1st Day of School

I can't believe the summer is over and the first day of school is finally here! It is somewhat bittersweet - I'll miss the laid back days and not having to rush out the door but it will be nice to get back into a routine around our house. No doubt it is going to be hard getting everyone to school by 8am though! I'm really not looking forward to that but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it after awhile. I'm still in disbelief that Sanders will be in kindergarten and wearing a uniform. It makes him look so grown up even though i know it will make getting dressed easier in the morning. I'm also excited the kids will finally be at the same school. Hopefully Sanders will look after his little sister! We have a fun year ahead . . .

Here are some pictures from the first day . . .

Ready for their 1st day of school - Sanders is all grown up in his uniform!

Grant, Hannah and Sanders

Mae and Sanders

Sanders and Hannah

I found this picture from 2 years ago - it is amazing how much they have grown up!

Sanders signing his name in the book outside his classroom

He did such a good job!

Standing in front of his classroom door - they are the "Hight Hoppers"

Mae is a "Titus Turtle"

Her school bag on her hook

Sanders colored this at school on his first day. I think it is supposed to be a picture of him

Tahoe Trip

This past weekend we went to Tahoe with our good friends the Gosslees, Auers and Kendricks. Since it had been over 100 degrees for the past month in Shreveport we were very eager to escape the heat to cooler weather. And boy, the weather could not have been more perfect in Tahoe. It was 75 degrees during the day and in the 40s at night!  We soaked it up and spent alot of time outdoors. The boys played golf everyday and the girls went hiking one day, biking the next and hit the beach each afternoon. We didn't have the kids with us so we were able to sleep in everyday and enjoy being on our own schedule. It was the perfect getaway before starting school!

Believe it or not I did not bring my camera with me but got a few pictures from the other girls' cell phones. They turned out pretty good . . .

Pictures from our hike up to this gorgeous waterfall. You can somewhat see Lake Tahoe in the background of this picture.

We made it to the waterfall

Our biking adventure. We look so professional!

A picture of Sanders and I on the beach

The kids find out who their teacher is going to be!

Today was a big day in the Graf house. The kids got letters from their teachers! I was so excited to find out Mae got Mrs. Titus and Sanders got Mrs. Hight. Both of them have a GREAT class. It is going to be a fun year.

Here is a picture of both of them holding their letters . . .

Mae has Mrs. Titus (the same teacher Sanders had in K-3. We love her)

Mae's letter

Sanders holding his kindergarten letter

Our Portland Trip

My parents, the kids and I took off on an adventure to Portland to visit Elise. Sanders was going on a golf trip to Banden Dunes so we figured it would be a good time for us to take a trip ourselves - plus we were eager to escape the 100 degree temperatures. We had a little bit of a hiccup leaving Shreveport - our flight was delayed getting into shreveport which was going to make us miss our flight to Portland so we ended up leaving Thursday morning instead of Wednesday afternoon. Little Sanders was devasted but I assured him we would get there eventually. Luckily everything went smoothly on Thursday and we got to Portland in time to enjoy most of the day. We had a great trip! The weather was amazing in the mid 70's. We spent a lot of time outdoors and just taking it easy. The kids loved seeing Baby Wiley even though he was feeling a little under the weather most of the trip. We were sad to head back to the heat on Sunday!

Here is a summary of pictures from our trip . . .

we walked down to the playground near Elise's house - the kids loved the big slide

and the tire swing

On Saturday, we went to this Wine and Art Festival in the wine country. The kids were adorable on the dance floor! I had to bribe Sanders to get out there but he loved it!

running across the dance floor

dancing away . . .

Sanders had some pretty good moves

now he is dragging Mae across the dance floor  he always has to take it one step further

being silly

Mimi, Mae and Sanders

an icecream break

Sanders loved the antique car show!

Mae found a pink car

We also went to the Farmer's Market and found the balloon guy

waiting patiently for their balloons

Sanders got a airplane (after the guy told him he couldn't do a car)

Mae got a tiara

We also went to the famous Voodoo Donuts one morning

they have the craziest donuts you've ever seen

here is our selection

Mimi and Sanders posing in front of Voodoo Donuts - it is quite a sight to see

so sweet and innocent

Sanders eating his coco puff donut

We also went back to the Berry Farm that we went to last year. It is such a neat place. The kids were able to pick blueberries and raspberries and the weather was perfect

they had beautiful sunflowers

mae posing in front of the flowers

family pic

Mimi picking out a bunch of flowers

Sanders bucket of blueberries

they both did well!

taking their job very seriously

Sanders loved the dandelions

riding the tractor to the blueberry section

Sanders bucket full of raspberries

Mimi and Mae trying on funny hats at the garden store

they had goats and chickens there

Sanders loved the dandelions!

Mae and Wiley

sweet wiley!