-ahead, the kids made their break.

Run, Leah, run!

Leah wasn’t the only kid clinging to Jen.

It was a great week, and all of us had a lot of fun. The girls were sad it had to come to an end, but not too sad as they knew a new adventure started the next day...

Molly has been unwilling to take her training wheels off her bike for some time, but a while ago she said she’d do it this summer. So, with a beautiful Saturday, I removed them from her bike, then we went to the school blacktop to learn. I started holding the bike for her, while she got the hang of it.

Molly enjoyed pulling me around, and I didn’t realize how much work it would be. I had just taken a shower after my morning run, but I was dripping with sweat again in no time.

She quickly progressed from being held up by me to mostly balancing on her own while I just prevented falling over.

Leah rode her bike most of the time while I worked with Molly, but did take a bit of a chalk break to do some drawing. Not a long enough break to warrant taking off her helmet, though.

Eventually she was doing so well I started letting go. She didn’t realize I was doing it at first, but eventually noticed.

Then we progressed to just having me follow her around to catch her if she happened to fall over.

In no time, she was riding like she'd been doing it for ages. Here's a video of her in action with scenes from me helping and scenes of her doing it all on her own.

The girls kept asking to take a break from bike riding to play on the playground, and we happily obliged since Molly was doing so well. They really love the playground. I think they’re part monkey.

Leah, upside down again, this time with a bare midriff.

After some playground time, it was back on the bikes. Leah, Molly, and I decided to have races around the blacktop. I usually lost.

Great job, Molly!

Outdoor swim season is fully here, and the girls are loving it. You'd never know that Molly was so afraid of putting her face in the water just last year.

The girls are now taking swim lessons at our neighborhood pool. Since the girls are now comfortable in the water, these are focused on learning strokes now. Here's Leah swimming toward her teacher's arms.

While Leah's in her lesson, Molly's practicing streamlining and kicking.

We're looking forward to a summer filled with a lot more water fun and a lot less water fear.