Water Babies

 Last week finally brought a few "hot" days.  This whole summer has been much cooler than usual and we've hardly felt hot enough to want to swim.

 Last Monday, we took Daddy with us and got to play in the water for a while.  The girls got new "puddle jumper" swim vests and have really taken to cruising the pool, jumping and getting really adventurous in the water.

This was Tierney's first time in the pool and she did great!  A born swimmer, she didn't even fuss, but got right to business kicking and reaching for the water, watching everything that was going on around her.

 On Tuesday, the girls and I spent the afternoon with Aunt Nancy at East Lake, where she was camping for the week.  Ezri and Alora wasted no time running right in, making new friends, going down the water slide and just having a great time.  My cousin Emily and her daughter Sofia joined us later and we all had such a great time.

 Tierney split her time playing in the water and napping - our littlest bathing beauty :)

Some of the older kids Ezri and Alora made friends with (their family was camping with Aunt Nancy) had caught three baby turtles.  Both girls were quite taken with the turtles and before I knew what was happening, one of them was in the van coming home with us...

Ezri named her "Meeny" - This came from me just teaching her the little rhyme "Eeny Meeny Miney Moe...", not because the turtle was mean :)  For the next two and a half days, Meeny was the big attraction in our house.  Ezri would catch bugs with her own hands to feed the turtle and didn't think twice about it, it became quite the game to find bugs.  The girls loved to watch the turtle crawl around in the little bowl and were often fixated for long stretches of time chatting away about the turtle.

We got a lot of opportunity to talk about turtles and where they live, what they eat, etc.  We noticed that Meeny had been chewed on a bit by some other animal, as her shell had some pieces missing on one side...

 Ezri was even brave enough to hold the turtle and let her crawl around.

 We also talked about how a bowl is not a good home for a turtle for a long time and that we really didn't have the right place or food to make Meeny happy.  Ezri decided Meeny probably missed her family and friends too.  So, on Friday, we headed back to East Lake to play and release Meeny.

A much cooler day, Tierney opted to stay out of the water this time, but to just enjoy watching the other kids play.

She did put her toes in the sand, though, and really liked that!

 As it was cooler, the kids didn't swim as much as they had on Tuesday.  It was a lot of in-and-out which made them colder than if they had just stayed in, but it was funny to see Ezri wrapped in her towel with er "muscles"

The kids put in a lot of time playing on the beach, building sand sculptures.  Grandma, Aubrey and Wesley joined us at the lake and we had quite the troop of kiddos to keep track of.  Thankfully, they all played well together and had a lot of fun.

 Alora was happy as a clam to sit and dig in the sand.  She sat there playing for nearly 45 minutes!

Ezri completed the sand pile by turning it into a "sandman" :)

There were some very tired little girls in our house as the week came to an end.  But, the weekend still had a little more fun in store for us.  Saturday morning, we went to a party at the library for] the end of summer reading program.  It was our first time attending a library event.  While the girls didn't really get into the relay games being played as they were a bit young yet, they sure did enjoy the free pizza, ice cream, cookies and candy.  And, Alora won one of the big prizes for the summer reading program - a backpack full of fun stuff!

Ezri got a little goody bag to take home too, but they both made out with Alora's win.  Inside the bag was a package right up Ezri's alley - bug pods.  A system of pods and tubes that connect together any way you wish in order to create a bug habitat that kids can observe bugs in.  Ezri just loves playing with it, adding new bugs, leaves and grass.  I love how much she enjoys nature and is not afraid to get up close and personal!

Big Stuff

The big news for the week comes compliments of our littlest angel.  Tierney decided last Thursday, just a few days past turning 3 months, that it was time to roll over!  A couple of struggled successful rolls and she had it figured right out and was rolling like a pro from her back to her tummy. Quite proud of herself and her new skill, she is very happy for a few moments after she rolls, and then she figures out she is stuck there and cries...

After some storms last week, the girls and I found a nest with three baby birds had fallen from our front Maple.  Two of the little birds were still alive, an the nest was still intact, so we carefully put the little birds back into their nest and moved it to a safe place and then set about camouflaging it as best we could...

Ezri was quite interested in the goings on, wanting to monitor them constantly.  The little birds make quite a lot of noise out there, but as the evening came, we saw mommy bird had found them and made a few return visits with food.

 Unfortunately, with another storm and likely the lack of attention they had received the previous day, the babies did not survive :(

The rain brought us plenty of puddles, so Saturday afternoon the girls donned their swimming suits and went out to play (with my very close supervision, of course).  Alora immediately dunked her head!

 Puddles are much more fun than pools, you know...

 A good hour was spend just splashing and playing together while Tierney and I supervised from the grass.

 Much needed baths were in order after that fun.  Tierney, though she did not partake of the mud bathing prior, also joined the girls in the tub for a short bit.  Now tolerating baths without screaming, she is still not a big fan and much happier out of the water and wrapped in her towel.

 Little Miss Busy Body is becoming more and more active every day.  When she naps, she crashes hard and is beginning to take very long naps throughout the day with longer wake periods to enjoy her chatter and smiles.

 On Tuesday, the girls and I got to spend the morning with Great Grandma, and we had a wonderful time together playing outside, seeing the animals and having lunch.  I am so glad our girls can grow up knowing and loving their Great Grandma so well, and she sure does love them too!  So many times, when we show up, she has purchased a new toy or game for them as they are really the only Great Grandchildren to visit often.

 It has been a week of forts at our house.  What started out in and soon overtook our living room got moved outside on Thursday afternoon for an even greater adventure for the girls.  They had such fun playing in their little fort together all afternoon!

We've begun to harvest from our garden, already picking beans in addition to the raspberries we have been picking for the past couple of weeks.  The girls are eager to help pick, Alora especially enjoys picking the berries and I seldom see any of them actually make it past her little hand as she devours them!  But, at least I know she is eating healthy food, right?  We also picked blueberries this week.  It feels good to be re-stocking and preserving all of these yummy foods to enjoy once winter is upon us again.

Lots of Reasons to Celebrate!

June 23 brought this Mommy's birthday - the 10th anniversary of my 24th :)  We had some cake and ice cream with Grandpa and Grandma.  The girls really enjoyed this special treat!

 Tierney was not allowed to have any of the non-filtered birthday treats, but was happy to be a part of the celebration anyway.

 Tierney is staying awake for longer periods of time now and becoming more expressive every day.  There seem to be new faces and sounds almost daily lately.  She is most often happy and content and always sweet.

 Ezri just loves to hold her, still asking almost every morning when she wakes up.  Tierney does not seem to mind at all.

 We had the chance to play with Aubrey and Wesley last week, when  they came over so I could take Wesley's 3 year pictures.  The girls wanted to be included in the picture fun as well, and got dressed up in dance outfits to put on a show.

 We spent lots of time outside playing in the pool and on the swings that day as well.  Ever the daredevil, Alora was caught standing on the swing several times.  This despite already being bandaged from injuries.  This child scares me sometimes with her lack of fear!

 And also keeps me smiling with her antics and creativity.  She loves shoes right now, and often loves to put on my cousin Liz's boots when she is over to work for the business.  Amazingly, Alora is able to walk quite well in them.

Both Ezri and Alora have been saying prayers for dinner and bedtime increasingly over the past month.  It is so sweet to hear the things they pray for and definitely gives me a reminder of the childlike faith we all should have but tend to cast aside as we grow.  I absolutely love to listen to these little ones as they pray and am so proud they are not afraid to put into their own words the things that are on their hearts.

Little Tierney turned 3 months old on us this past week as well!  We spent some time taking her pictures before the holiday chaos kicked in, and got some really cute shots.  She is much happier to have her picture taken on her terms, though, like when she is hanging out with Tobi before nap time.  Tobi is becoming fond of Tierney, often laying beside her on the bed as she sleeps - day and night.

 All three girls have reached another month  in age - time sure is flying!

We had a very busy 4th of July weekend that started Thursday night and went through Sunday afternoon.  As in the past few years, we did a lot with our church over this holiday, starting with Alex and the guys loading the trailer on Thursday night for the parades on Friday.  Friday the 4th started early with trailer set up and continued on with the Dorr parade in the morning and the Hopkins parade in the late afternoon, during which Alex drove our truck with Ezri and Alora waving from the cab while I sang with the band on the trailer with Tierney as my accessory.  Andy bounced around between running sound and handing out freeze pops while Jay & Becci launched and tossed stress balls.  The girls all did great, the older two especially enjoying the chance to be unrestrained in the truck and to ride with their little friends Ava and Allie

 It was perfect weather, mid 70's, and we generally stayed comfortable, thankfully.  We all consumed plenty of freeze pops too :)

 After the Hopkins parade, we gathered back at our house for a cookout with some of our friends from church who had helped with the parade - The Sebright, Williams and Byers families all joined us along with members of our "chosen family", Andy, Jay & Becci, and we had a yard full of laughter and good company.  After some good food, we played with a few fireworks - some of us played more than others...

 Ezri, ever the creative child, donned her swimming goggles to protect her eyes while she watched :)

 Alora had her own fun helping Uncle Andy light off some smaller fireworks in the driveway.

 But, though most did not make a sound, she kept her ears well protected :)

 We ended our night watching the Hopkins fireworks with our friends and "chosen family".

 Everyone was pretty much exhausted from such a long a busy day, Tierney and Alora didn't quite make it through to the end of the fireworks.

Sunday morning we were back in action again as we had an outdoor church service, followed by a car show for which Kritex sponsored a winner plaque, so Alex got to choose a car to receive his award.

 Alora found opportunity to hitch a ride with a little boy whose truck she was very determined to drive.  Needless to say, lots of giggles and attention were directed her way :)

It was definitely much hotter that day, and after everything was wrapped up, the band trailer unloaded and parked, we all headed for Aunt Nancy's pool to cool off.  The girls had a blast and have taken to the water again with no hesitation whatsoever.

Now that we have made it through the weekend, we are quite tired and focused on catching up on some rest!