Wonderful Weekend!

We had a wonderful weekend! Outdoor movie on Friday evening. Building picture frames at Lowes, a sneak peek of the new Veggie Tales princess movie, lunch at Denny's, a birthday party, and visiting with friends Saturday. And Sunday was church, slurpees, and swimming with the Ames kids. Can't ask for a busier, better, weekend than that! I got some great pictures of the kids at Sophia's gymnastics party, but I'll post those on another entry. These are some shots of the other parts of Saturday though. We picked up Sophia so her parents could get ready for the party and she spent the morning with us. The schoolhouse photo holders turned out very cute and all 3 kids were excited about the new VT movie and their free balloons. Later that evening, after the party ended, we went back over to hang out at Erin & Chris' house and watch Sophia open her gifts. Of course the kids started playing dress up right away. The bottom shot is Emma as, and I quote, "a pirate princess, of course!" She is too cute!

Just a Summer Day...

I took this photo with my cell phone one afternoon a couple of weeks ago. There is nothing extraordinary about it but I love it. Just the sunlight & my favorite little ones running and playing together. It just says "summer" to me. :)

Friday Family Fun!

Every August our church does outdoor movies on Friday nights. We went for the first time this past Friday and had such a good time! The movie was Disney's "Tangled" which is a very cute movie and one of Emma's favorites so she was very excited. There is a $3 BBQ dinner before the show starts and the church even provides free popcorn, cotton candy, and snowcones. They know how to get us there... snowcones for me and cotton candy for Em! Yum yum! We are planning on going again this Friday to see Toy Story 3. The funny thing is that we already own these movies on DVD but its just so much more fun to go and watch them outside on a summer evening... especially with free goodies!

BFFs

Emma and Hayden sure do love each other! They love taking gymnastics together every week and just playing and being silly together. Of course these little love fests are often peppered with "she did this"es and "I'm not your friend!"s but those spats are short lived and they always make up. Emma is lucky to have good friends at such a young age. These shots are Emma & Hayden after tonight's gymnastics class. They are showing off their good behavior stickers and their muscles. GRRRRRR! Then we went out for frozen custard at a local shop I previously stumbled upon. The custard was yummy and the place was deserted. Plus it had a great little grassy area for the girls to fun and play. We had a wonderful evening!

Emma Channels Morris the Moose!

These "babies" around here are growing up way too quickly and are not really "babies" anymore. As such, their choice in literature is maturing as well. While we still occasionally read the Goodnight Moons and Very Hungry Caterpillars of yesterday, now they are generally opting for longer books with a bit more plot development and a bit less repetitive verse. Beginning reader level books are about where we are currently and recently Karen came across an old favorite from our childhood, Morris Goes To School. That darn Morris the Moose can't count pennies to buy candy or read the signs to know the fish store from the candy store. So he goes off to school, where he is welcomed wholeheartedly by the children despite having to do everything a bit differently, being a moose and all. When it is time for pretend play, one child pretends to be a tree, another pretends to be a moose, and silly old Morris drapes his antlers with outerwear and pretends to be a coat closet. Emma and TJ think this is one of the funniest things ever and, as luck would have it, I recently asked Emma to help me carry a bunch of beach towels after swimming. She was trotting along behind me when I heard her stop and call, "Mom! Look at me!" I turned around to find my silly girl, arms outstretched and laden with towels, announcing, "I'm a coat closet!" She is too funny! I guess that's the sign of good literature... It sticks with you even after you are done reading. :)

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Emma FINALLY decided to take my word on it that her swim vest would do the job it is designed to do - help hold her up in the water! She relaxed, loosened her death-grip on my neck, kicked her legs, and started dog paddling all around the pool. There is no stopping her now!!!

Future Olympian!

Emma is loving her weekly gymnastics class and is doing very well in it too! She is a tumbling fool, flipping over in summersaults all day long. I think those are her favorites. She is pretty good at the (assisted) back walkovers and balance beam too. I can see her getting stronger every week as she can now flip her legs up and onto the bar when she is dangling. This past week was her first official "mini-meet." It was less about competition at this level and more about showing off skills for family and friends. Grandma & Al, Uncle Scott, Karen, Mikayla, & TJ all came out to cheer her on and they thought she did wonderfully. Grandma even bought Emma & Hayden matching leotards for their performance. Could they be any cuter?! After class we all went out for frozen yogurt to celebrate. We love this courtyard by the yogurt shop too. They've got music, shade, and a great little fountain. I keep paint brushes in my jeep and Emma & her friends always have a great time "painting" the bricks, sidewalks, and each other with water. It was the perfect cool treat for a warm summer evening.