Pool Party

Today we hosted our very first pool party. We've been incredibly hesitant to do something of the like given the ages of the kids. We opted to start with family and had my dad's brother, kids and grandkids over for some fun. It turned into a great afternoon and nothing catastrophic occurred!

Sidney caught some great advice from Olivia while stopping for some snacks.

Regan spent the bulk of the time in the pool playing with her cousins and showing them all she had learned with her new pool.

Sidney enjoyed some snuggle time with Grandma Jan.

School days

The girls' school changes up the cirricculum during the summer months (more play, less academic focus). And they don't mess around when it comes to playing! Every few weeks, they will alert us that a giant inflatable jumper of sorts is making a visit. This week, it was a giant inflatable waterslide with a pool below! Needless to say, Regan was in heaven; the thing was nearly 20 feet tall! Made me want to go back to preschool.

I think the slide will be the highlight of her week, definately

higher than the nightcrawler races held the day before. YUCK!

Family Day

Ryan and I played hookie from work today (but since I have co-workers who read this blog, it was planned ahead of time!). We spent the day having fun and doing all sort of kid things! Regan once again, enjoyed ride after ride at Como Town, while Sidney braved only the little train where I got to ride along. She spent the rest of the time waving from the sidelines and looking cute chomping on some popcorn.

After an hour of being on the sidelines, Sidney and I decided to check out some "aminals", like the "jaff" {giraffe}, "zeba" {zebra}, "mokey" {monkey} and "rooaaarr" {anything else}! She enjoyed seeing them all eat their lunch and we were lucky enough to catch part of Sparky's fun show! Her face would do the WOW look when he did a silly trick.

Regan spotted this beautiful rainbow on our drive home, though it wasn't even close to raining. Ryan smiled and said "no matter how old a person, rainbows are always pretty amazing". Isn't that the truth.

Once home and nap time ended, Regan showed off her new trick: a back float! We moved into this house less than 2 months ago. At that time she needed her floaties or a life jacket to maneuver at all in the pool. She has gradually moved away from those two items and now can confidently use a tube or a noodle into the deep end as well as hop off the side of the shallow end independently. With the help of some swimming lessons, she's learning just 'how' to swim and with the extra practice at home, she's able to perform! We were so proud to see her face as she squealed "look mom, I can swim!".

I think we need another family day, really soon!

These two little cuties are growing up way too fast!

The smallest swimmer

Just a clip of little Sidney swimming away :) This was one of the first days she learned to swim, she was kicking away like crazy, she's calmed down a bit lately.

Too much fun to stop

While I don't love that she is leaning into the deep end of the water here to fill up her silly toy and blow out the water, I do love her cheesy grin which is her "I'm doing something silly and I know I shouldn't be doing it, but I'm having so much fun so please don't make me stop!" grin. So I didn't, I just made it a little safer by sitting closer.

Ball games and summer fun

We headed across the river today to watch Hunter race for the championship at the national level. Three games later, the girls had their fill of concession food and heat so we opted to come home for a dip in the pool. That team is going on 12 hours of ball right now and I haven't yet heard the final outcome. We saw some amazing games!

Auntie Vicky filled in today since Grandma wasn't around; she bought the girls a chocolate treat and they were both very happy (and messy)!!

Regan spent a lot of time digging in the diaper bag this morning, looking for something else to do or eat or play with; she found the sunscreen and under the circumstances of sun and heat, I just let her play. Looks like we need a few more lessons on how to apply lotion.

Congrats Hunter on a great day of softball! We had so much fun watching :)

So tired

Sidney has had issues with sleeping these days. Well, that's not entirely true, she's actually never slept well. Her current problem is that she wakes often before 6am and wants to get out of bed (usually to eat, and then play). By 10, she's ready for a nap but since that's not the general routine, it doesn't work that way. By the time 12:30 rolls around, she's over-tired and can't stay asleep longer than an hour despite all my hardest efforts. That was the case today, and we unfortunately we're out late watching Hunter's softball game this evening (nice game by the way!). Sid couldn't even make it home, she zonked out in the car; shade's in tact.

Flashback Friday

Apparently our girls do look a lot alike

It's HUMID!

Sidney's hair has a built in hygrometer (google it); her hair curls tight when there's a slight touch of humidity in the air. It's so darn adorable.

Pictures just don't do it justice; I could watch those curls bounce forever.

Unfortunately, her whole body becomes uncomfortable with the humidity. She complained all evening about a tummy ache when I suddenly realized she hadn't gone #2 all day. She was holding it in at school to try on the toilet! Poor girl. Of course, we tried a few times right away but that didn't work .....then we took a bath. You guessed it, poop in the tub. :(

Celebration picnic in the park

Regan had a chance this summer to participate on a tball team, coached by the most patient woman I know. Throughout the year, she never once changed the tone in her voice to show irritation, despite the multiple girls digging in the sand, or not paying attention. She remained calm and most importantly, showed the girls how much fun it was to be a part of a team! So what else would make her one of the most patient women I know? Well, not only does she work part-time, she also coaches TWO teams in the league, and she also has FIVE children of her own! FIVE kids from 2-12 years old! Patient and maybe a little nuts?!

Tonight we had an all-ages league picnic to celebrate the end of a fun season! Coach Melissa brought hair coloring for our team; the girls just loved it!

Regan and her best buddy and coaches daughter, Izzy.

Regan scored one of the first raffle prizes! She picked out a bat, which shocked me because her other options included stickers or pencils. That's my little sports fan! She leaned over to me and said "mom, he told me I could take the bat!!". She was so excited :)

Coach Melissa with Regan and Izzy; the girls are waiting for their playdate; both of them hounding us to set a date!

Regan is sad that tball is over; I guess that means she wants

to play again next year!

T-ball finale!

Regan played in her final t-ball game of the season tonight. We are incredibly proud of her for growing so much in the past 2 months. She's learned about the game, how to throw/catch, play every position in the field, and that field sand is not for sand castles. Tonight, she even took a few swings without the tee and made contact with the pitch!! YEA!

She's not real fond of the catcher's gear nor all the work that goes into chasing every throw!

Catching a few pointers from Coach Johnson while at 3rd base.

A proud mommy with a little girl who just wants to join her sister on the playground after the game.

Aquatennial Sand Sculptures

Tonight the girls and I, along with grandma Jan, headed to Lake Calhoun to take a peak at some amazing sand sculptures. We saw a sculpture of Shrek, castles, and a shark. Our favorite, and the winner, was a multi-sculpture of Alice in Wonderland. I think the girls have been inspired to make some of their own in the sandbox tomorrow!

Dollhouse with Sidney

Sidney could play contently for hours on end. She loves anything remotely girly, including babies, dress up, barbies, and her most favorite-the dollhouse. She loves to set up the table, putting as many chairs around it as she can fit, and then trying the best she can to set dolls on the chairs. This generally leads to a pretty unhappy little girl who is frustrated with her lack of dexterity. Once we help her out, she proceeds to set the table with all sorts of food so her little friends can have dinner!

Hot fun in the summertime!

When the temps hit 90, everyone wants to get into the pool. Today was no different, with a few extra perks. First, the pool temp hit 82 which is our record so far. I'm very pleased with this temp!! It's that temperature that makes you want to hop back in because the water is warmer than the breeze that just chilled your body.

And second (and definitely more exciting)....Sidney learned how to swim!! Our little peanut is not even 25 lbs and less than 2 years old, yet she has figured out how to wear a life jacket (not an infant one) and kick her legs silly so that they stay under the water and she doesn't end up with her face into the water doing a front float. It's simply amazing to watch her move across the water from one end to the other; we're so proud! (Don't worry mom, Ryan is just outside of this picture, I'm not daring enough to leave her alone yet!).

O how I love Minnesota summers!

Flashback Friday

Snot, blood and nurse mommy

It's been a busy start to my weekend. Sidney woke up with a cold, hence the "snot" in the title (sorry, no picture to go along with that). Then while on a quick walk in the neighborhood, Regan opted to leave some of her skin on the sidewalk from both knees. Double ouch and lots of blood.

Today's the day for "nurse" mommy I guess.

Update

For the die-hard followers, here's an update on the previous post. We were officially pacifier-free today and with very few tears! It definitely helped that Sidney was only previously getting her "ookie" while she slept, but that doesn't mean she hasn't still asked for it today. Despite her requests, we have held strong on the "ookie all gone" response and she is catching on. We all slept well last night, she napped for 3 hours today and went to bed with just one whimper tonight! Success....? We're getting there!

And just look at that beautiful blonde hair!! What a stinkin' cutie!

Bye bye nukie.....?

It's been a long time coming; 4 months past when I swore I would get rid of it, 6 weeks past my "deadline". I sit here tonight after this bathing beauty went to bed minus her "ookie". I'm fighting back the tears (ok, so they're really streaming down my face), because really, outside of diapers, there's no other sign that she's a baby anymore. My baby is growing up and I just want her to stay my baby! The "ookie" completed her bedtime routine; along with her safety blanket, she would lay in my arms and let me rock her before bed. Tonight, as she whimpered "ookie", I missed hearing that little noise she makes while sucking on her nuk. She whimpered less than 10 minutes before falling asleep tonight; not bad for night #1. Whether or not this is the true end of her relationship with a pacifier is yet to be told; it could be a long night and this mommy might just give in.

Sunday funday

We had some friends over this afternoon for a BBQ and a swim. With this family friend, the kids each get another girlfriend to play with and they all play so very nicely; it's a good break from the typical Sunday afternoon arguments we tend to hear.

These two fish in the water (no pun intended!), had a blast splashing from one end of the pool to the other in their inflatable fish! Perfect timing for Regan as grandma had just dropped off this fish toy for her before we hopped in the pool!

Big kid fun....

We had some family in town over the weekend and everyone stopped for a visit and a swim on Saturday afternoon. Ryan and Jamie took it upon themselves to work on some "tricks" (more like flops) and their splashes :) Thanks for the laughs guys!

Jamie testing out the skate boarding trick from the diving board...he landed

on the board quite well, but sank quickly

Ryan did a can opener towards Ashley but she was quick

with her "tuck and roll" and managed to stay dry!

Raspberries!

You'd think we stopped at a U-Pick 'Em patch; nope, that's just from our own backyard! Actually, there are 2 more bowl fulls where that one came from, and that's just the last 24 hours!! If anyone has any great raspberry recipes, I'm all ears. For now, we'll just all enjoy them fresh :)

Loads of fun

There's never a lack of things to do around here. Today was no different with a visit from a high school friend and her almost 4 year old son. We took the kiddos to Como Zoo braving the crowds and seeing all of the animals. The kids had a great time and Sidney spent the morning giving out her best animal noises, which by the way, all sound the same, "roooaaarrrr!".

We paused for a turn on the famous giraffes, which are clearly marked "do not climb on statues" but that sign is clearly ignored.

Following the zoo and a quick lunch, I put Sidney down for a nap and decided to let Regan stay up to swim and entertain Will. She loves every chance she can get to go into the pool and today was no different.

This evening, after our company had gone home, we had some unexpected free time. After much debate about what to do with a free evening, we decided on Lake Harriet and headed out for some more fun! We were lucky enough to run into a professional photographer on the dock who offered to take a family picture :) Can you say Christmas Card!!, even without smiles, it still looks pretty good :)

And who can head out to Lake Harriet without grabbing some ice cream?! Thankfully, daddy didn't drop my camera in the lake this time (see a previous post for that ordeal).

The night was capped off with a ride on the Lake Harriet Trolley, something we have grown to love over the years. Sidney was petrified, visibly shaken as we climbed aboard, but started to settle in quickly. The conductor pulled the horn to let out a loud "CHOO CHOO" and she was all giggles! She even climbed off my lap and sat next to the window, letting the wind blow through her hair.

Daddy's been asking for a break from all the craziness for a couple of days now, but there's no end in sight and that's quite alright with me (and Regan, who asks every morning "who's coming today?)! There's nothing better than making the most of every single beautiful summer day! I only wish the summer would last longer!

What's new?

Look closely and see what is new for this beautiful grown-up girl!

SPLASH!

Grandma Sheri was minding her own business, hanging out in the pool when SPLASH! Ryan jumped in and cannonballed her out of no where! (see him in mid-air!?)

He messed her hair and drenched her completely, but we all got a good laugh out of it :)

Happy 4th of July!

We had a wonderful 4th of July, celebrating with the grandparents at our home as we do annually! The girls were decked out in their stars and stripes...

...while helping me eat, I mean decorate, the stars and stripes cake!

Such good helpers I had! It was delicious!

We finished the evening with daddy's fireworks show! Next year he said he might have to start charging admission!

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July! Thanks to

grandmas Sheri, Jan and Papa for celebrating with us!