4th of July in Clear Lake

Per usual, we spent time over the 4th in Clear Lake with my family (and per usual, my 4th of July posts tend to get pretty long.)  Peter was able to come with us for the weekend and we were able to see A LOT of family.  We celebrated my Grandma Charlie's 80th birthday and my Grandpa Don's 90th birthday and then had yet another birthday party later on the same day to celebrate all the rest of the June and July birthdays in the family.  One of which was this cutie patootie...

Miss Eliza June (my niece) just turned one on July 6th - crazy how fast that year went.  I remember last year when she was born...and she didn't have a name for two and half days =).  Now we can't imagine life without her and she is seriously one of the most precious babies I know. 

The girls and I stayed until Thursday and did a little of this and that - it was HOT which changed some of our plans but we were still able to have a lot of fun and enjoy many of the 4th of July festivities in Clear Lake.

Eliza again - it was nice to have a few play dates with my brother's family.  It is really fun watching the kids grow up and learn to play together now that they are a little older.

Olivia was at it again (some of you may have seen her hair-dos that I posted on facebook.)  She is really in to doing hair lately and Aunt Melodee was a really good sport to let her do hers.  Looks like a hairstyle out of a Dr. Seuss book or something.

We opted to skip the city beach since it was SO hot and there really isn't much shade down there.  Instead, we just filled up the little pool and turned on the sprinkler each night in the evening.  The kids loved it and it was way more relaxing for all of us adults.  Grandpa told all the kids that if they ran through the middle of the sprinkler (not just around) that they would get Bomb Pops...

My nephew Samuel.

Grandpa even helped.

Eliza watching all the action go down.

Sufficiently wet!  Time for Bomb Pops =)

Keeping cool.

Being cute.

This wasn't the best photo we got, but it is my favorite - happiness and chaos in a little baby pool!

Olivia is SO good at sharing - and Eliza didn't mind one bit!

The next morning Grandma got out the Mickey Mouse waffle maker - which really makes the waffles look more like pancakes, but still cute.

We decided to beat the heat and walk down town to the splash pad and park for the morning.  Here are the girls sitting on the bench that my Aunt and Uncle donated and had put in City Park last year after my Grandpa Chan died (it will be one year that he has been gone on July 20th.)  The plaque reads, "For Chan Ward who loved Clear Lake, from his family who loved him."

Abbie loved pretending this was her princess tower.

Grandma treated us to smoothies at Cabin Coffee before we walked back home.  By then we were all REALLY hot!

That evening we went out to the pool at the condo where my Grandma lives.  Mom and I were there more to relax while the girls and Grandpa had a slightly different agenda =)

Next day - we went to Culvers for lunch with my Grandma  and then didn't do a whole lot but this is the way the girls decided to cool off on this particular afternoon.  They came to ask me for sponges and bowls of water so I thought they were going to be washing toys, the deck, etc.  I checked on them 10 minutes later and this is what I found.  They told me they were taking showers.

Abbie had asked me several times during the first few days we were there if we could go to the carnival.  I kept avoiding it - never been a super big fan of the carnival but on Tuesday night, we decided VERY last minute (like AT bedtime) to go downtown and let the girls go on a couple of rides.  Well, a couple turned into Grandma buying a bunch of tickets and the girls couldn't have been happier.  It was SUPER hot but they loved every little dirty thing about that carnival...and I just followed them around with hand sanitizer =)

Abbie and I went on the ferris wheel.

LOVE this picture of her.  I think we were going down!

View of Clear Lake from the top.

Olivia changed her mind last minute and stayed with Grandma, but she loved waving every time we would go by.

The first "ride" that the girls did together.  Grandma took them down (I was too pregnant and we thought Grandpa would make them go too fast.)  They still went REALLY fast - both were a little scared on the first run down.

Grandpa had fun spinning them on the Dizzy Dragon ride!

The girls had to ride on the 'Truck'in USA' ride for daddy.  (He doesn't drive a truck - just works for a trucking company.)

Much happier girls after going down the slide a second time - their last ride of the night.

The next morning we woke up and headed over to my Aunt and Uncles for the parade.  The live on a huge corner lot, right at the beginning of the parade and they always very graciously host us and many other friends and family.

Olivia has her candy bag all ready to go.

My brother Dustin and his wife Melodee with my nephew, Samuel and niece, Eliza.

Another night of sprinklers, pools and Bomb Pops.

Seriously...who needs a bath?!?

We introduced the girls to sparklers before Olivia went to bed.  I honestly didn't think they would like them but they went through about 3 boxes.  It would have been more fun in the dark but they really didn't mind.

Abbie actually stayed awake this year and went with mom and I to watch fireworks.  My mom has a friend who lives down the street, right on the lake and we watch them from her back yard.  We seriously couldn't get any closer - the four barges they set the fireworks off from are right off the shore from where we sat.

She liked the fireworks but she isn't a fan of loud noise so she watched them the whole time like this.

I should congratulate the city of Clear Lake.  This was the first year since I have had children that the fireworks finale has woken up one of my children.  My dad stayed home with Olivia and watched the fireworks from the backyard, occasionally going in to check if she was still asleep.  She stayed asleep through the whole thing but when he came in after the finale, she was at the bottom of the stairs (in the empty house) just standing there crying, saying she didn't like the "boom booms" (poor thing.)  They were CRAZY loud - louder than I ever remember a finale being.  Thankfully she went right back to sleep but hopefully it didn't scare her away for next year since I will probably let her go see them when she is 3.

We had a great time - relaxing with family and enjoying my hometown.  It was great to get back home to see daddy though and I am sure Grandma and Grandpa needed a rest by then too =).  A big thanks to my mom and dad for all they did while we were there!

Hope you all had a nice 4th as well.  I love that the girls noticed all of the flags (seriously, how could you miss them?)  It gave us several opportunities to talk about the sacrifices that many have made for our country, and are continuing to make today.  Thank you to all of you who have served and who are currently serving to protect our freedom!

Read more...

Biking and Swimming

I would say that most of June could be summarized by the pictures below.  Some friends (and neighbors) are letting us borrow their bike trailer for the summer and the girls LOVE it!  We have been looking for one to buy for a while but either we find one that is way above our price range, or a total piece of junk.  So borrowing is working out great for now (thanks John and Kim.)  And to be honest, Abbie really doesn't fit in it but she manages and I am thankful the girls can get along while riding so smooshed together =).  Hopefully by next summer we will have our own trailer which Olivia and Baby #3 can share, and Abbie will be confident enough on her own wheels by then.  We got out for a family bike ride too - not SUPER comfortable for me, so we kept it pretty short but Peter has worked really hard to make sure our bikes are all in working order and even adjusted my seat as to accommodate my, uh, discomfort shall we say =).  I have so many fond memories of family bike rides when I was little and I am glad our girls are enjoying this as well - their favorite part is when daddy bikes them through all the sprinklers!

Goofy girls!

Both girls took swimming lessons during the month of June - the first time for Olivia.  They both did super duper and if it weren't for Olivia's age, she could have totally been in the next class up.  She liked having daddy help her but she is fairly independent in the water and doesn't have the fear of water that Abbie did when she was her same age.

Olivia practicing her kicking with daddy.  (You may notice Abbie in the back ground (blue suit.)  Yes, this was a distraction at times - for both of the girls.  But it made it really nice for me to be able to sit and watch them all at the same time!)

 Swimming on her own with the noodle was her FAVORITE part of each lesson.

 Abbie practicing using her arms in the water - can you find her?

Testing day - Back float

Front float

Jumping off the side to her instructor - she wouldn't do this without grabbing the teachers hands until after the first couple of weeks.  By the end she was much more brave and even started going under the water (this is a BIG deal for her.)

Both girls passed their classes and we may do swim lessons again in the fall - we'll see how we are all adjusting to the new changes - baby, Kindergarten, etc.  I am really thankful that Peter was able to join us - he said that it was really fun and it actually wore him out a little.  He even bribed encouraged the girls with root beer floats if they went under the water during their lessons.  Needless to say, it sort of worked and both girls are much more comfortable with the idea.  We'll still be working on it for a while though =).  

Read more...