Look out world...

here they come!

 We are soaking up this last day of July, wishing the summer would last another 3 months. We go from swimming to games to swimming to ride-ons to more swimming all in a matter of an afternoon.

And then Ryan got home from work and decided to teach them the game of "chicken", not super smart but thankfully Sidney darted out of the way long before imminent danger!



Silly faces

No explanation really, just two little girls who asked to make silly faces for the camera tonight. 

Sick kids and more pool

Last night was a rough one; if you know Sidney (or read about her), you know she's not a great sleeper. Never has been. Last night was particularly difficult. Sidney struggled to fall asleep, struggled to stay asleep and ultimately, ended up sleeping in our bed. She complained that her ears hurt, and I knew by the cry that she was serious. A run to the doctor this morning proved an ear infection was the culprit of our horrible night...I'm really hopeful this is a bump in her road and not a path to another set of tubes.

Despite her pain, we forged ahead with a swim this afternoon, complete with some of my coworkers.

Regan took flight....literally!! That girl LOVES to be tossed around in the water. 

And tonight we hope they both sleep deep and that Sidney's pain is subsiding with the help of some antibiotics.



Steamy summer softball

With Ryan on an early morning golf outing and Regan waking at a friend's house sleepover, Sidney and I ventured to watch the first of two of Hunter's softball games today. She is playing in nationals and we're fortunate that they are convienently located just down the road! And with a lovely 3 year old that wakes at 6:15am, I was overjoyed that we had something fun to start our day at 8am! 

The rest of the family along with a bunch of others joined us for her next game, one at a more reasonable time. It turned out to be a pretty steamy day. Thankfully the girls don't seem to mind the warm weather and enjoyed sipping on an icee and sucking on seeds.   

Good luck on your final day of nationals Hunter!

Success!

This summer we have been working hard on teaching Regan how to dive. She had nailed it from a kneeling position, and today, she shocked us both by walking across the board, standing with her arms perched above her head and DIVING! Maybe it's the Olympics she's been watching :) 

Way to go Regan! We are so proud of you!

Movies!

We have hit up our fair share of movies this summer, having seen all of the recent pint-sized shows: Madagascar 3, Brave, and today, I took the girls to Ice Age 4.

We had the theater to ourselves, and I mean entirely to ourselves! Let's just say there is an odd sense of eeriness being in a big theater all by yourself. Thankfully the girls have not seen the news lately with the horrific theater shooting; I, however, have and thus, was a complete mess throughout the show. I tried to relax and was kept busy with Sidney asking for popcorn, her Icee, gum, a napkin, repeat. Eventually she caught on to my constant looking over my shoulder routine and turned around in her chair asking me who I was looking at. Regan was so into the show, she simply loves movies. She memorizes lines after just one viewing but will watch them over an over again.

I think next time I'll wait for Ryan to be able to join us!

Sunday pool party

A weekend just isn't complete until we host some good friends for a pool party. It happens every weekend, and the visiting family always gives us some good laughs and great memories. Regan and Sidney sure love to share their pool and toys with those who are visiting. This week it was a good college friend of Ryan's and his family. The kids' table was moved poolside which is always a treat! 

Sidney is NOT going to drown with her tube and life jacket, but our little 3 year old is sooooo brave these days! She jumps off the board without problem, decked out in her safety gear, with a big huge grin on her face. 

I'm so proud of her!

Papa's boat

There are many things that the kids look forward to while visiting grandma's house. One of the biggest is playing in Papa's boat. They just love to sit and pretend to drive it, fish and take in the scenery around their made up lake. They are counting down the days for their next real boat ride! Thankfully grandma is such a good sport and sits in the 100 degree garage to play along on their make believe adventures!

Summer wedding

We headed to New Ulm this weekend to help celebrate Ryan's cousin's marriage. It was a steamy humid day but the girls were dolled up in pretty dresses. Elyse looked like a princess and Sidney was actually a little nervous to be so close to her! 

 A trip to New Ulm just isn't complete until we ALL take a turn holding sweet little Harlow. If I could guarantee a baby as good as her, I think I'd have Ryan convinced for #3! She's adorable, sweet AND happy! 

 This picture makes me smile. Sidney was definitely into the whole wedding dance. She loved watching the "first dance" and then got out there and busted her own moves. She had a good time people-watching the dance when her legs grew tired. 

Let's not forget the treats! Weddings have sure changed over the past several years. The kids thought the endless "candy bar" was amazing! I think they are still bouncing off the walls from all the sugar yesterday. Wowzas! Look at Sidney admire the cupcake cake....she simply could not wait!

Congratulations to the bride and groom! 

Summer playtime

Each morning, sometimes a wee bit too early, Sidney will bounce down the stairs (at roughly 6:15am), round the corner and give me a big "GOOD MORNING MOMMY!". Honest, she is a chipper one with just 9 hours of sleep under her 3 year old belt....someone fights sleep on both sides of the clock. Regan usually straggles down a little later, dragging her feet, eyes barely open and collapses onto the nearest couch. Not so chipper :)
Eventually they get on the same wave length and are ready for play time. This morning before our friends arrived to swim, we cracked into all sorts of arts/crafts activities. They opted to set up a "face painting" shop, I love their creativity. Regan drew out all the options for their customers and then they went to town, painting away on each other's faces and hands. 

Listening to them play (nicely) just never gets old.

Melts this mommy's heart.

Slip n Slide

I picked up the girls after work this afternoon and boy o boy were they squirrelly! We know enough to realize that this isn't a good position to be in after a full day so I knew I needed to find something to keep them occupied seeing it was just going to be us girls all night. Regan had been given a birthday invitation for a friend's slip n slide party in the coming weeks which prompted her to ask "can we slip n slide tonight?" Why sure we can!

So I pulled out the slip n slide that Ryan and Hope had bought 7 years ago and it works perfect! I tried it just once and realized those things STILL inflict pain!

 Regan got a brilliant idea and moved the small slide and the girls went flying off the bottom down the slip n slide, with much less pain than running and sliding/kneeing/laying. 

Nice idea Regan! 

Girls' Night Out!

 It was a well deserved night out last night and i'm so happy to be able to spend a weekend catching up with Kari when she comes to visit! We sure have a lot to talk about even though we text and email thousands of times each month :)

And what better way to spend a sunny Sunday than catching up on some Vitamin D and continuing all those lovely conversations from the night before!

Thanks again for coming to visit Kari!!



Softball wrap up

In the 90 degree temps, we suffered through a rather large softball tournament this weekend. Regan participated in her very first tournament and she had a great time....well, she didn't like the heat, and didn't like that they won games which meant they kept playing more games and she therefore was missing a play date, but she did like winning and she did like trying her best! This year she played softball (coach pitch), not tee-ball. She was the youngest on the team, sharing the spot with only one other kindergartener.

Regan's littlest fan, wants to be just like big sister. Sid was a trooper, watching as patiently as a 3 year old can wait for the end of each game. We kept her busy with gum, sunflower seeds, colors, my purse and finally a DVD in the only shade we could find (behind my chair).

Regan tried with all of her mite, and she improved like no other, but nerves get the best of her when she is at the plate. She has yet to hit a fair ball during a game. She fouled and hit decently in practice, but that left leg starts to rattle and shows her nerves. When asked she replies "I'm not nervous!". And it hardly phased her that she didn't get to run the bases during a game (there's enough practices where she got to practice). She would mostly come bouncing out of the batter's box, wondering about something or another (like wanting to tell me a quick story about a butterfly, or singing a pop hits song). 

The team eventually lost and were handed their medals

and the did one last "TURTLES" cheer before saying goodbye for the year

She proudly sported her medal(s); happy to accept one for her dear friend who was gone for the weekend. Congratulations on a great first year of softball Regan! We are so proud of you! 



Stay-cation Day #5

Early in the week, I secretly invited a bunch of Regan's friends (and moms) over for an end-of-the-week pool party :) She was so excited to have her friends join us for a picnic and a swim. The kids sure miss each other and really get along well. After lunch, Sidney was looking pretty sleepy and actually asked to go up for a nap!! Shocking! She climbed into bed and napped for 2 hours while the rest of us played in the warm summer sun. 

I love our girls to pieces....but they are growing up too darn fast! 

Stay-cation Day #5: Sweet surprise

Stay-cation Day #4

Wild Mountain: Taylors Falls

This morning we headed north to Taylors Falls and took in all that Wild Mountain has to offer. 

 Water slides, kiddie slides, lazy river, alpine slides and go-karts. FUN!!!! We ended the day with dinner and Maddi joined us; what a great ending to a great day!

Ryan took the day off from work too and joined in the excitement, boy was he glad he did! 

The 4 big water slides were super fun. I had to pull a little "forced fun" on Sidney because she wasn't so sure about going down, but I knew she'd love it. And she did! We got to the end and she half-laughed/half-whined and said "now I want to go on the blue one". HA! She's hooked!

Too bad Ryan couldn't convince me to go down the slide that actually goes INTO the ground!! Yes, the tube is buried under the ground and then shoots you out....Ryan claims you don't breathe the entire ride and it lasts all of 5 seconds. For this claustrophobic girl, I had a nightmare last night that I got stuck underground and there was no convincing me that this was a good idea. Ryan, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of it. Sorry mom and dad, no "forced fun" for me today! 

We packed a picnic and enjoyed it in the shade, taking a break from all the fun. I realized then that taking pictures at a water park like this is next to impossible. When we weren't wet, we were heading up a ski slope on the chair lifts, preparing to ride down hill on one of the two Alpine slides in the state. This is something to put on a bucket list. All 4 of us simply loved the ride. Regan couldn't get enough of it and although she had to ride with an adult, I put her in (nearly) full control of the speed and that girl wanted to just FLY down the hill! Honest, I'm afraid we would've gone over if i didn't slow her down! 

R: "Mom, I want to go FAST!"

Me: "We ARE going FAST!"

R: "Just let me do it!" (insert giggle, laugh, giggle)

They have adult and kiddie sized go-karts too. We weren't sure how Sidney would do on the go-karts, but she got the hang of it and round and round she went. Regan was like a pro, at the perfect age to navigate the car. 

Stay Cation Day #4: One for the record books! 

Stay-cation Day #3

Pump It Up was this morning's destination. I don't entirely control what we do during stay-cation week. I usually give the girls some options and let them pick. Today they asked to go to Pump It Up and burn some energy indoors. So we did just that! 

These two have been best of friends lately-a mother's dream!-laughing and loving each other to no end. Today was no different. They went up and down and up and down those slides, ending each one with a lot of laughs. Even the staff were impressed and commented on their sisterly-love. 

Just melts my heart. 

After a two hour nap (thank you Pump It Up!) for both girls, we headed into the pool. We (used to) have a doll that swims (see photo below), but even new batteries won't help her swim any more so Regan had fun launching her from the slide, tossing her in the deep end and jumping off the board with her. I stuck her in a water wing to see if we could get her to float upright and accidentally twisted her head off. 

So long useless dolly. 

Tonight, Regan's softball team played their first nail biting game in the city-wide SUPER huge tournament. Talk about turning my stomach! Reminder to self: these kids are K-2! It's not that important. They started out playing amazingly well, up 7-2 and ended up losing 9-10 in extra innings :( 

Regan's pretty relaxed in the field. Put her in the batter's box and it's another story. Poor girl is a nervous wreck but walks away saying she isn't.  

Given the timing of this particular game, we caved and brought along the DVD player for Sidney. 8pm is her bedtime, not time to sit around and watch a softball game! Let's just say tonight was much more enjoyable due to our pre-planning. Jack didn't mind a bit watching the Chipettes...sorry buddy! 

Stay-cation Day #3: Perfect! 

Stay-cation day #2

I'm off work this week and enjoying the stay-at-home-mom type of feeling. We are soaking up each other's time and I'm not sure the girls will ever want to return to daycare/school! We are just having so much fun. 

On day 2 we ventured to the Children's Museum....our very first visit. The kids adored being able to run, explore, and play but in all honesty, I found it rather boring! 

Regan loved this bike. It kept track of how many rotations her little legs made and contributed her effort to the "pot" of rotations. She just kept pedaling!  

This curious monkey is the whole reason we made the trek. After seeing the advertisement in the paper, the girls just couldn't wait. We saw a costumed-life-size one as well but this guy was 'safer' in Sidney's mind. 

I spotted this old fashion rotary phone and couldn't wait to show Regan. I reminded her that these were some of the phones we had when I was a little girl. She thought it was so silly to "dial" the phone!

Eventually we ran into some friends from Sidney's school and their dad took off with the older two while I stayed with the younger two. All four of the kids had so much fun. These two just loved "pretending" to be in charge of the kitchen....pretty soon we can really put them to work! 

Day #2: success!

Friends

Regan met some darn good friends in Kindergarten last year. And thankfully when you attend school in your neighborhood, most of your new-found friends live close by and can attend local activities right along side. Today we headed to a local park for a morning kid's concert along with one of Regan's friends. What I love best is that both of these 6 year olds are missing their top 2 front teeth. So cute! 

The kids played, danced and sang. After the concert we had a picnic near the creek before dipping our feet in to cool off and discovering all sorts of wildlife. Regan is definitely the neat freak out of the two, not wanting to get too dirty while Kylee was full of mud by the time we were finished! 

Kid quotes

I've not been very good with writing down the kids' recent statements. So in the last week, Ryan has said "that is blog worthy" on at least two occasions, so I want to get them posted before I forget! Because in all reality, we laugh constantly at their mannerisms, sayings and expressions. It's just hard to remember (and blog) them! Here we go.

Regan: 

During the 4th of July fireworks, we sat near a lake where some grasses were growing. The sun was setting and the girls were on a blanket near my feet as we waited for the show to begin. The 'night time' insects started to make their noises and Regan looked at us, leaped towards me and exclaimed "what kind of CREATURE is making that noise!!". Pretty sure she thought the Loch Ness Monster was going to reach out and get her.  

Our adorable Sidney has us rolling day after day. She had us going for a long time on this next story: 

Living in a metropolitan area, I didn't realize the impact of not growing up near open farmlands. Kind of like the kids who grow up in rural areas, are amazed when they visit us and see airplanes in the sky. Anyway, on a recent drive to New Ulm, we were about half way there and Sidney exclaimed 

"Mom!, I see corn growing, we must be in New Ulm!". 

Ahhh, that smile, it's just contagious! 

Harlow's baptism

We ventured back down to New Ulm today to be a part of Harlow's baptism. We are honored to hold such a special role as Godparents to this sweet baby girl. It was a lovely day, coupled with some good laughs too. Father Richter (who happened to marry Ryan and I), asked Ryan why he thought we were chosen as Godparents, to which Ryan replied "because I'm Ashley's favorite cousin" (good one Ryan). Father responded with "No. Parents usually choose the richest relatives" to which I said "well, then they goofed!"

Sidney and Regan were all dolled up for today's occasion.

Little Harlow was an angel throughout her baptism and didn't cry at all. I get slightly nervous when the priest holds the baby up for all to see....it just never seems like a good idea.

We managed to get a decent family photo before the girls busted into the warm sunshine and turned into little red-faced sweaty kids. 

 Apparently Harlow didn't like the cake :)
Just kidding, an ill timed photo shoot while hungry provided for a perfect photo (well, perfect if you ask me!). She's even cute when she's mad! 

Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your special day Harlow! We love you!

Another Saturday at home

Today we hosted some of my girlfrieds/families from college and it always proves to be a wonderful gathering. Lucy and Nathan nicknamed Ryan "the squirter guy" from last year's squirt gun fights, so today he had to live up to this name.

There were a lot of kiddos in tow. We gave them water balloons to toss at the fence and for whatever reason, they automatically lined up in birth order....without realizing it! 

Sidney and Lucy are only 4 months apart in age. They played great together all day long despite the sun, lack of naps and need to share all sorts of toys. 

Regan and Nathan (Lucy's brother) are only ONE week apart! I went to visit Jen just after she had Nathan, not knowing that I was 2 days from giving birth myself! I still laugh as the girls who drove with me to Chatfield said they would deliver my baby on the side of the road if it came down to it. These two are best of friends when we get together and today was just the same. They played in the pool over 6 hours barely getting out to eat. 

I love these girls!

Thanks for a wonderful day!