Claire

Me: "Claire, what's on your face?"

Claire: "Well......It's markers!"

What am I going to do with this girl??

Mermaids

Between swim lessons every morning and hitting the pool most afternoons, I'm pretty sure my girls are going to have grown gills by the end of the Summer!

Hannah is rocking out her swim lessons this year!  I can't believe how much she's improved from last year.  Thursday they got to jump off the diving board, and she jumped right in and swam to the side on her own with no assistance from her teacher!

We went to this pool at Comfort Sweets with some friends Thursday evening.  There is a big water slide that Claire was able to go down, and she loved it!  Wore us all out climbing the stairs over and over again to take her down and each time she'd come down with a huge grin on her face begging to go again!

(the slide is turned off in this picture)

I love my water babies!!

Dresses from Grandma

Grandma had several new matching dresses made and waiting for the girls when we got there last week.  These matching Dora dresses that the little girls got are Claire's new favorite thing to wear!

They're perfect for dancing too!  I had so much fun just watching these little two have a blast twirling and dancing together-

Then all four girls got matching Summer dresses.  So pretty together!  I wish I'd been able to get a good picture with everyone looking at the same time!  We'll have to try again another time!

Thank you Grandma!!  The dresses are all very loved and appreciated!!

Swimmin'

While we were visiting home last week, Katie and I took all the kids swimming one afternoon.  We had the entire pool to ourselves and the kids had a blast!

The only place Claire could touch in the entire pool was right in front of the steps, but that didn't keep her from trying to walk deeper over and over again.  She'd be walking along in water up to her nose, but never stop or get scared - such a dare devil!

Art Festival

We took the girls to Kids Day at the Arts Festival in Iowa City a couple of weekends ago.  They had so much fun learning new things and seeing all the art!

Both girls made their own paper-

Claire was very proud of hers, and Hannah wrote a note on her paper and mailed it to Grandma!

Learning to weave on the loom-

Blow painting-

Claire was having more fun just playing with the pool full of ducks!  She could have cared less about picking one to get a prize!

She kept running off and trying to hide in the planters-

They finished off the art with cotton candy and face painting!  Such a fun family day!

Inis Grove

Last time we were in Ames we met Matt's brother and his family for lunch and then went to Inis Grove park to let the kids burn off some energy.

It was a little hot and boring, so I entertained myself by taking lots of pictures-

Claire "hiding" in the bushes-

Claire practiced her tree climbing-

Camping 2012

Our first camping trip of the Summer!  It was already getting dark by the time I got off work and made it to the camp site Matt and the girls had set up earlier in the day.  Claire was entertaining herself with a flashlight-

while Hannah read by a lamp-

The girls slept great our first night in the tent and woke up in great moods!

Breakfast-

The girls had no problem entertaining themselves throughout the day.  Claire brought along her Strawberry Shortcakes-

and taught them how to climb trees-

They invented a game called "we caught a bunny" where they put the dog in a fishing net and pranced around the campsite.  Strangely the dog seemed to really enjoy her view from inside the net and went happily along with the game.

Strawberry and her friends liked playing in the ash leftover from the fire the evening before-

More bunny (dog) in a net-

The second night we attempted to cook dinner on Matt's portable grill.  The wind kept blowing out the flame since left the lid off, so we had to improvise and move the pots directly to the fire.  It took about an hour to make a 10-minute dinner, but it tasted all the better for all the hard work put into making it.

The second night in the tent got pretty chilly and I don't think any of us slept as good as we had the first night, but the girls still woke up happy!  They can't wait to go camping again!