Annie's First Communion

Our sweet little Annie recently celebrated her first communion.  (80% of Gianna's precious wardrobe has come from Annie and her awesome mom and nana!) A few weeks later as a little gift.  These are some of my favorites - it seems as though I prefer the black and whites in this batch.  Precious little girl!

This one cracked us up...

Kind of looks like the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio. :)

Community Band Concert

Last night, Gianna and I headed to the Civic Center to enjoy a local Community Band Concert.  Our friends living in China are in for the summer and they met us there as their sister/aunt was a member of the band.

Katelin and Gianna were SO excited to see each other.

The concert was wonderful.

Katelin and Deborah's dog came along....Mischief stays in the states with the grandparents while they're in China.   

AND....we made the front page of the newspaper the next morning.  

How you can tell summer has begun...

We can FINALLY put the long sleeves away and don our summer dresses...

Creative breakfasts are more of a possibility...

Enjoying a little summer children's theater performance of the "Lizard of Oz" (Gianna's title)

The pool is christened with it's first swimmer...

The neighborhood gang convenes - almost daily....

Children's Museum proves a good alternative for a rainy day...

The obligatory trying on of shades occurs at the mall...

 Going from a shoulder length hairstyle...

...to a fun little summer do....

 The summer cold makes an unwelcome appearance....

...and causes someone to 'enjoy' a swim party from gates of swim jail...

 Luckily there was a sweet munchkin to help entertain...

The summer reading program commences at the parish library...

Bug hunting and puddle jumping commences...

Strong opinions are made know as I attempt to stimulate her brain with practice schoolwork throughout the summer...

Behavior modification and chore charts materialize out of necessity...

We cheer on our sweet friends at the local ballpark...

...and little jam sessions while playing with friends....