Summer Reading Program

We've had lots of trials with the girls this summer. They've been fighting a lot...and not just because they've been home and together a lot. They started fighting as soon as school let out. It's been difficult.

One thing they were really good about this summer was reading. In fact, they completed the summer reading program in record time this summer. So, when we got a couple of mild days earlier this week, we jumped on the opportunity to go to Castle Park before the heat started up again.

They still love a lot of the kiddie rides and will get on all the ones they are still allowed to go on.

It is still difficult to get Caitlyn to get on some of the bigger rides. She seems to be afraid of them, even if she rode them willingly and had fun on them last year, so Emily had to ride a couple of them by herself. Caitlyn's new favorite rides were the bumper cars and Kings Crown though. They rode on them so many times. Caitlyn is just barely tall enough to ride on some of them without me.

We have also gotten the girls started on real chores to help around the house. They've been doing their own laundry this past year now (with mixed results depending on how lazy they were feeling at the time). But we've gotten Emily to help out with vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom now. So she cleans their own bathroom every week and I find that she is a bit more responsible in keeping it clean and organized daily, now that she has to clean it. Caitlyn usually tried to keep it clean and organized for them both. It has been a great help now that Emily is old enough to help out around the house. What's more is that it is still new to her and she is still excited and willing to do it. We'll see how long that lasts!