Took my Girl on a date tonight. Her one-on-one Momma-time is scarce these days so we left the little Girls with Daddy and sneaked off to the nail salon. She has been
desperately wanting to go ever since Lil Sis got her's done at the birthday party. Afterwards I planned on taking her to her favorite restaurant, Applebees, but was shocked when she asked to go to Olive Garden instead. "I just love their breadsticks!" was her reason for choosing it over Applebees. Who doesn't?! Can't really argue with that and so we played tic tac toe while munching on breadsticks and sipping ginormous strawberry-mango lemonades.
We've been waiting a long time for this...
Haven't had much opportunity to set up sprinklers in the yard this summer but today was one of those days.
These two got in a water fight. I love that they have known each other over half their lives and that someday they'll look back on
these pictures and reminisce about all the memories they share. I hope that they'll still be friends 30 years from now
when they have their own children.
We have two triathletes in the house now! About a month ago the Girl told J that she wanted to do a race like him. No
sooner did the words roll off her tongue than he was at the computer looking up kids triathalons. I had no idea that they even existed but, why wouldn't they?! In fact, a lot of triathalons have a kids race. So early this morning J completed his first Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 6 mile run) triathalon and then the Girl gave it a shot (50 yard swim/splash, 1 mile bike, 1/4 mile run).
Here she is testing out the water and ready to go.
J, one-part fierce competitor, one-part extremely nervous Dad was giving her some pointers.
We waited for what seemed like forever before the race got under way.
Finally! The water was shallow enough that the kids could just splash through the course if they preferred.
Love the grin on her face. It was pretty easy to see that she was having fun.
In the transition area.
Ready to hop on her bike. J ran along side the ropes the entire course and she was not happy about it. In an effort to ditch him she pedaled
faster while yelling, "I'm old enough to do it myself!"
She had some sweet friends cheering her on. Although later she told me, "I could've done without all the cheering, I
She crossed the finish line 19 minutes and 14 seconds after she began to the cheering adoration of her Momma, sisters, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle and friends and to the great relief of her Dad. Within minutes of finishing she was already asking when she could do another one. Guess she's hooked like her Dad.
This lil cutie is a newly minted Big Sister to this sweet...
Baby Girl. We had the pleasure of meeting her today and at just two weeks old she is so tiny. It is already hard to imagine that Baby Miss was once that small not too long ago!
We also did this today...
And so it begins - the enamoration with all things 'American Girl.' A new store opened here last weekend and when we were at
the mall yesterday, it was unavoidable. Even if we had managed to steer clear of the store the evidence of it's existence was a huge presence in the mall what with the huge signs adorning the common areas not to mention girls of all ages toting their dolls everywhere we looked. And dang-it, you can't walk into the store and not catch the bug. They obviously have very talented individuals on their marketing and merchandise branding divisions. The store layout, the colors, the
displays, the packaging and the concept {Where else can you take your doll to get her hair done or to eat with you in a high chair especially for her?!} are all cheery and spectacular. But alas, I refuse to pay twice as much for a doll outfit than I would for an outfit for any of my Girls. The Girl and I have read quite a few of the books and she knew that dolls existed but it never went any further than that. Gone are the days of being able to discreetly dispose of the catalogues that I received in the mail and with them any idea of ever owning one of the dolls. So after spending time in the store and multiple requests for this or that I came up with, "Put it on your Christmas wish list." {We'll be forwarding that on to the grandparents. Ha, ha!}
This morning we gave puffs another shot. She definitely showed more interest and even if they never make it to her mouth,
just trying to grasp them between her fingers is enough. It's an exercise in improving her fine motor skills and it is way fun to
watch. Once she actually has one inbetween her fingers she's not quite sure what to do with it. But not to worry, her sisters
have it covered. They were eager to help her out and soon there were puffs coming from both directions. But alas,
it was not love at first
putting them in. Eventually she got a few puffs to her mouth on her own but those came back out too. In the end, I was left
cleaning up soggy puffs and their resultant goo. Mmm, yum!
And why is it that boxes are always so much more fun than toys?!
This week the Girl and Miss A started soccer camp. Two hours every night this week they will be running, kicking and learning 
district's high school team and they are keeping it light-hearted and fun.
They even made themselves the targets of a soccer-inspired dodgeball game and took some pretty hard hits. At the end of each session
they split the kids up for scrimmages. True to her personality, the Girl has been more concerned with the fashion aspect of
her orange penny than the actual gameplay. Even Lil Sister has had the opportunity to do a little playing on the sidelines.
She can kick with the best of them!
Tonight we had to seek refuge from the rain under the bleacher stairs, it was a cozy little hang out.
This weekend we were at J's Mom's house and she has a pool. Shortly after arriving on Friday night the Girls were begging to get in. They all loved it, well, Lil
This Girl is our fearless fish and diving board daredevil.
Baby Miss was very comfortable in the water, so much so that it almost immediately lulled her to sleep. I wonder if she felt like she was back in the womb - the water was pretty
warm. This is the Girls' cousin. He's a fish too, a fish that prefers underwear over swim trunks.
When the water wasn't putting her to sleep, she loved to splash with her hands and feet.
These two are swim buddies and when B is around, her and the Girl are pretty much inseparable.
