Charlotte's 1st day of school + end of summer

Excited to go to school. Picked out her own outfit!

 Charlotte had her first day of school on Tuesday the 13th. She is in Miss Tammy's 4 year-old class with many of her friends from the year before. We went to the open house the Friday before and she knew what was coming.  That morning, she cheered and ran to her brothers and said, "I'm going to school today!" She happily dressed herself in her pretty outfit, posed for photos, and then got in the car. Her school is about .5 miles away. As we drove, she got quiet and then said, "I'm worried.  What if no one in my class is happy to see me?" She kept feeling worried the rest of the way, and then cried when we got there. Oh, no! The first time she has cried on the first day of school.

My sad, sweet pumpkin

Fortunately, she was fine by the time Eric picked her up at noon. She told him, "I was sad for a little, and maybe I even cried, but then I decided not to be sad anymore, and I had a great day!"  Smart girl! She has been happy there every day since.

In my usual make-summer-last-until-I-can't-pretend-anymore way, we have been doing as much as we can outside, even swimming, until we can't.

First, we went apple-picking on a 90 degree day.  The Honeycrisps were ready and I didn't want to miss them!

Hot, sweaty, and squinting into the sun

 Then, swimming- the last day for swimming at the JCC pool, and swimming at Jane and Ed's until the pool is too cold to be comfortable.  All 3 kids just love to swim, and they are all getting good at it.  I will really miss our swim outings this winter!

Lunchtime swim at Jane & Ed's

Last weekend I took Asher and Charlotte to Sesame Place for the last day of water rides.  They are both equally adventurous and we got to do a lot of rides twice.  Charlotte adores Asher, and he adores her.

Love bugs

Happy roller-coaster lovebugs

 In the past few weeks, Charlotte has developed all kinds of new skills. One- she can now pump her legs and swing herself on the swings without any help. On the one hand, I am thrilled at her strength and independence. On the other hand, the baby swing has come down from our swing set, and won't go back up.

Swinging all by herself

She has also suddenly begun coloring and drawing in a much more advanced way. Even a couple of months ago, all her drawings were what we called, "scribble scrabble." Then on Monday, this:

A drawing of Mommy

and coloring in the lines, with great pride at her attention to detail. My baby, growing up too fast, as usual.