Together

I loved today! I woke up and decided to take the girls to the zoo one last time before our pass expires. It was unusually hot, so we made our visit short. Eleanor enjoyed the crocodile and turtles the most. We also got to see the rhinos up close (this was the first for us!). After the zoo we met up with John for lunch. He has moved offices and is now right across the street from the library. I have a feeling lunches are going to be a lot more frequent with his move! After lunch I took the girls to the Natural History Museum for the photobooth. I was excited it was working and thrilled with the strips we got. Eleanor got to pick out a fancy pink rock and she said it would help her remember this day. She said I was better then all the other moms and that she had lots of fun today. She totally made my day!

Swimming

We are loving summer around our house! Eleanor seriously loves the water! Today our friends, Kate, Zack and Brianne came over for a little water fun. It was also Amelia's first appearance in a swim suit, and I just think she might be the cutest swim suit model out there!

Eleanor was quite the bully today with the hose. I'm pretty sure she sprayed everyone in the face at least once. Poor Amelia even got it but she didn't seem to mind too much. I'm going to be sad when our lazy summer days are over.

For the Record

This morning I put on a playlist of all the songs Eleanor is learning in Primary. When she heard the first song she came running up to me and asked, "Mom, how did you get this song? Did you still it from the church?".

It's officially Summer

I feel like my summer doesn't official start until we attend Lehi Round Up. Growing up, my hometown had a huge celebration for the 24th of July and I LOVED everything about it! I am so happy that my own little Lehi, UT too has it's own town celebration. I really do look forward to the parades, breakfast in the park and of course the rodeo. I even love getting up early in the morning to go set out our blankets for the parade.

Speaking of blankets for parades, I've never seen a town so serious about their parades. No joke, blankets and chairs were set out days before the parades!! I was thrilled to find a nice shady spot for the stock parade. It was so hot! Eleanor loved watching all the horses and kept asking if she could have every single horse that went by. Amelia enjoyed her first parade zonked out in Michelle's arms.

After the parade we enjoyed take out from our new favorite restaurant, The Thai House and then headed on over to the rodeo. The rodeo was great! Much better then last year. Eleanor had fallen asleep last year on the way to the rodeo and was a complete butt! We ended up leaving only an hour into it. This year I prepared and made sure she took a good nap before. What a difference! She enjoyed every second of it. In fact, I asked if she wanted to go with me to get a treat and her response was, "I don't want to miss the rodeo". Amelia was such a great little cowgirl. She didn't fuss once and seemed to enjoy herself. She is completely opposite of Eleanor. Eleanor slept threw most the rodeo when she was Amelia's age, but not Amelia. She stayed a wake for the entire thing and wanted to be a part of everything.


This year I was afraid we wouldn't feel up to going to the breakfast and the parade due to our late night at Lagoon. But, we were all up and out of our house at 8am! (Of course, I was up at 5 am to go lay out blankets. Lehi Round Up goers are serious about saving their parade spots! Some people had their stuff out days before!). Breakfast at the park was fun and Amelia got to enjoy her first pancakes. I always wish some of my family was in town to enjoy all the festivities, and this year we got to have Elizabeth and her kids! Eleanor was beyond excited to be with her cousins and I believe everyone enjoyed the parade.

Lagoon

I think the last time I went to Lagoon I was maybe 10 or 12. I remember coming up to Utah and being with my cousins, but I really don't remember Lagoon so much. So, I was pleasantly surprised at just how much fun I had! At 10:00 pm John had to pretty much drag Eleanor and I out of the park!

John got to go up in the morning with his work to volunteer with the Boys and Girls club. My friend, Kristy, and I drove up later during the day so the kids could go on some rides while we waited for the guys to finish with the Boys and Girls club. We brought Rachelle Zundel with us and she was ADORABLE! She was such great help with the kids and was so fun to have.

Eleanor of course loved any ride with water. She was hilarious on the rapid ride. When we first started going down some pretty big rapids she grabbed me tight and said, "Oh my God. I don't think we should be doing this". I couldn't help but laugh! (We are working with her on saying 'Oh my gosh'). Kristy and Kelly watched the babies while we went down with all the kids the first time and we got soaked!! The kids loved the ride so much that of course they wanted to go down again with Kristy and Kelly. It was a blast watching them come down stream and hearing the screaming. I could have spent all day on that ride!

I think the very best part of the day was just watching the kids and seeing how much fun they had. The funniest was watching Eleanor go on the lady bug ride with Kristy. The girl was terrified! She was crying and yelled to Kristy, "Get me off this thing!". She was a little apprehensive about the following few rides, but she got over it.

I'd have to give Lagoon two thumbs up! I really loved it!!

I took too many photos and had a hard time choosing just a few.

Curlers

It's official, Amelia's mohawk is long enough for a curler! I put her first one in today and she wasn't to thrilled about it. Before the hair could dry and curl, she had ripped the curler out of her hair and chucked it. I'm not sure she'll let me put another curler in her hair, but I'm going to attempt. Nothing is better then a baby with that single curl on top of her head!!

Twinkle Toes

Yesterday ate the store Eleanor ran up to the pair of shoes she is wearing in the photo and says, "Mom, I want sketchers. I really really want these twinkle toes". For a split second I thought Eleanor had learned how to read overnight! (Who am I kidding, the girl doesn't even know all her letters yet). I asked her how on earth she knew what sketchers were. She told me she had seen them on a commercial. I'm quickly realizing that kid marketers are genius! Like Hannah Montana. Eleanor has never seen the Hannah Montana show, yet she knows all about her and can point her things out anywhere! I wish the same marketers could go work for companies of my choice.

This Is Why

I love it when she wakes up from a nap! She's our little performer and loves to pose for the camera. And the rolls, oh the rolls!!

Things That Make Me Happy

Today I've been thinking about the little things that currently make me happy. Here are a few:
*Opening my front and bedroom doors in the morning. I love the fresh breeze.
*Having a clean and organized pantry.
*Hearing Eleanor ask for a starwars (starburst).
*Listening to Amelia laugh at Eleanor.
*My camelback water bottle.
*The toy room downstairs.
*Utah summer nights.
*Eleanor sleeping in her own bed.
*Noise machine.
*Amelia taking two two-hour long naps each day (thanks to the machine mentioned above).
*Vitamin Water.
*Playtime with cousins and friends.
*Local splash park.
*Eleanor being able to open the car door, get inside and buckle the top of her carseat.
*Parade season.
*A/C and ceiling fans.
*Runs to maverick for either a drink or to hit up the redbox.
*Eleanor's new love for donuts.
*Amelia when she wakes up from her naps.

The list goes on, but I've got a 'to do list' that's even longer!

Princess Party

Eleanor is heading out to her very first Princess Party. The Legacy Center puts on a big Princess Party each year and she was invited to go with her good friend, Julia. I kind of wish I was tagging along to see her face and excitment when she sees all the princesses. I know is going think she has died and gone to heaven. Before she left, she wanted me to take a few photos so we could send them to Mickey Mouse. You see, Mickey sent her this dress in the mail for her to wear to Disneyland. I think he's going to very happy to receive the photo.

I feel like these past few weeks have flown by! I really can't believe June is already half over. We really haven't been up to much other then working on our basement. I'm so thrilled to say that we are 95% done! We just have to paint the casing in the family room, hang a few doors, finish putting in the sink and toilet and install the doors and shelves in the built in. I'm really hoping we get most things done this weekend. It will be nice to have it done! Eleanor and Amelia have been enjoying the toy room and I am loving having all the toys downstairs. It's amazing how clean the girls room stays without all the toys! Now I can't wait to start cleaning out my pantry/office and get my kitchen organized. I can not believe all the stuff (okay, junk) we have collect the past 6 years. Let's just say I've enjoyed my daily trips to the DI! Here are a few other things we have been enjoying the past few weeks:

Playing in the rain. I've been enjoying the unusual cool weather for June.(it's allowed for more work days in the basement)
Playing dress up. This girl loves getting dolled up and plays hard until she crashes!

We've been having so much fun with cousins! Ashely and Savannah have been my little babysitters and Eleanor and Katelyn can't get enough of each other. The other night we had a big sleep over and Eleanor and Katelyn performed a little dance. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time!
We set up a little beauty salon one morning and got our nails done.
And this baby, well she's been a delight. She has been fighting a cold for a few weeks. Eleanor taught her how to clap yesterday and it was the cutest thing to watch. Eleanor was so proud of herself. I love watching them together. They both adore the other.

Oh and John got his braces off today! I haven't seen him yet, but he said they look good. I'll have to post a photo tomorrow. Can't wait to see for myself.

Well, that pretty much sums it up. We are looking forward to enjoying the rest of our summer!

It's Starting to Feel Like Summer!

This evening we had Mindi, Savannah and Katelyn over for dinner. It was so nice being outside outside. Katelyn and Eleanor had a blast running around and acting like wild-crazy knott heads! I'm sure Eleanor is know around Harvest Homes as the "little white trash girl". I try to keep clothes on her, I swear.

I am loving the warm weather- both my girls were in bed tonight at 9pm! All the playing wears them out! Tonight after their baths we sat in bed and read from my new favorite book. While reading it we came across the story "Miss Nelson Is Missing". I had forgotten all about this book and was so excited to read it! After reading it once, Eleanor asked me to read it two more times. Just a few weeks ago I ordered a ton of children's books. Most of them were ones I loved as a child. It's been so much fun reading them to Eleanor and finding that she too is loving them. Our favorites are: Corduroy, Tikki Tikki Tembo, The Velveteen Rabbit, Make Room for Ducklings and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. I remember as a little girl my dad used to read to us at nights and I loved it (I'm still trying to find a copy of the book he used to read from) and I hope Eleanor loves it as much. Most days it's easier to read to her in the mornings, but tonight was a good reading night!