Friday was the girls’ last day of summer vacation together. (Zoe doesn’t start school until Tuesday, but Avery has kindergarten orientation on Monday morning.) On our “Mommy Camp” itinerary were stops at an outdoor café, where we noshed on bagels and sweets; the zoo, a place we haven’t visited in awhile; and the library. It was a pretty terrific day.

-M

Before earlier this month, the longest I’ve been away from the girls was a few nights. While excited to get away with Q and get a taste of our pre-kids life, I fretted beforehand that it would be difficult to be away from the girls. But it wasn’t. Yeh, I missed them – but every morning (and sometimes more frequently) we would get pictures and updates from Safta, so I could go about my day knowing the girls were safe and happy. And while Q and I often saw things on our trip that reminded us of the kids or made us say, “Zoe and Avery would love that,” it just made us resolve to come back to the Big Island with them someday!

Oh, and our reunion with the girls was really sweet. Though Zoe was relatively mellow about seeing us, Avery squealed and literally jumped in my arms after we walked in the door. It was the best hug I’ve gotten in a long, long time.

-M

Speaking of the sun, the four of us just got back from a little vacation to Arizona (a summer tradition). It started last Saturday, when Q and I met up with the girls in Las Vegas to celebrate Cousin Isaac’s 2nd birthday; the next morning we made the 4+-hour drive to Phoenix (stopping for some beef jerky on the way). We met up with some friends, and the four kids had a blast swimming, playing in the hotel’s faux beach, and exploring. We had a long drive home, but the girls were troupers – and they’re already looking forward to our next Phoenix trip.

-M

I really like this sunny photo of the girls – especially since it was taken on my birthday. (I had taken them that afternoon to one of their favorite spots to run around, and they nicely agreed to stop for a pic.)

-M

A sweet Avery story: The other night, after she was settled into bed, I went in to check on her and say one last “good night.”  (I hadn’t been very patient when putting her to bed, and I felt bad.) Avery’s eyes got big when she saw me walk in. “You want to come say ‘hi’ to me?” she asked excitedly. “That never happens to me!”

-M

One day before their recent trip, the girls watched Snow White together, and when a scary part (having to do with the witch and apple) came on, I heard Zoe ask Avery, “Are you scared? If so, we can hold hands.” I looked over a few minutes later and saw that Zoe had grabbed her sister’s hand; I think she was the one who was scared.

-M

I know we usually post pictures of the girls, but I can’t resist sharing some of the photos from our vacation in Hawaii. We went to the Big Island – a place we hadn’t visited before – and it was, in a word, spectacular.

-M

We’ve been away from the girls since last Saturday: Q and I went to Hawaii in honor of our upcoming 10th anniversary, and the girls road-tripped to Las Vegas with Safta and Pop Pop. (We’ll soon be picking up the girls and heading to Phoenix for a pre-school family vacation.) Here are some of the photos of the girls’ week, as they all traveled through Yosemite.

-M

As mentioned earlier, kindergarten is a hot topic in our house. While doing a craft project the other day, I heard the following exchange:

Z: “Avery, ask me what you do in kindergarten – I can tell you.”
A: “Am I going to draw in kindergarten?”
Z: “Yes.”
A: “Am I going to have lunch in  kindergarten?”
Z: “Yes.”
A: “Am I going to have snack in kindergarten?”
Z: “Yes.”
A (marking the start of the silliness): “Will I have a nose in kindergarten?
Z (laughing): “Yes, Avery – everyone needs to smell!”
A: “Will I have eyes in kindergarten?”
Z: “Yes, Avery – you’ll need to see!”

(Girls break into fits of laughter)

Earlier this summer, at the West Portal Street Fair, teachers from a circus school set up shop and offered locals the opportunity to do some tightrope walking. And look who got adventurous!

(Interesting back story: Zoe, the more cautious of our two, refused to do it first. It was only after her sister walked across that Zoe decided to give it a try.)

-M

Some more pics that hadn’t yet made it on the blog…

-M

Today is Avery’s last day of camp and, hence, her last day at the JCC. While she’s ready to move on, I’m having a tougher time – it’s hard to say good-bye to a place that’s been like a second home to my girls for the past five years and has yielded life-long friends for us. As everyone reminds me, we’ll be just across the fence (in a very literal sense: the kindergarten classroom is less than 20 feet away from the preschool playground below) so we’ll still see the teachers and our old friends. But it’s not the same – we’ll no longer have preschool-aged children – and so today marks the end of an important chapter in our family life.

As the girls like to say to me when I get sentimental, “It’s okay, Mama.” And it really is. Onward…

-M

Avery still thinks “This little piggy” is hysterical, and she bust out laughing as I recited the lines and played with her toes before bed the other night. Shortly thereafter Zoe called me into her room: She was sitting there reading, looking like a mini-teen with her long legs spread out, and she lifted up and pointed her foot towards me when I walked in. “Will you do that to me?” she asked simply. I love that she may look (and sometimes seem) older – but she’s still very much a little girl.

-M

The girls’ camps/schools are connected, and my normal routine is to pick up Zoe and walk across the playground to get Avery. When I headed over yesterday I had to smile: Avery and a little friend were standing at the fence, just waiting to greet us.

-M

Many of life’s moments can’t be captured by photos – and such is the case of something that happened at the doctor’s last Friday. Avery was there for her five-year check-up, and Zoe was there to get her school health forms filled in. (I’ve never taken them for appointments at the same time, but I figured it would be a time-saver.) They each had to do the same thing – have their blood pressure taken, get weighed and measured, have a vision and hearing test, etc. – and during each step of the process they were right next to each other, often holding hands, lightly hugging, or instructing one another. (Zoe showed Avery how to cover one of her eyes during the vision test, for example.) They even got playful, with Avery trying to untie her sister’s gown as the doctor was talking to her. (Okay, that part was less cute and more naughty.) At one point, the medical assistant said to them, “You girls are really close, aren’t you?”

I’ve commented before on how well the girls (generally) get along, and how good they (usually) are to one another – but I was struck that morning with just how close they really are. They clearly depend on each other, during moments and big and small. I didn’t think to take a photo (though they did look pretty cute in their gowns), but I don’t need a picture to remember how sweet they were with each other or to be reminded of how they lucky they are to have a sister.

-M