Zoo in July!

 We ventured out to the zoo this morning! The weather was warm, but the girls had fun!

Writing!

This has been a fun month of growth for Abby! She is preparing for preschool this Fall by learning her letters (which she now knows all by sight except for a few!), and starting to write them (and trace!!). I found this great wipe-off workbook at Costco and she loves to work on it each night! She even holds the pen so well! Can't wait to see what she learns in school this year!

Arthur's Visit

Grandpa Bob's brother Arthur and his girlfriend Cynthia were in town this week to visit her son and family for vacation in Virginia Beach.

They stopped by yesterday afternoon, I drove them up and around the Norfolk Navy Base, and to the Oceanfront, and then we met Mike at a restaurant for dinner (these first two pics are dark because of the restaurant lighting, sorry). Then we went back to the house and the girls played out back with the balls they brought for them. And then they got to see both girls in action swimming! 

We had a very nice visit, and it sounds like they are enjoying their trip.

 Maddy loved to sit on Arthur's lap and play with the sweet-n-low packets to keep busy!

 Abby sat with Cynthia!! They colored!!

 Fun with their new balls!!

 Cynthia, myself & Arthur

 Ohhhh, our little dirt girl. She started playing in the mulch, making a pile on the rock, then when we weren't looking, she decided to decorate her hair with it! YUCK! And the stuff is hard to get out too......SOLUTION......throw her in the pool!!!

Concert Date Night!!!!

  Summer is in full effect here in Virginia Beach, and that includes the full schedule at our local amphitheater just down the road for all their big shows this summer! Mike and I have been making a big effort to do fun things without the kids (because I know we do plenty with them on a regular basis) and we got tickets to two shows for this summer. I've only been to one concert EVER, so this is a treat! This past Saturday night we had tickets to see Tim McGraw!! Next month, we are going to see "Journey & Foreigner". Followed by our September beach vacation, I think it will be a fun summer for sure!

It was a fun night because we went with two other couples, and had a great dinner together beforehand! I promise we all looked better before we melted at the concert, waiting for the sun to go down behind the stage! After that, it was a perfect evening under the stars being entertained!!

 This is my friend Kristy and her husband, who I used to work with at the property management company when we lived here before! We've always kept in touch, but don't get to see each other much since she works full time (she has a little boy Maddy's age).

Our Navy friends Will & Tracey came too! Made for a fun evening!

Headband LOVER

 

Abby is now in love with headbands! Here is a cute one that Aunt Sarah sent her last week!!

And this is what she wore out the house today......her choosing! She insisted on the yellow dress, ponytail and the headband! Little miss stylista! 

Busch Gardens Trip 2011

We had a VERY busy 4th of July weekend. We topped it off (since Mike had a 4 day weekend with Monday & Tuesday off) with our annual FREE trip to Busch Gardens Amusement Park!

(They allow military and their families in once a year for FREE to any of their parks)

And it worked out great. We went on Tuesday so even though it was summertime and schools are out, there were NO lines!!! That was probably what made the day so enjoyable. Plus the kids loved riding with each other since we went with my friend Danielle and her husband and kids!

A few years back they put in a Sesame Street area with rides and a water splash park for the kids, so we spent a good amount of time there which the kids LOVED!! There was a kiddie roller coaster and a few other rides, plus the water to splash in since we brought their suits!

All in all, we were at the park 12 full hours and had a great day, and even got to catch the firework show!

Here are some photos my friend Danielle captured!!

And of course the next day, Abby asks "When can we go back and ride again??" 

Ummmm....when its FREE again dear!!!

 Maddy and I on the water boat ride....as usual she was a trooper the whole day, and even took a 2 hour nap in the stroller!!

 Maddy's 1st real ride, "Oscars Whirly Worm". The boat rotated back and forth into a circle. She never cried all day, but occasionally held on pretty tight and tucked her head into Mikes side!

 Maddy LOVES the carousel

 The 3 big girls on the Whiry Worm ride

 Abby & Addison piloting their plane up and down

 Mike and Dana escaped a few times to ride the adult rides. The first one was the water ride (which was a great idea since it was 90 degrees and humid all day and night!! They are in the far back row, on the far left (Mikes in the red shirt). 

 The girls really enjoyed cooling off in the splash zone. It was really big and had lots of fun water features

 These 3 girls are hilarious together! Addison, Casey & Abby doing their silly faces!!

They made the day very enjoyable since they could hang out together.

 Enjoying their rides!

And finally, Mr. Cookie Monster! We saw all of the characters live, and took lots of photos! Maddy was the only one who shied away from them.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a wonderful celebration with a big group of friends yesterday for a BBQ/Pool Party at our house!

We are so fortunate to have a large group of friends in our Navy community who love to come hang out and socialize.....and what better way than using up our crazy amount of backyard space!!

We had about 30+ adults and 12+ kids swimming and eating!! It was a great day!

Except that as the hostess, running around doing things, I forgot to take photos!! Booo....guess I need a waterproof digital camera to keep near the pool for future events.....better put it on the list! Otherwise the only photo I got was my dessert contribution, of these patriotic dipped strawberries I made! They were YUMMY! 

 It was in the mid 90's yesterday, and after playing with his friends, Mike ended up like this in the pool all by himself relaxing......for over an hour. Qualifies as good "me" time!!

So of course, in true Abby style, she got sick the day before our party!! She ALWAYS does this....the kid has impeccable timing to ruin most holidays! Its true. The last two New Years Eve parties we had were foiled by her fever & vomiting! Why would this holiday be any different!!?? Luckily while doped up on enough Motrin, she was still able to enjoy the party & swim with her friends. And the day after she is almost back to normal. So I caught a few photos of the girls running around today!

 In their cute matching shirts and patriotic hair clippies!

This is EXACTLY why I am waiting a few more months to pay for a professional photography session......it is IMPOSSIBLE to get the two of them looking cute and smiling in the same direction! Hopefully once Maddy's 2+ her attention span will grow a bit.

 See.....cute, but looking in opposite directions

Story Time

Maddy is officially into animals and their noises now! She LOVES this small animal picture book that we've had laying around forever. She finally took an interest in it, and we must read it 50 times a day! She picks it up, comes over and sits in your lap and starts pointing at the pages waiting for you to make the animal sounds, so she can try to repeat them!! Then just when you think the book is done, she starts ALLLL over again....and again.

 Her favorite (and really only noise beside a duck quacking) that she can do is a growl from a Bear/Lion! Oh, and the Elephant. She loves when we do the sign for elephant by raising our arm like a trunk!

Worker Girl

Well, long story short, after Abby & Daddy got home from shopping at Home Depot, Abby turned into sick Abby with a fever. So Maddy got the pleasure of wearing Abby's apron she got at Home Depot as they were doing a kids craft there......

Maddy loves to dress up and loved the chance to wear it.

 Then she got handy and grabbed the ceiling fan remote like she was a pro! She loved to hit the hi-speed button and watch it go!!!

Lick....anyone???

 Maddy got lucky the other morning, as I was making a marble cake (Daddy and Abby were out doing some shopping) and she got to lick the beater!! She loved it!! She tried to run off and hide in her tent with it.....but I caught her before a big sticky mess ensued!  Sneaky girl!!

Balloon FUN

Last night we had a nice dinner at our friend's house!

The girls got to throw water balloons after dinner, but the most fun was their attempt at blowing up the balloons!! Abby struggled but soon figured it out and had a blast. My friend Danielle caught some great photos of her trying!