From this to this

It's grape season and the grapes are even more purple than in this photo. When that happens, there's only one thing to do.

Create jelly! And juice. And maybe even jam. The smell is wonderful. And the popping of the jars brings back memories of home. The Little Prince is well-stocked for PBJ sandwiches.

3rd Grade

Five years ago, these two started pre-school together. They were born a day apart (the Little Prince is older) and live about 2 blocks from each other. They went to pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade together. We were sad when we learned Molly was going to another school. But no fear, we still got our First Day of School photo op.

Here they are, five years later. Still friends and looking so grown up. Brought a tear to my eye. He's no longer my baby, but always my Prince.

~The End~

81.

And so ends the Little Prince's Summer Vacation. It ended much like it started: very hot and with organized sports. The Little Prince had his first soccer game today (he's on the far left getting last minute instructions). The White Warriors did not quite live up to their name, losing 5-1. But it's only the first game. In case you are wondering why the White Warriors are wearing yellow and blue, it is because the team we played was also white. Hmmmmm...Not sure how that happened, but we made the best of it.

Next-to-the-last day

80.

The summer has gone by at the speed of light. But it's been fun and today was no exception. We all went to Goody's for one last game of mini golf. The Little Prince and his dad tied for first!! I do believe next summer we will not stand a chance of winning.

Of course, the Little Prince wanted to try out the batting cage. They were fast pitches; probably Little League speed. But he managed, sandals and all, to get quite a few good hits.

The beautiful day ended with the Little Prince pitching with his shadow while I picked grapes and his dad re-painted the swing set and picnic table.

Just this once

79.

Just this once, we broke with tradition and went to Heisler's solely for ice cream. And look who we saw. Molly, Catie and Bailey the puppy.

And so it begins

78.

The days of chopping food really small, taking forever to eat and eating mostly yogurt, applesauce and pudding. Maybe I should invest in baby food again?

The big day

77.

Today is the big day and the Little Prince is in the chair again. This time for a different reason.

He checks out the bands they put on his molars. Why bands?

To attach these lovelies on the bottom...

and these on the top. Yes, at the tender age of 8, the Little Prince has braces. What a way to end your summer, eh? At least he has the rest of the week and the weekend to get used to them before school starts on Monday. He was excellent, though, during the process of getting them put on. Now if only I can remember all the steps to cleaning them and what he can no longer eat, we will be in awesome shape!

Enjoy it

76.

For the last Tuesday of Summer Vacation, the Little Prince and I had Wendy's for lunch and enjoyed a $.99 frosty. Actually, I was a good girl and did not order a frosty, I just finished the last 2 spoonfuls of his.

Put me in, Coach

75.

Waiting on the sidelines, ready to go back in. They had practice in the pouring rain. The Little Prince's toes are still pruney, he says. The girls waited under the pavilion until scrimmage time.

Late Bloomer

74.

Bet that title made you wonder, hmmmm? The Little Prince's sunflower just opened today. We were a bit late starting them, but they did grow. All two of them.

Summer End Carnival - take 2

73.

Second night of the Carnival. More baseball, still no prize. But we did score a tiny monster truck at the lollipop stand and a funnel cake on the way out.

Summer End Carnival

72.

Lots of fun to be had at the school's Summer End Carnival. Like dunk the Marine. Which the Little Prince did. He wanted to try again, but the tank stopped working. No matter. The bounce house, hole-in-one golf and home run baseball caught his attention. The dunk tank will be there tomorrow night and maybe one of the teachers will be on the wet seat...

A family tradition

71.

Each time we go to Heisler's, we do these three things, in this order. 1) Order cheeseburgers, onion rings and fries (which the Little Prince feeds to the sparrows).

2) Play 18 holes of mini golf. Usually, the Little Prince's dad wins by 5 or more points and I am always last. Today, the Little Prince won by 4: he was 6 under Par. I tied for second for once.

3) Finish the evening with ice cream. The Little Prince is holding my CMP (chocolate, marshmallow, peanuts) because it looks cooler than the chocolate milkshake he ordered.

Focus

70.

When we focus on the Little Prince, everyone else seems to blur.

Last day of vacay for some

69.

This will be our last visit down home this summer because these two little cousins start school tomorrow. The Little Prince and I stopped at their house and they rode over to Grandma's with us. How exciting for everyone!

We had a picnic lunch in Grandma's back yard, which included me getting stung by a bee. Not so fun. Then the chickens got some lunch.

Next, we visted the new kids on the block. This one was trying to lick the Little Prince. Or was he crying to his mamma for help?

The Little Prince found another one that was crying to be held. There were lots of them around. So cute!

Then it was back to Grandma's to splash in the little pool and cool down with ice cream. A very enjoyable day. The cousins played nice together and I got to visit with my sisters and my mom. I love time spent with family!

The girls are back in town

68.

The girls were back for another scrimmage. This time, the boys were able to score. After the game, the girls' coach said, "Wednesday is revenge!!" Our boys are happy to take on the challenge.

Another hot, hot practice. The Little Prince takes a break from the game and hydrates himself. He drank almost a liter of water at practice. And yes, that's sweat on his head, not water this time.

Rainy Sunday

67.

More rain today for the Little Prince to play in. Don't you think the umbrella and flip flops would look more inviting if they were in the sand at the beach?

New shoes

66.

After watching the Little Prince's first several practices, we noticed he was slower and tripped quite often. Could it be his Mary Poppins look-alike shoes? I really think his toes only came to the end of the Under Armor logo.

We bought some less pointy shoes and took the Little Prince to the soccer field (the real one, not the practice one) to try them out. Much better. He was faster and spent less time on the ground.

More rain

65.

Well, not really. It was actually the Little Prince and his spray bottle. I took these pictures about an hour ago and he's still going at it.

Had I asked him to clean it up after he sprayed, I don't think I would have gotten this level of cooperation. I guess since it was his idea, that makes it fun. No argument here!!

Downpour

64.

We had a lovely downpour this morning. I heard it raining and looked for the Little Prince to share the news. He was nowhere to be found. This is why. He was already there.