it's that time again

I really do enjoy fall, but I absolutely detest winter! Inevitably my enjoyment of this season is tainted with the dread of what comes next. So here I am trying to savor every last bit of nice weather we have left before we become hermits for flu season. Here are some of the moments that I have managed to catch on film from our not-so-hot summer. (In no particular order)

Kennedy in one of her bazillion rides in her car.

Reagan's freckle in her eye shows up better in the sunlight (the left one).

Exploring with my friends while their older siblings are in school. (Camryn, Kennedy, Reagan, Bentley)

Bentley and Reagan looking at spiders in a tree.

Took the girls putt-putting so we could check it off our "summer fun list".

Reagan had very interesting form.

Kennedy biffed it on one of the bumps in the green - hilarious!

She absolutely loved it, can you tell?

Took the girls to the Hartland farmers market because it wasn't on Sunday, Kennedy insisted on carrying these peppers all around the market (we did pay for them) and then in the car and then at home...

Playing with those capsules that "grow" into dinosaurs when immersed in water. The kitchen got pretty soaked from all the splashing and Kennedy kept drinking the water with her spoon.

One nap time when I went in to check on Reagan, this is what I found - hmmmm....

Kennedy's first time finger-painting. Good thing it was non-toxic!

They always fall asleep with their blankets in weird positions...

She pulled out all the diapers and underwear so she could play in the basket.

What can I say? Even winter can't be that bad with kids like these!

the par-tay!

I don't think Reagan could have been more excited for her party or happier with how it turned out! She was a complete angel for the whole thing and totally loved it! Not to mention the awesome gifts her friends brought her. She has played with ALL of them today - thanks everyone!

I was so excited to let her experience her Dora adventure not once, but twice. Especially after all the time I put into it! I changed up the adventure for her friends party, still used the cave and slide (hill), but they had to do different things to get to them this time. My wonderful friend Lara took the pictures for me! (You can check out her stuff at http://www.laradouglasphotography.blogspot.com/ ) So here's the party...

Swiper swiped the cake again, that started the adventure.

So we put on our backpacks and headed outside.

Trying to figure out how to cross the river to get to the hill.

We had to put turtles on the river to use as stepping stones to get across.

Next we had to look for the cave.

I just thought this was a cute picture of all the kids listening to the Map.

We found the cave, but this time the grumpy old troll was sleeping!

We had to find our whistles to wake him up!

Then we had to help him remember the correct words to Twinkle, Twinkle.

Those whistle were great fun! (Glad the kids took 'em home!)

Racing through the cave!

Reagan is totally excited for her friends to come through too!

We found the "cake" and sang Happy Birthday!

"Thank You!"

She patiently held onto her cone until Daddy went inside and got her enzymes ready.

Kennedy devoured hers!

Finally Reagan went to town on hers!

She's such a good little sister! She loved participating!

Alan couldn't let the kids have all the fun!

Yea! The twins came all the way across the state for the party!

Stephen is such a cutie!

Reagan testing out her toys before bed. This is a projector that puts pictures of Dora and the Backyardigans on the wall! Awesome!

Playing "Cinderella" in the morning.

She then proceeded to watch her new Dora movie while she had her breathing treatment, and who was sitting with her for the treatment? Her new Dora doll! So, within 30 minutes of being awake, she put all of her new presents to good use! Happy Happy Birthday Reagan! We love you so much!

the party through pictures

Reagan's Dora party with our family was a success! Phew! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pull it off, or that the older cousins would think it was too childish, or that the kids wouldn't follow the plot, or that it just wouldn't be fun... But everyone seemed to really like the adventure, especially the birthday girl! I do have video footage from the adventure that I will post once I edit it (Grandpa had a tendency to inadvertently focus on butts.) So here is our adventure through pictures!

We started out by letting everyone decorate their own telescope with crayons and Dora and Diego stickers. (Made out of paper towel rolls that I spray painted white.)

Then we let all of the kids put on tattoos. Dora for the girls and Spiderman for Austin (couldn't find Diego).

The adventure began when we went to see Reagan's birthday cake and found out that Swiper had swiped the cake!

Everyone had to get their backpack (from the dollar store that I took the designs off and painted backpack's face on.)

So who did we ask to help us find our cake? The Map! (And we danced to the song - hence Kalli's nice moves!)

Our first stop was berry hill, where the farmer was asleep blocking the path.

The kids had to find something in their backpacks to wake the farmer. They all blew their whistles and Farmer Molly woke up!
Farmer Molly needed everyone to find her berries and put them in her bucket before they could cross her hill.
Finally they all got to go over the hill! (I love how excited Reagan is in this picture!)

Then we had to ask Map where our next stop was. We danced again. (I'm Dora - in case you couldn't tell.)

We used our telescopes to find the cave.

When we got to the cave, we met the Grumpy Old Troll. (Apparently the adults thought it was funny, but the kids look a little unsure...)

The Grumpy Old Troll (aka Rick) needed the kids to help him put a puzzle together before they could go through his cave.

We had to use our flashlights to get through the dark cave, and then we just needed to find the FIESTA!

Yeah! We made it, and all of our friends were waiting for us!

Reagan sang all of her birthday cards to us - hilarious!

Her final present from Grandpa, Sunshine and Becky.

Whew. We made it. Reagan the explorer is 3. Yippee!

she wants to be big

Kennedy adores Reagan, and therefore tries to do EVERYTHING she does! She tries to say everything she says and do everything she does. Kennedy pulls Reagan's undies out of the basket and tries to put them on. She puts on Reagan's shoes all the time and walks around in them. When it is time for Reagan to go potty, Kennedy races into the bathroom with her and puts the potty seat on and moves the stool while Reagan takes off her pants and undies. Then when Reagan is done, Kennedy tries to help her pull her pants up! Kennedy has learned how to count to ten because Reagan is always counting (and she hears me count whenever Reagan is being disobedient.) She sings along to Backyardigans and Dora with Reagan. She even notices Dora and Diego and Backpack everywhere we go! She is just so observant! She found my nail clippers the other day and pretended to clip her toenails. Then she found a Q-tip and pretended to clean her ears. She also LOVES bandaids and insists on opening them and putting them on all by herself. She is just so much fun! Anyways, I just wanted to give a little update on her since the next few posts will be about Reagan's birthday. Her family party is saturday and I am soooo excited! I have been planning a Dora party for her for about 2 months now and I may just be more excited than she is! Anyways, here is a clip of Kennedy counting to 10!

conscience

Reagan has become my conscience when we are in a store. You know how sometimes you pick something up and then later decided you don't "need" it and just set it down. Well, sometimes I will just put it on the nearest shelf rather than walking across the store to put it back. Reagan's very loud reaction, "Mommy, that's not where it goes!" Then she will repeatedly say it until I give in and let her take it back to it's rightful spot. Then I feel guilty.

singing?

This is what 20+ hours in the car did for my girls. Previous to the trip Kennedy would not even take notice of the television. But being strapped into your car seat with only a few toys and a dvd player apparently changed that. Now she loves to *sing* along to the Backyardigans over and over. She also loves Dora the Explorer. Big sis' faves have rubbed off on her. Here is a little show...

the trip

I am relying on friends and family for pictures, so pictures may be sporadic. We left thursday morning at 2am for Maryland. The girls apparently thought it was great to be woken up at 2, and therefore didn't go back to sleep. It took Kennedy 1.5 hours before she fell asleep and Reagan lasted 2.5 hours in the pitch black morning hours before she finally closed her eyes. Then, at the first crack of light they were wide awake. Yikes! So crankiness was inevitable. We checked in to our hotel and headed to DC to spend a few hours before we needed to be back at the hotel to meet everyone. We didn't see a whole lot, but the girls were happy to be out of the car and run around. Reagan rode the carousel twice, Kennedy only once, and we hit the Museum of Natural History. They thought the Metro was awesome!

Next we headed with the family to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We ended up waiting 1.5+ hours before we got seated. Luckily Kennedy snoozed for half of it, and Reagan wandered the mall with Aunt Amber. They rode the escalator way too many times and watched a band play music. Dinner was yummy, of course!

Day two we headed to the Temple at 9. Lots of pictures and a wedding ceremony, then we headed to lunch about 1. The girls napped for most of the drive to Philadelphia, phew! We checked in at our hotel and then headed to the reception. The girls (especially Reagan) loved, loved, loved to dance! Afterwards we took them to the hotel and put them down and played games with the family (we miss you Tuckers!)

Sunday we decided to head in the opposite direction of home and drove to New Jersey. They have an awesome Aquarium there! I am hoping to get pictures from Jon to show you this weekend. We got to pet, yes PET, sharks, starfish, anemone, jellyfish, shrimp... It was AWESOME! Plus we got to see penguins and seals and hippos and turtles and fish and... Yea, I will just have to show you pictures. Then we embarked on the 12 hour drive home - fun!

So here are some pictures of my cute lil girls in their $15 dresses brand new off Ebay!

They danced...

and danced...
and danced...

My little momma's girl

An *attempt* at a family picture...

My sweet lil beauties - what troopers!

Congratulations to Eric and Khirah - pictures to come!