She's Lost It!

Princess has been waiting to loose her first tooth pretty much since her friends Lauren and Camryn started loosing their teeth over a year ago. She hoped that the first one would come out this summer before school started, but it wasn't too far behind. She lost her first tooth on Saturday. It had been loose for a while and she kept playing with it. It became really loose on Friday night and then Saturday morning she wiggled and wiggled and wiggled it until finally, it came out. She was so excited!!

I gave her the tooth fairy pillow that I bought for her last fall. She put her teeny tiny little tooth in the pocket on the pillow and put it on her nightstand next to her bed. She was beaming this morning when she saw that the tooth fairy had come! Pumpkin, on the other hand, was a little concerned about how a little fairy got into our house.

First Day of First Grade

Princess wasn't too thrilled about school starting up again, until we had "Meet the Teacher". After that, she was excited. She asked me several times, "How many more days until school starts?" She thought her teacher seemed really nice, and although none of her friends from her class last year are in her class this year, she does know a couple of the girls in her class, and she was excited to see them again.

She was dressed to the nines on the first morning of school....her usual fancy way. And when she got off the bus in the afternoon she said, "it was awesome". She loves her teacher, and every day she has told me about a new friend that she played with. I think it's going to be a great year.

Coast-to-Coast

This has been a summer of vacations! Drummer Boy and I just finished up two back-to-back, coast-to-coast trips! The first was a three day part-business, part-pleasure trip for just me and Drummer Boy to the Bay Area and Napa Valley. We spent our first afternoon and evening visiting Leigh and Bret, who treated us with a delicious meal. Bret spent all afternoon in the kitchen slowly stirring up a pot of goodness, otherwise known as real Louisiana gumbo. It was delicious, and worth the wait! Then Leigh made her famous (well, famous in my family at least) bluberry cream pie. Yum yum!

The next two days, Drummer Boy and I spent touring wineries in Napa Valley. It was beautiful, relaxing, educational, and truly a great time with great company. I just love spending relaxing time with my husband! My favorite winery was Quintessa. It was gorgeous, with great wine and a very nice personal tour.

tasting wine at Quintessa

Quintessa's gorgeous vineyards

Quintessa's vineyards and visitor center

Our tour at Cakebread Cellars (notice I'm wearing a cardigan sweater in August!!)

Our picnic lunch at Frank Family

After leaving Napa, we stopped by my old friend Kara Brown's house to meet her newest addition, Maddy. She was adorable and it was great to see Kara again. Then Drummer Boy went to work and I went home.

Two days later, we all got back on the plane headed to Buffalo, NY for my mother's family reunion. My mom has 12 brothers and sisters, and the last time I saw most of them was about 8 years ago. It was great to see them and all my cousins, and we all enjoyed meeting everyone's kids and seeing the little cousins play together like family should.

11 of 13 Becker siblings (my mom is 4th from the right)

the Becker siblings and their spouses

all the cousins and their families

all the little girls

Princess made fast friends with her cousin Madison

Ash and me with Aunt Marion and Uncle Bill

Aunt Bea (the oldest Becker at the reunion) holding Jude (the youngest Becker)

Drummer Boy got a work-out in the pool throwing around Princess and Pumpkin and cousin Grace!

And the most exciting part, as far as Pumpkin was concerned, was that while we were gone to New York (or You Nork as Princess would say), Pumpkin's new big girl bed was delivered!! Daddy put it together as soon as we got home and she got to spend her first night in her big girl bed on Monday night. She loves it! It is a little sad and a little exciting that she is out of diapers, pacifier-free, and now out of her crib. She's a bonafide BIG GIRL now! Wow! Time flies, doesn't it?