Long overdue

Whew, I think I can begin to breathe again! The past 3 weeks have been CRAZY! I have been meaning to post these pictures for quite some time now, but as you can see, I am only just getting to it! The past 3 weeks we have been dealing with Andy swamped at work with summer camps (sniff-sniff, we sure missed him!), a bout with pneumonia (Kendall's 2nd), and 3 double ear infections back-toback and fevers for 3 weeks straight for little Miss MC :(  (Sigh)...I need a vacation...

Alright, enough of that...Here are some pictures from our time at Mimi and Papa's celebrating Uncle John's birthday! The girls had a blast:)

We forgot to do "sprinklers" on the 4th of July (maybe that was because they were in bed way before it got dark...I know, my poor children)...so we decided to do them for Uncle John's birthday:)

Alley was a little timid and wanted someone holding the sparkler with her...

Kendall, on the other hand, would have NOTHING to do with those "sprinklers"

Maybe if I close my eyes they wont be there or be able to see me...

On second thought, maybe I'll just turn around and not look...

Even better, I'll go inside where it can't get me...;)

                                      Alley got brave                      Kendall "bravely" kept the fort down inside;)

Uncle John having some fun too

Ready to blow out the candles with Uncle John

Singing (or staring at the cake)

Blowing out the candles (with a little help for the McPherson girls)

Kendall immediately started crying and we couldn't figure out why. Finally I was able to get it out of her...she wanted everyone to sing to her and SHE wanted to blow out the candles...HAHAHA

cheering up

I made Alley a new shirt for Preschool this year (same as last year, just bigger and better!)

she CAN.NOT.WAIT for preschool...I think my dreams of homeschooling might be slipping away;(

BEAUTIFUL Alley

goodness, I will try better next time at staying a little more up to date with my pictures!

4th of July

We had a wonderful 4th of July this year! My parents had a little gathering out at their log cabin to celebrate America's birthday:) The girls absolutely LOVE spending time at the cabin. There are sooooo many different things they get to do when spending time "in the deep dark woods" (as Alley calls it!). Some fun activities include: swinging in the hammock, "fishing" in the creek with the statue of a boy fishing, finding all sorts of insects, birds and animals (a turtle being one of their favorites), watering (drowning) mimi and papas plants, helping plant (digging up what papa and mimi just planted), playing musical instruments on the porch (leading the band around the house...and don't you dare think you can get out of playing an instrument and marching..."uh...nope"!), playing with the doll house and all the furniture upstairs, and the list goes on! Anyway, the girls were thrilled to hear they were getting to spend the evening out at the cabin. And let me tell you, they were not disappointed. They had loads of fun with all the people who were there (I mean come-on, they had a lot more people to boss around and to add to their marching band!).

Here are some pictures from the evening. I am so bummed that most of them did not turn out because I had the camera on the wrong setting...ugh! 

The girls all ready for the par-tay:)

MC equally excited

Smiley-Cate acting true to her nickname

"my mimi" and her Virginia granddaughters

family pic...can't believe we are actually looking in the direction of the camera;)!

little blue-eyes...so far we have a child with each eye color...guess we are done having kids, we've used up all the eye colors out there;)

playing an assortment of games all at once with daddy

This is what MC did all evening (when she wasn't chasing balls around)

"what's this?"

"can I eat it?"

"Oh heck, who cares what you say mom, I'm eating it!"

E-I-E-I-Ooooooooo

Our girls are obsessed with farm animals. Horses, to be exact. We cannot ride down the road without one of them asking, "mommy, where are my horses?". When we happen to drive by horses (which is quite often), you hear voices yelling in the back, "Those are my horses. Minnie and Daisy". We have named and laid claim to EVERY horse in Prince Edward county...yes, they are that obsessed...

We have some friends who invited us to bring the girls out to see their farm. I think Alley has declared them her new best friends;) I stayed home with MC, but got to enjoy all the wonderful stories about the visit. I heard about the cows who were being loaded up on the trailer to go on a field trip (that was too cute!), how they got to feed a week old cow a bottle (poor thing was rejected by her mother), how they held kittens that were 2 weeks old (I'm surprised Kendall didn't squeeze them to death since they were so soft!), the llama and donkeys they saw, how they fed the horses and cows and the horse they got to ride. The Kleins were so nice to allow the girls to help out with the morning "chores". What a sweet family they were:)

Alley helping out with the animals morning meal

Petting the donkey...I'm still in shock that they didn't freak out over the animals and shy away from them!

Kendall giving out orders to the donkey and horse...I can hear it now, " you, you don't touch me, I touch you."

My sweet, horse obsessed daughter

 Alley helping feed the animals with Emmalee

I still can't get over this picture!! Kendall loves dogs but freaks out when one comes anywhere near her (I know, very odd)...but check out the love. Of course, I think it helps that this dog is super soft and fluffy...Kendall looooves soft things:)

Farm-girl

petting the horse before riding

"Uhhhh....nope...can't milk"

going off to check out bigger and better things

 going for a ride

Kendall getting her petting in

Alley riding by herself

 Kendall going for a solo ride as well

she sure did love riding the horses

I think Alley and Kendall will be talking about this visit for a long time. They were in heaven:)

Fun with Friends

Today we got to spend sometime with some special little ladies. The McPherson girls met up with the Wiegard girls in Lynchburg at Amazement Square. I have known the Wiegards for YEARS! My brother was best friends with the oldest Wiegard boys (the Twins as they were referred to) and our families were fast friends. As the years came and went, we drifted away physically, but whenever our families met up, it was like we had never left. Now we are all grown up (WHATT???!!) and have kids of our own. It's time for a new generation of Alley (McPherson) - Wiegard friends:) Amazingly, Spence and Courtney have two girls who are the exact same age as our oldest two. So we knew we had to get this wild bunch together:) After several failed attempts at meeting up, we finally made it! Today was the big day that our bunch would meet. And let me tell you, you'd think they'd been friends forever:) I wasn't able to get my camera out during the fun at Amazement Square, but I tried to capture the girls after we ate and before we departed.

The older two acting like they were 16...;) I can see it in their eyes...Mom, stop this, you're embarrassing me...oh this is nothin' girl, you ain't seen nothin' yet...

quite a crew:)

fast friends:)

Lovely day with some great people! I can't wait to get together again:)!

Pool Fun

We have been spending a lot of time poolside over the past several days. Granted our pool is a tiny one that is put up at the end of every day, but hey, a pool is a pool. No fees, no crazy kids (except my own!), no tempting snack bar (maybe it's more tempting for me!), no crowds, no extra stress on momma duck who has to keep the littlest one from drowning and no escaping. So, I'd say we have it good for now:)

The girls just love being in the water. They splash, kick, scream, and pretend to swim. We have so much fun. Here are some pictures I took of our first pool day.

Laying out in the pool

all smiles

"I'm spasshing, momma!" Kendall

sweet moments of calm...

...didn't last long

more splashing...oh the fun!

Alley trying to swim...kinda hard...

soooo, back to splashing

forget swimming, we love spinning;)

over the speed bumps (aka, Kendall)

Well, I'm off to visit our pool again:)