Twins Game

We had fun at a Twins game tonight with Bryan and Ashly.

Grandpa and Grandma baby-sat, and they had a baseball party at our house -- complete with decorations and a concession stand featuring hot dogs, baseball cupcakes and more.  So mad I forgot to take a picture of their party!

Valley Days

We had a fun weekend at the lake and celebrating Valley Days.

Coin hunt!

Pet show!  Our favorites were "Charlie" the cat, "Snickers" the bunny, and ALL the dogs.

But the best part was the parade, which Emmy calls "the papade"!  The kids got to watch most of the parade where Emmy was the champion candy collector -- always with an open piece of candy in her hand/mouth.

Then, then it was THEIR turn to get into Grandpa's tractor and ride in the parade!  Reese was great at throwing out candy, Aubrey waved the whole time, and Emmy mostly just ate the candy.  Peyton, Brayden (and Grandpa too) squirted the crowd with water.

And of course we spent a lot of time in the lake -- day and night.

Click here for a video of the jumping beans.

We got out the water bouncer, and the kids got more and more brave throughout the weekend.  Click here for a video.

Click here for a video that proves "girls rule" when playing "king of the hill".  

Nice pose, Daddy.

No Strep

Reese woke up this morning with a sore throat and fever.  With her history of strep throat (she had it 3 times during the school year), I took her to the doctor.  Before leaving, Reese had to coordinate her butterfly dress with a butterfly tiara.  Looking good, even when sick.

We found out good news... no strep!  So we celebrated with pancakes at iHop where Reese found "the best orange juice in the world!"

Best Buddy

Emmy calls Logan her "Best Buddy."  They are so sweet together.

ECFE

We have been having fun at our ECFE class this summer.  Both girls love the different art projects and activities each week.  Emmy does great even during the separation period when the moms leave the room to go talk.  I tell her to have fun, and she responds, "You have fun too, Mom!"

Studio 55 Dance

A new dance studio opened in town (so nice to not have to drive for once), so we had to check it out.  The place is cute and offered a special "Princess Ballet" demo class tonight.  Both girls did great and looked adorable.  The teacher (Katie) said Emmy was a very good listener, even though she was a little young for this class -- was supposed to be 3.  We'll very likely be signing up for classes starting this fall.  Yay!  Little ballerinas!

Videos of the performance -- video 1, video 2.

Food on a Stick

Why is it that food on a stick just tastes better?

Reading

I think I can officially declare that Reese read her 1st book.  It's always hard to tell with her because she has so many books memorized.  It's no surprise that her 1st book was about a vet/animals.

Grandma is working with her on sight words and more.  She's on her way to becoming a reader!

Fastpitch

Another fun night at tee ball.  Some of the Rockford High Fastpitch team came to help coach tonight.  They took 3rd in the state tournament this year, so I hope the girls were listening to their tips.

Father's Day Party

The girls threw Daddy and Grandpa a Father's Day Party.  We started with dinner at the River Inn.

Then headed home for pie and ice cream... and "ribbon" dancing.

Grandma reminded us of "Ruprecht" from the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."  In case you aren't familiar, I have included a picture, and click here for a video clip.  Ha!

Another Puzzler

Emmy put together her first (non-baby) puzzle today.  Looks like we have another excellent puzzler in the family.  Good job, Em!

Father's Day

Emmy had a tummy ache in the middle of the night.  In honor of Father's Day, she cried for DADDY and would not let me take care of her.  Then she slept on Daddy's tummy for the rest of the night.  Honestly it was a win-win -- Daddy felt loved and I got to sleep.  :)

"No Mommy.  I want Daddy!"

Cousins

Fun times with cousins.

Swim play dates always end with lots of food!

These two crazy little girls!

Carnival rides!

Click here for a video of Reese going down the huge slide at the carnival.

Great baseball tournament, Brayden!