firsts and seconds

it was a summer of firsts and seconds...
first time jumping into a pool or lake or ocean by themselves...

first summer of no hospitalizations!
first time we've thought about breaking out the 'elf on the shelf' in mid-july just to get them to behave
first round of developmental testing for madeline
second GI doctor for her too... that is a post for a different day, but all i'll say is go with your gut (no pun intended).  our little gal is not right from a GI point of view and because of her communication issues, she can't tell us.  after months of frustration and pain, we are finally moving on from chb's department and onto a place where we hope we can get an answer
second trip to sesame place!

first trip to storyland (with a second coming a couple of weeks!)

first time with molly in the driver's seat... holy crap!

first hike up a mountain for ms. madeline

and and an AMAZING couple of days at the beach for this family... never thought i'd see the day.  :)

it's been an amazing summer and i can't wait to see what the fall will bring (besides school schedules, doctor's appointments and madeline's upcoming eye surgery)