Monday, July 18, 2011

Crazy Drivers

I'm not exactly sure what Paul was thinking when he replaced the batteries in this super Jeep, but these three crazy girls (and often their friends) have been running over rocks, gardens, stray toys and anything else that might get in the way (including sisters that might not move out of the way fast enough).

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Swimming

Splashing
Swimming
Playing
Hanging out with friends in the pool
What's not to love about keeping cool, playing and chilling with the best friends my girls could ever ask for??

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The Orange Team

No one was more excited about t-ball than Grace after she found out that her team shirts were orange. I haven't met many girls who LOVE the color orange, but this girls sure does. I'm not quite sure that she feels the same way about playing t-ball every week, but at least she gets to wear her favorite color shirt once a week. Now if only she could convince her mom that she should wear her favorite orange sandals as well and she may be in heaven.





What a great looking team and their great coaches.
Hanging out in the dugout.
At bat.

I have a feeling we may be hanging out at the baseball fields for a few more years. Lydia is already anxious to play.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Swing Time

In a world of big sisters who are always running, jumping, climbing, biking, swimming and dancing, we certainly make sure to include my littlest swinger. Ella hates the baby swing. She absolutely refuses to sit in it. I should have taken the hint last summer when she actually jumped right out of one at a park. It's not that she doesn't love to swing and feel the wind in her hair. She does! But she still doesn't quite grasp the concept that she isn't 3 or 4 years old. So she insists that she go on the big girl swings and leaves the baby swing available for any other 1, 2, 3 or 4 year olds that want to swing.



Thursday, July 14, 2011

Princess, Baseball and Fireworks

It doesn't seem like an obvious winning combination. But, it certainly worked for our family. My mom got tickets to a Timberrattler game in Appleton. It just so happened to be Princess Night at the game with fireworks at the end of the game!

The girls stalked the princesses a bit and made sure to visit them frequently.

Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking as much as I should have been or I might have realized that every baseball game or fireworks show to follow that didn't have princesses present might be a bit of a let down. Especially a week before the 4th of July...

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Keeping up with a Four Year Old

I have to admit I have been taken aback a bit by how much Grace has accomplished in the past month. Just last month I made an executive decision that we should go on family bike rides again. We've had a bike trailer for a few years so that the girls can go behind the bike, but with three girls and only room for 2 in the trailer, we've been short space this year. I thought the perfect solution would be a tandem bike for Grace to ride behind either Paul or I while the other pulled the trailer. It was a idea and worked as planned for about a week. Then both Grace AND Lydia decided that it would be a better idea if they just rode their bikes with their training wheels on our bike rides. Their new idea has slowed the bike rides down a bit, but at least they are using up a lot of energy while they pedal all over the neighborhood.

After watching her friends maneuver the monkey bars all spring, Grace decided that she would learn to do them too. And she did. Considering that she has never had much interest in learning or even attempting them, I was a bit surprised when she was swinging from one side to the other in a few short weeks.

Swinging... I guess it might seem obvious that Grace spends a ton of time outside this summer. She's learned to pump on the swings too. Yay! I am looking forward to the girls swinging without me pushing them all the time. Although considering that Ella refuses to sit in a baby swing, I may be a bit closer than I think.

When the best thing about a sport is the color of the team shirt, it might not be the best sport for your child. We thought that we would give summer t-ball a try. Grace plays with her friend, Lauren on the same and both dads help coach. Although I am nearly certain that the best part about t-ball is that the team shirts are ORANGE.

I never expected for the day of slumber parties to come so soon... Yes, you read that correctly, Grace and Lydia had their first sleepover with a pair of their best buddies. I'm just glad that they haven't ask for another yet (although it's only been a couple days).

I promise I will post plenty of pictures soon!!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Summer of Firsts

I didn't realize what a difference a year makes for these two beautiful girls. They both seem to be growing so quickly and gaining an incredible amount of independence.

Many of the things that are new to Lydia this summer are at least a bit familiar to me since I had a three year old daughter last summer. Lydia's FINALLY able to take dance with Grace. She is thrilled that she is able to be in the same dance class with Grace for the summer session before joining her fellow three year old friends this fall.

Lydia is also in the same swim class as Grace for the summer. There swim teacher is one of their favorite teachers at the Y so they were so delighted that she is also their swim instructor. They are also in the same swim class with a couple of friends. What more could girls ask for in swim lessons.

Lydia has her own bike with training wheels. She has been keeping up with Grace as they both bike around the driveway all the time.



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Strawberries for Breakfast

I'll admit that I have fed my three girls plenty of unhealthy breakfasts. So once the strawberries in our garden were ripe, the girls and I would walk to the backyard to pick our healthy portion of our breakfasts. Nothing beats picking strawberries in your pajamas.
...without shoes.
and eating them with crazy bedhead hair.
Yummy! It almost makes up for all those Lucky Charm mornings, right?

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Bowling Fun

One of my girls' "best buddies" turned 5 last month. She celebrated with a bowling birthday party. I'll be the first to admit that I thought bowling for so many little ones might have been a bit crazy, but boy was I wrong. These little ones LOVED it.

Here's our favorite new 5 year old.
Lydia lining up the ball.
And the release.
then watching with Ella as the ball sloooooowwwwwly makes its way to the pins.
Even Ella bowled using this cool ball ramp.
Grace just being silly.

Bowling... who knew if could be so entertaining. It might just be our rainy day back up plan this summer.