Yep, me, I’m in big time denial that both my girlies will be in school this year…Sarah Jo in the first grade at St. Louise and Sam Sam in the 4s class at the preschool at Faith Lutheran.  Sam Sam will be gone 4 hours a morning, 4 days a week….2 hours a day too long for me!  Sam Sam is ready (although she still has some reservations about leaving Mommy)…Sarah Jo is ready…Mommy, hopefully I’ll get there.  At least I have Solo to catch my tears tomorrow morning!

For the wonderful Las Vegas vacation!  We tried sooooo hard to bring back the 107 degrees and the sun along with us behind the plane to Seattle….it didn’t work…but the girls and I are trying hard to hold onto our tans…at least for a little while.  From the dinner bell to the large Sonic Cherry Dr. Peppers by the pool, I cannot pick my favorite thing from the get away, other than I know we all enjoyed spending some quality time with you guys and Uncle Kitten.  The mermaids were a hit…even though we realized at 4 and 7 they are not real….sad, but true.  Both the girls agree that Las Vegas at night is the prettiest city ever….good Lord that makes me scared….and that it is super funny when old guys get sprayed with tiger pee….just sayin’.  The tiny, baby dolphin will never be forgotten, nor will the pride that Sam Sam now has since she can SWIM.  Only at Le Le’s do magical things happen….we would expect nothing less.  So needless to say, keep the pool warm and the Sonic drinks on ice…we will be back soon!

Since the last post we have been back up to LaConner to go crab hunting on the beach with Nana and Papa, then this past weekend we headed up to the Bellingham area to attend a Jack Russell Terrier trial.  You can only imagine 100s of JRTs in one place, racing, barking, jumping obstacles, barking, getting ribbons for being cute, barking…you get the picture.  We took Solo along to see her brothers and sisters and to get her “hair done”.  She has much more of a rough coat then Sheridan and apparently the little mohawk of white hair on the top of her head and the shaggy state of the rest of her coat is not acceptable.  We did get points from the breeder for her weight though, but her coat was a different story.  After Lynn and her daughter got done with Solo, I’m pretty sure they took a pound of hair off of her and she is only 11 1/2 lbs. so you can imagine.  Of course the girls insisted on keeping the fur and mom was responsible for it.  She put it in a plastic bag and then all of a sudden she looked down and the fur was gone.  It had fallen out of the bag onto the ground while we were walking to the car.  Mom looked around and saw something that looked like a white rabbit…aka…the fur… in the middle of the dirt road, ran back and picked it up.  It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!  The girls also got to see and hold little JRT puppies.  Luckily Jeff and I were strong and only came back home with Solo, enough for us right now.  Although now Sarah Jo is picking up poop as her chore and mommy is LOVIN’ it….just sayin’!  Who knows, one day a puppy might be in our future!

The girls went to the dentist today and both did great.  All looks good on the chopper front.  Jeff just informed me there are about 3 more weeks before school starts.  I’m ready and I’m not.  It will be SO WEIRD not to have a little person by my side like I have had for the past 7 years.  It will be sad, but I know that Samantha is going to LOVE school as soon she settles in to her new routine, but I will miss my girlies!  Thank goodness for Solo!

Off to fill out more school paperwork, it seems to get longer each year.

Oh and sissy…VIVA LAS VEGAS…can’t wait! 

We headed to the Cove to find some SUN this weekend to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary and Sun Cove did not disappoint!  Thanks TOBIN family for letting us “swat”…and thanks Auntie Niki for the oatmeal cookies…seriously those things are dangerous!  The girlies in the Kujath family actually have…wait for it…a tan line….yes, impossible in this Seattle summer, but Eastern WA has helped it along.  

Now on to Mr. Kujath!  Cannot believe it has been 13 years…doesn’t feel like that at all…although when you were going through those old videos tonight of when we lived in Georgia…our clothing scared me a bit!  At least the girls got a good giggle out of it! It has been quite the ride and can’t wait to continue it with you!  So happy that whenever we each have a free moment, it is each other who we IM first….funny…still make lots of major decisions on IM…oh well…it seems to work for us!  Love you Jeffie, thanks for being my best friend and the best dad ever to two little girls who absolutely adore you.  Here’s to lucky number 13…it’s gonna be a great year!

Sarah Jo had her 7 year check up today and did great!  She weighed in at 45lbs (10-25%) and was 47 inches tall (25-50%).  I think she will definitely be taller than mommy and Sam Sam and she is currently only 1 INCH AWAY from the Howling Tornado at Great Wolf Lodge….she is SUPER excited about that!  We are going to follow up with a neurologist to figure out why she is still getting headaches.  They are better this month, but she averaged 2-3 a month since January.  She passed the neurology test with flying colors, so hopefully they are just migraines…I had them as a kid, but luckily outgrew them which we hope is the case with her.

I also posted one picture from our family photo shoot this past weekend…adorable!  We should get the rest back by the end of August!

Our annual resorting trip with Nana and Papa was a bit chillier than in past years, but still a lot of fun.  The pool was COLD and we only had a few nice days, but we made the best of it.  This summer has not been a hot one anywhere in the state, but we are hoping that August will turn around before we head into the rainy fall again.  The destination this year was in the Cascade Mountains about 45 minutes outside of Leavenworth….a beautiful area!  We went into Leavenworth a few times and did a little shopping as well as ice cream indulgence which is always fun.  Back at camp we did a lot of star gazing, fish catching, kite flying, a little swimming, and a ton of bike riding!  Let me tell you, the goal of the girls taking off on their bikes this year (Sarah Jo without training wheels and Samantha on her tricycle) has definitely been accomplished!

The highlights of the trip were definitely catching little tiny fish in the stream with butterfly nets…mommy caught the first and daddy the Marine could not be outdone so he caught the second the day before we left.  Solo decided to catch a mole in the middle of a field.  That little dog is cute as a button and obviously a great hunter….she was just standing there, then all of a sudden dug a few times, stuck her tiny little nose in the hole and came out with a grey thing in her mouth.  Yes, I screamed LIKE A GIRL….as did Sarah Jo and Samantha…but let me tell you, it is something that they will never forget and actually are still talking about it.  Thank God for Papa, who told her to drop it.  She spit it out at his feet…SO PROUD…and pranced around like she owned the place the rest of the vacation!  Luckily we did not see any bears in person….but we did see signs of them…they got into the trash dumpster one morning and you know that sayin’ “Does a bear sh&* in the woods?”, why yes they do! 

Thanks Nana and Papa for a great vacation, we had a blast and the worst thing about vacation is when it is over!

The sun held out for us and although the girlies were a bit cold in the hose water, they toughed it out and had a great time at Sarah Jo’s birthday party.  It was a great day and everyone had a wonderful time.  When I asked Sarah Jo what she liked best about it, she told me, every single thing, so I think we can check that off as one great party!  

I cannot believe that our big girl turns 7 in 10 days, seriously impossible that 7 years have passed since we brought home that little 5 lb baby!!  I already love the age of 7, some say it is the age of “reason”, I think I would agree.  The year of 3 and 4 are tough in girls, but well worth the struggles.  

Sarah Jo, your boundless energy keeps this family constantly on the move.  Your sensitive spirit makes you a great sister, daughter, and friend.  Your zest and passion for life is contagious and you are the first one to “get that party started”.  We are so proud of all you have accomplished so far and cannot wait to see how much you grow in the next year.  Happy Birthday Sarah Jo, we love you!!!

We had an AWESOME time at Sun Cove hanging out with Jeff’s family over the 4th of July.  It was sunny and warm, there was swimming, boat riding, LSV (low speed vehicle) driving, demolition derby, and lots and lots of fireworks.  The girls also got to spend lots of quality time with their cousins, just hanging out, and catching up!  A perfect 4th and we hope to head back that way again before the summer is over.

This morning we are headed out to Redmond Derby Days to stake out our place on the parade route, watch Papa march, and gather lots and lots of candy.  Tomorrow we celebrate Sarah Jo’s 7th birthday with a party of school friends and family….stick around sun because we have some “Minute To Win It” games to play and some slip n’ slide to tackle.  Our big girl turning 7…..slow down time, you are movin’ too fast!

Sarah Jo’s teeth are falling out by the day…no top teeth left…another bottom one gone yesterday thanks to Nana who is an expert tooth puller….hopefully that is it for awhile or else the girl is gonna have a hard time eating anything!

One of my goals for the summer was that Sam Sam would be riding her tricycle and Sarah Jo would be riding her bike without training wheels, I think we are pretty darn close to having that one checked off the list.  The girls are both well on their way, thanks to the help of Miss Carol, our next door neighbor, who suggested that we take the pedals and training wheels off of Sarah Jo’s bike.  Miss Carol’s granddaughter was visiting this week and will be going into 1st grade as well.  The girls adore her and love, love, love it when she comes to spend time with her grandma and grandpa.  Miss Carol got a bike for Maddy and took the pedals off, Sarah Jo thought it looked like a wonderful idea and after about a day figured out the whole balance thing.  Pedals went back on last night and tonight she was in the street riding circles…and darn proud of herself.  Sam Sam took off on the tricycle once we brought it out of the shed and has not stopped since. Watch out…she is just as wild of a driver as Le Le is…hopefully she will grow outta that one…but we’ll see!