Cousin Day Camp at the Lake

On Saturday, we headed out to Lake Striker. Keith and I were scheduled to paint all day and Grammy with the help of Uncle Tone was in charge of the kiddos. Keith and I had worked all week on taping and bedding the new dry wall at the lake house and then putting the texture on. So Saturday was a paint day and we were really hoping to get it done so that the new floors could go in and then furniture so it would be ready for July 4th. We moved slow - but tonight we'll get the second and last coat on everything and then the floors will go in!!

While we were working, Carli, Logan and Ava were having a blast outside with Grammy and Uncle Tone! Grammy had lots planned and she kept them all busy all day! First on the list was a quick trip to Henderson to go to Sherwin Williams to get more paint. Carli and Logan went with Grammy and Ava stayed with us and took a nap...



Once Grammy and crew got back, it was time for the fun to begin! The morning started off "fishing" in the small pool.

Ava even got in on the fishing action! It didn't take long for everyone to get soaking wet - and were down to their little skivvies! So, as soon as they tired of fishing, they all trooped in to put on swimsuits. Do you know how hard it is to put a dry swimsuit on a wet toddler?

Their next activity was awesome! Grammy sprayed out a bunch of shaving cream on the patio table and let them finger paint. Logan and Ava had fun but it was Carli that played for a good 20 minutes...

By the time she was done playing, she had covered her whole body in shaving cream! Uncle Tone said she played quietly and with intense concentration the whole time. He took her for a dunk in the lake to wash her off.

After the shaving cream, it was time for some water fun!!

And finally, the kiddos convinced Uncle Tone, Aunt Chelle and Grammy it was time to play in the lake!!

Carli has much improved her swimming and her confidence over the last couple of weeks.

Ava LOVES the water! She never stopped moving the whole time!

Here are some video that Uncle Tone shot from the day! The last one is my favorite. Keith put a ramp on the deck to make it easier for Grandma to come up and down. It is a bit steep and still has to put a rail up. But Logan made Uncle Keith proud when he found a new use for the ramp! :)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was an AWESOME weekend for the girls! They had so much fun with Grammy, Uncle Tone, Aunt Chelle and Logan! Can't wait for more weekends and more memories to be made!

Zoo With You Big Thank You!!

Carli and Ava had so much fun with Jake and Allison last weekend. We got to see them three times and every single time they wore themselves out playing! Carli likes the idea of doing crafts, but she doesn't have the patience to always finish what we start. So, in an effort to let Jake and Allison (and Aunt Carolyn) know how much fun we had and to thank them for the awesome zoo trip, we took all day last Friday to make some thank you cards.

First thing that morning, we got our animal crackers and put them in "cages" which were sandwich bags that we drew lines on.

Then after Ava went to take her morning nap, Carli was ready to paint. She painted some grass with a fork and green paint...

About an hour later, we worked on painting some blue sky - which looked well with our "floating grass!"

And then, even later, we added some clouds to the sky...this part she really liked. I should probably invest in some elmers glue!

Finally, just before nap time we declared our "thank yous" finished. Carli was quite pleased with herself. I thought it turned out pretty good.

While the girls napped, I added a quick note to the back...

Not so sure the animal crackers made it all the way to Amarillo or Fairfield in one piece...but it was the thought that counts, right?! :)

Caldwell Zoo with Jake & Allison

Last Monday, Carli, Ava and I met up with Aunt Carolyn, Jake and Allison at the zoo. We had a lot of fun and it was the perfect size for a morning adventure!

Our other half got held up a bit, so the girls and I had lots of fun in the sand pit and at the petting zoo. It was not crowded at all - so we had lots of room to build and smash "sand castles!"

Ava thought holding the shovel was the funniest thing!

Carli filled and dumped and filled and dumped her bucket...

Ava LOVES to "drive," so the real tractor was a big hit!

Carli really surprised me at the petting zoo. The fact that she went in was good - and I really didn't expect her to do anything else. But she marched around the pen like she owned it. She petted a couple of goats and then came upon this goat napping. She promptly announced, "This is my favorite!" And got a little upset when another little girl tried to pet it!

When Aunt Carolyn, Jake and Allison arrived, we headed out to see the animals. Carli quickly attached herself to Allison.

Aunt Carolyn and Carli looking for the giraffes.

I thought she would love the giraffes and elephants, but she just glanced at them and was ready to move on...

Turns out it was the huge turtles that kept her attention - they seriously just sat there and Carli would have sat and watched them all day!

Jake was our official map reader, and Carli was his assistant!

Don't tell Jake and Carli, but it was really Ava that told us where to go!

We had an awesome time at the zoo and were so glad to get to spend the morning with some of our awesome family!

Swimming at Lake Striker

Last Sunday after church, we drove out to the lake to meet up with Jake and Allison who were visiting Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Johnny for the week while their parents were in Hawaii. Grammy, Pa, Uncle Tone and Grandma all came out too. We had an amazing lunch and an awesome afternoon visiting! Carli was very excited to see Jake and Allison and to show them Grammy's big big water. :)

After lunch, we took a swim in the lake. The girls had a blast, it seems the love for water skipped a generation. But being the good mother that I am (wink) I put on my swimsuit and crawled right in to supervise!

Ava had so much fun. She even laid back to "float" but the sun was in her eyes so she didn't like that much.

She did "float" for a minute or two before she had had enough.

We bought Carli a puddle jumper floatation device and it worked really well. She slowly gained confidence the longer she was in the water. Uncle Tone helped a little...

"I can do it all by myself"
Words I hear multiple times a day!

Carli did attach herself to Allison - so glad Allison was such a good sport. I'm sure she was worn out by the end of the day!

The girls was so tired, that church that evening was actually quite pleasant - not near as much "shushing," or threatening to go out if they didn't sit still! :)

Yeah, pretty sure this Lake House being only 30 minutes away is going to be a wonderful place where awesome memories are made!

Day One...

Our project this week was to focus on Day One of creation. Aunt Carolyn is an amazing lady and she made me a copy of some of her Bible Class material a few months ago. Carli really enjoys our "flash cards" and singing the Days' of Creation song. Our other aunt, Aunt SuAnne, shared with us a really neat site: www.icanteachmychild.com. So we put the two together and started our "project" of the week, which ended up being just one day. Live and learn!

We took a box - the only one we could find - and painted the inside black. Carli did a really good job of painting - I only had to get the corners for her.

Then we taped it closed and painted the outside just for fun. Ava woke up from her nap in the middle of this part so she came "help" us. She and I ended up with more paint on our hands than on the box. :) But we had fun!

And then we cut two circles in one side and one circle on another. Carli looked through the two circles and informed me there was nothing there. I let her have the flashlight to shine in the other hold and told her to look again. She was so funny, she jumped back and said, "I see the light!"

Carli loves to sing, but strangely her enunciation gets rather bad when she sings...but we sang, "Day One, Day One, God Made Light When There Was None" all day and on into the week.

Slowly but surely, we are learning! :)

We Love Our Backyard

One last catch up post...

Way back in May when Momma was in AZ and Naggy came down to play - she got some good shots of the girls playing in the backyard.

Carli's "new" used scooter

See, even a month ago, Ava could walk really well assisted - too bad that mower doesn't really mow! I could use the help!

The good news is that I think I am at least within a week of being back on track with the blog! :)

Summer Fun

Just catching up with some posts that never got published!

The girls LOVE to play in the water - these pictures are from the first official water play of the season in May...

Discovery Science Center

Last Wednesday we met up with Kenzie and Kori for a morning at the Discovery Science Center. The girls were very excited to get to play together and to check out this new adventure!

We had been to a Discovery Science Center in the Woodlands, and were totally oblivious to the existence on the one in Tyler until recently. I was pretty excited to find it and we got a family membership so that the girls and I can go whenever we like. It has some really neat areas for the kids to play and explore and then a whole other area that is pretty much a pint size town of a grocery store, hospital, cafe, vet and even a coffee house.

My camera was acting up so the first few shots I took were not in focus, but this one of Carli rocking a baby at the "hospital" was super cute, even if it was a little blurry.

A cute little shot of the girls side by side...at least for the moment they were still, in close proximity to each other. This in and of itself is a HUGE accomplishment. Just imagine you can see their faces. :)

Ava and Kenzie

The puzzle center.

All the girls really liked the area about gravity.

Ava did a lot of watching and then she copied! :)

And I was quite surprised when the iguana came out that it was Carli that almost touched it and even smiled at it!

Pretty sure the girls and I will be spending a lot of time here over the next year! We got to check out the zoo this week too! It's a whole new world of exploration when both girls can walk! ha!