I think I'll go to Boston....

We'll be spending the next little while with these fine folks in Beantown!

Visitors

Alicia and Hillary came to visit us last week for a little girls weekend and a baby shower for Alicia. My little girls loved all the attention. Although at one point there was some kind of altercation between Alicia and Elise over a bathing suit and their relationship was never the same. Elise can sure hold a grudge.

We swam, went to the park, hung out, and did all things baby shower. We did our fair share of talking/eating, but we also kept ourselves busy. Unfortunately I neglected to take many pictures besides the ones at the shower (and they all have terrible lighting). That's the sign of a great visit, right? Too busy to take pictures?

Hillary baked delicious treats and I handled the decor/cleaning.

 

We kept the shower simple- food, presents, and one activity: onesie decorating. 

At first glance onesie decorating sounds difficult and overwhelming to me, but it was actually the easiest and cutest thing ever.

We bought iron-on sheeting and a bunch of cheap fabric squares. We did the first step of ironing the fabric to the sheeting before anyone arrived. 

All the guests had to do was cut out whatever design they wanted, peel off the backing, and iron it onto the onesie. I am kicking myself that I didn't get a good picture of the final products. They turned out adorable. Almost made me want another child so I can make some more.

 After the shower we spent hours cleaning up, getting baby stuff organized, and making more onesies. 

On Sunday Hillary and Alicia got to experience the drama that is Sacrament Meeting at 2:15 PM with a 3- and 2-year-old.

We said good-bye on Monday, which may or may not have included tears from Hillary and Sadie.

We love you Hillary and Alicia!

Bookies

We like books in our house. I think I put books away 5+ times each day, but I don't mind too much. 

Pool Time

We spend pretty much every afternoon outside. Most of the time we play in our kiddie pool or the Sullivan's.  Suzy and I sit in the shade as the kids run around and play. It's not too exciting, but I will sure miss these afternoons come next winter. 

Recently we have added water balloons to the mix. It's real fun to throw them, not so much to clean them up.

And lastly, Sadie is weird. She asked me to take a picture of her posing like this.

Those People

Last week we found ourselves caught at a splash park with no swim suits. Sadie fell in the water within a few minutes and I just gave in and took off their clothes. Yes, we were those people. And then Claire wanted in on the naked playing too. So we had 3 little girls running around with no clothes and sweet Quinn was fully-clothed.

Also, we are really lucky to have the Sullivans as neighbors. They moved in almost 2 years ago with kids the exact same ages as ours. We have play-dates probably 5 times a week. Besides our kids getting along, we really like them. We'll be so sad when the house they are building is finished in the fall.

Sister, Sister

I wrote this blog post title and then thought I remembered I wrote a post with the same title a while ago.
When I looked back through I found that I had never published it. So here are pictures of my girls when they were age 2 and 6 months. And then below that a bunch of pictures of the mischief they've been getting in together the past couple months. I love that they have been playing together more; this also means more fighting, but I'll take that as long as they continue to be good friends. Sadie will tell me, "Mom, I will keep an eye on Elise. Go away."

Sisters 18 months ago....

Sisters now...

Planker

The other day Lou insisted on coloring like this. I was worried we would have another face bashing incident with her falling off the chair, but she maintained this for a good 15 minutes just fine.

PS- Elise looked very cute walking to church last Sunday. 

Don't let that sweet smile fool you. Just one hour prior she methodically ripped our curtain rod out of the wall. She pulled the curtains to the weakest point (the center) and then she pulled straight out and bent the rod until one side ripped off. Now the rod is a super cheap one- it is covered up by a cornice- but it has been holding up the curtains fine for the past 3 years and now it's gone.

Rodeo

I did it. I went to my first rodeo last week. It was pretty much everything I hoped a small-town rodeo could be. Lots of cowboy boots, animal smells, and excitement. The kids watched from the rail most of the time. Sadie has talked all week about wanting to be a cowgirl when she grows up. She also decided Hunter will be a cowboy. Not sure if he agrees, but it will happen.

Hunter and Sadie got to sit in the back together as we rode the 3 blocks to where our car was parked. (Yes, we crammed everyone in 1 car so we only had to pay the $10 per car charge.) Those 2 are so silly and have such a great friendship. I just hope they end up at BYU together when they are older so we can embarrass them with all these awesome pictures.