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The girls had lots of fun with aunts and uncles in Deep Creek. Aunt Caroline and Uncle Charles could only stay for a couple days, but you already saw some hot tub fun with them. Aunt EA and Uncle Scott provided fun all week long.

After the rain on the fourth, the girls wanted to get into the lake when it was clear on the fifth. However, the lake water was freezing cold. Molly opted not to get in except for splashing around in the shallows, but Leah wasn’t scared to jump in.

While Leah could have swam to shore, she convinced Uncle Scott to give her a ride instead.

After the cold of the lake, it was time to warm up in the hot tub. Despite avoiding the cold of the lake, I joined in the fun of the hot tub.

Uncle Scott brought awesome water ballons that fill and tie 35 at a time, so it was time for a water balloon fight.

After a bit, a new participant joined the fray. The others were waiting to pounce.

Their target was Aunt EA, though she managed to catch this incoming balloon before it hit her in the head.

The next day, there was even more water fun. Uncle Scott and Aunt EA wanted to rent some jet skis and offered for the girls to ride along. The girls were very excited to try it. Molly rode with Uncle Scott.

And Leah rode with Aunt EA.

A few minutes later, they stopped by the lakehouse to say hello before continuing on their hour-long ride.

After they got back, the girls wanted to play in the lake, but it was still freezing cold. They didn’t make it in too far.

Our little girls really loved playing with their aunts and uncles. Thanks!

We were in Deep Creek for the Fourth of July - always a fun holiday. Sadly, it wasn’t quite as fun as we had hoped due to the weather. It rained, and rained. It was nice to chill in the house, but it would have been even nicer to get outside.

A few of us did get outside. The girls were very excited about the hot tub at the lake house. The rain may have kept them out of the lake, but it didn’t keep them out of the hot tub. Thanks to Aunt Caroline and Uncle Charles for joining them so Jen and I could stay out of the rain.

When not in the hot tub, the girls were very festive on July 4th, wearing their new dresses made by Jen.

The fireworks did not go off on July 4th due to rain, so they postponed to the 5th. We could see them from the lake house, though they were somewhat far away (sorry, no pics of far away fireworks). I got the girls red, white, and blue glow wands at the dollar store, which Leah is showing off as she watches the fireworks.

These fireworks are amazing!

We spent last week in Deep Creek with my my family. We rented out a lakefront house to spend a relaxing week together.

While there, we had a photoshoot. For Grams’s birthday, we all decided to give her a new family portrait. We were going to hire a professional photographer and then get a framed print, but we realized our best chance for being together was on our lake trip. So, I got the job of photographer instead. Here we all are. What do you think?

And here’s Grams with her grandkids.

I also took some pictures of the smaller family units amongst us.

We tried a different setup of all of us as well.

I think this last one was the best group shot, though for some reason Grams didn’t want a giant print of it on her wall.

Father’s Day came, and my daughters and wife got me something I’ve wanted for some time - a cute little droid. We’ve had a Sphero robot for a year and enjoyed it a lot. This little guy is even more fun. And, with the Tickle app, we can even program them to do stuff simultaneously. Also, BB-8 is just awesome.

We also went out to lunch with my family to an Indian restaurant with my family. This was a first for the girls. They tried lots of things, and found they liked Chicken Tikka Masala. Hurray for adventurous eating.

Summer has now begun, but here's a little taste of the last day of school from a week and a bit ago.

First, time to go to school. The girls are ready, including wearing their spirit wear.

After school, the neighborhood kids are happy summer vacation has arrived. Before heading to an ice cream party at a neighbor’s house, we took our usual picture at the circle.

If you looked carefully at Leah in the pictures before school and after, you may have noticed she looks slightly different. Leah’s had a loose tooth for a while, and I told her she should lose it on her last day of school. She was not a fan of that idea, but it happened anyway. Jen gave Leah an Airhead for a treat with her picnic lunch. While eating it, she said she noticed something hard in her mouth. Thankfully, she didn’t swallow it!

Molly had her spring orchestra concert, and did a great job. The evening included the beginning orchestra (Molly’s group), advanced orchestra (older kids), beginning band, and advanced band. This video is just the beginning orchestra, made up entirely of 3rd graders. It’s amazing how much these kids learned this year.

Great job, Molly and classmates.

After almost 13 years, Jen’s car started to have more problems than it was worth to maintain it. We’d been looking at new cars since last August, and finally made the decision to get something new.

Jen got a 2016 Honda Pilot (AWD EX-L with Honda Sensing if you were wondering). These cars are in serious demand still, even though they came out last summer. Fortunately, this one rolled off the factory the week after we requested one. We’re very happy with it, and still learning all the fancy new features.

As the girls walked (well, ran) home, Leah ran right by the new car sitting in the driveway and went inside. Molly was a bit more observant, and shocked, at the new arrival.

The girls were very excited to have a third row in Jen’s new car. As soon as we got it, they started asking if they could sit back there. We let them do it once to try it out.

Oh, and here’s her old car a few days before we traded it in. Good bye old car. You served us well through the years.

For Memorial Day, we went to Aunt EA and Uncle Scott’s house for food and fun. It was delicious (especially the homemade sausages), and good family hangout time. That said, I didn’t really take many pictures. I did get one of Charlie, though, showing what a happy kid he is.

Who wouldn’t be happy with a Grams that loved you that much?

The kindergartners put on an end-of-the-year show for all the parents. This walked us through the entire year of kindergarten. Here’s Leah up on stage ready to go.

I recorded the whole thing, but it's 45 minutes long which might be a bit much for all of you. So, here are some highlights. Leah was very happy with the roles she was assigned, especially since she got one of the highly coveted reading roles.

I was amazed at the level of effort that went into this. Teaching all the songs and movements, creating all the props - it’s very impressive. Props to the teachers and the students for putting this together.

You may have noticed Leah wearing a new outfit in the performance. Leah requested for Jen to make her a high-low tunic to wear for the show. Leah’s favorite part were the butterfly buttons!

Leah sang with her choir at church one last time for this school year. I was sadly unable to see it as I was getting ready to lead worship music at the next service, but Jen was nice enough to record it for me (and all of you as well).