6 circles. 4 celebrations.

Turning six is a big deal.  

Celebrate, we will!

August 11th - her actual birthday, trip to Kings Island to celebrate

August 18th - her birthday party, a small Tie-Dye "Drop Off Party" at our house

August 21st - her montessori "birthday walk" celebration at school

August 31st - our whole family's August birthday bash (coming soon!)

There's just a wee bit of blogging that needs to happen to cover all this celebrating.

First, Kings Island. 

The girls we're SOOOO excited. 

At *exactly* 48 inches, Josie is big enough for the big rides. 

(Physically big enough does not mean mentally ready, so The Beast will wait at least a year.)

At *exactly* 36 inches, Bea is big enough for all of the kiddie rides. 

It was the PERFECT day. We covered an insane amount of ground - knocking out the rides & the water park all in one day.  It was really just one of those perfect family days together. There's always a little bit of magic nostalgia sprinkled over every moment at KI, as Lou & I swap stories of our own childhood moments at the park. 

I decided not to take my big camera so I could enjoy the fun. Here are some of the top moments. 

This was Josie's big "and now I am six" fear-conquering moment. She went for the roller coaster where your feet dangle. Something about the dangly feet and the full over-the-shoulder harness meant this was the real deal.

A little concerned in the line

SHE DID IT!

That's some BIG KID STUFF.

 Like I said, the perfect day.

Bea feeling a little nervous on the sky helicopters

Josie + Mama = No one even stands a chance!

Bea's little bare feet.

Time to get scrambled! It's insane how much little Bea loves the big scrambler!

Bea & I rode The Carousel four times in a row, while Josie & Lou conquered "The Monster."

Then, we tackled the Soak City waterpark (because we don't mess around). That place is MASSIVE and you could easily spend a whole day there.

We lasted a couple hours, then we waved the white flag. Because we were whooped. Mega-whooped.

And there were still presents to unwrap! And birthday wishes to come true!

Two years of waiting & this American Girl doll wish finally came true

Poor Bea didn't even last long enough to blow the candles. We had late night birthday cake and then were all off to bed.

Fast forward a week and a pass through the first week of school and you arrive at Sunday - the date of Josie's 6th birthday party.  For the last five birthdays, we've had big "come one, come all" parties with 50 or so people, young and old. This year, Josie asked for a "Drop Off Party." Ouch. We didn't see that coming so soon, but birthdays are about getting what you want. So, she got to choose 10 friends to invite to a party at the house.  She chose tie-dyeing as her theme and it was SO much fun.

We all got decked out in our tie-dye creations and each of the kids made a pillow-case and a piece of clothing.

Grandma & DD arrived with some new outfits for Josie's "Julie" Doll (thank goodness, since the poor thing confessed to me that a doll with no clothes isn't much fun).  They also gifted her a really touching photo & special note from Grandma and a really cool tie-dye peace watch from DD that hasn't left her wrist since the day she got it!

And...DD brought balloons!

Both girls got to release a balloon into the sky to make a special wish, which Bea thought was pretty amazing.

Grandma & DD took the girls out to lunch while we took care of final party preparations. Then, it was TIME!

Bea was eager to help and joined right in, even if her legs ended up more tie-dyed than her clothes!

Ha, I promise everyone had fun, even if they got a little bored waiting for the big cake to make its appearance.

It was worth the wait. Totally worth the wait.

It was really sweet how the gifts from Josie's friends were so perfect for her. She's so lucky to be surrounded by such a great group of friends!

A group hug was definitely in order.

Then, it was PINATA TIME.  The night before the party, Josie told me she couldn't sleep because, and I quote, "I can't wait another minute to bust that pinata. I've been waiting six whole years for this party!" The pinata was great fun.

Yep, that's a golf club. 

Yep, that's a Swiffer handle.
Not pictured: The Tongan War Club that we carried home from the South Pacific.
It was too heavy for the kids. Total bummer.

 After the party, things got a little wild with the hose. It was awesome. Super awesome.

And, that brings us to day. Josie's annual journey around the sun - played out with a globe and a centerpiece in her new 6-9 montessori classroom. It's such a special tradition, and we are feeling so blessed about the wonderful energy of her new classroom, new teachers and new school friends!

I read from her birthday milestone book...

While she journeyed six times around the sun to represent her six years on earth.

So, happy birthday Josephine Marie! These six circles around the sun have been the happiest six circles of our lives.  This year you conquered fears, gained new skills, grew in confidence and continued to open your heart to all the possibilities of the universe. We are so happy to be on this journey with you!

First days & Last days

Today was the BIG day. The 1st Day of 1st Grade.

To be exact, it was the first day of a new three-year cycle at Josephine's montessori school. A new classroom for the first time in three years. A new teacher for the first time in new years. A whole new floor of the building.  Lots of first that we all couldn't be more excited about.

So, here's Josie with her big kid backpack and shoes that she easily ties herself now and outfit she picked out on her own right down to the accessories and her turkey, gouda and lettuce sandwich with a giant whole carrot on the side. And a little reminder that even in the ongoing sprint to the land of grown-ups, she's still our sweet, silly, happy little Josie-Posie.

And, you won't believe this. I never posted the annual first day/last day pic from last year's kindergarten. Drum roll please.

Hard to believe this time last year we still lived in East Walnut Hills and her first day of school last year was in front of our "Peace Tree."

Here are a couple extra photos from her last day of kindergarten and last day of her three-year pre-primary three year montessori cycle. Totally fun that she was even able to wear the same dress (but most definitely not the same shoes)!

And, just for fun, take a glimpse back into the transformation during her first year of school and the transformation during her second year.

Home (from the PNW).

We're back. At least physically. Mentally - almost.  Our 10 day trip to the Pacific Northwest was absolute perfection. There are hundreds of photos to tell the tale, but those won't make it on the blog just yet.  Oddly, last week's red-eye home is still taking it's toll. In fact, our girls are both asleep before 9pm for the first time since we've been home. We're almost back on EST.  We're on the other side of piles of salty laundry. There are still several new beach treasures finding permanent homes in the heart of the Midwest.

Maybe you were following along on Instagram, but with super-spotty coverage, I promise you there's even more goodness populating the "FULL DRIVE" on my camera.  In the meantime, here's a little video sneak peak of all that good PNW beach goodness.





And, in case you haven't stumbled upon the joys of flipagram yet, here's my iphone camera roll from the trip reduced to < 1 minute.

And now she is 6.

(All the birthday deets to follow over the next week or so. We're kinda spreading this birthday out.)

away.