Watermelon Festival

We just returned from a fun trip to visit Ben's parents and Grandpa Homer. It was also the weekend of the Watermelon Festival, which kept us busy! Since Ben's dad is the mayor, Grace got to sit in the convertible with him in the parade! She was practicing her Queen Elizabeth wave for a week prior.

Grace gets to open the Watermelon Festival parade with Mayor Hough!

Here the girls and I sit with Grandma and Grandpa watching the parade go by.

Grace competed in the watermelon eating contest, which is ironic considering she is THE world's slowest eater.

Abigail wanted to help, too!

We also went to the their land in the country where there are cows, pigs, garden and pond for fishing! I thought this was a funny pic of our dog Saki having a show-down with the cows.

Feeding the cows with Grandpa!

It was a busy weekend and we all enjoyed our mini-vacation! Grace is back home playing with her Barbie dolls and having a tea party with homemade peanut butter cookies, lemonade "tea" and chairs she made for them out of her blocks. Fun times!

Water Logged

We have turned into a bunch of fish this summer. The girls love playing in the water. Besides going to the beach and the waterpark, we go swimming about every other day in our neighborhood pool.  Grace and Abigail especially love the water park because there is so much to do. It makes the day go by so fast and everyone is happy - I can't wait to go back!

Grace playing in the sprinklers at the waterpark.

Abigail and Catherine play in the baby pool.

A day at the beach with my girls.

Grace building a sand castle.

Abigail has no fear of the water. Thankfully we found a shallow tidal pool to play in. They didn't like being knocked over by the waves.

Grace has forgotten how to swim since last summer, but she is quickly picking it back up. She can swim underwater in the baby pool from one side to the other.

 

Last week we had Kids Kamp at church. It was Grace's first camp and she LOVED it! What a big girl she is getting to be.

Today is Ben's birthday! We had a simple party at home and sang "Happy Birthday" four times throughout the day!! Grace loves birthdays. She enjoyed blowing up balloons (well, I blew them up and she played with them) and she helped me make/decorate the cake. It was so warm in the house, the red velvet basketball cake almost melted, but it sure tasted good! We had ribs, green beans from the garden and roasted potatoes for his birthday dinner.

Trip to the Zoo

We took a day-trip to the zoo last month with Nana, Auntie Lindsay and the girl's cousins. It was so much fun experiencing it through the eyes of children. I was so excited to take Grace because she loves animals and I knew she would enjoy seeing them up close.  Abigail slept the 90 minute drive there and back and was happy all day. A perfect day! Enjoy...

Grace loved feeding the giraffes!

Abigail...not so much!

Posing with the pink flamingos.

Grace with her boy cousins.

Abigail and Catherine share a stroller ride. Of course, my child does not sleep in public.

Grace was trying to enjoy feeding the bird on her arm after it just bit her finger.

Ice cream break!

Abigail and Roman are the only ones posing for the picture.

Happy 1st Birthday Abigail!

Hard to believe "Abigator" is one year old! She got her nickname from our nephew Jude who called her "Abigator" the first time he tried to say Abigail (he was 3 at the time)...and it stuck! She has 7 teeth and is cruising around the furniture ready to walk any week now. She didn't enjoy her first sip of cow milk as she spit it all out. We'll just have to try again later! She loves to sit and have a book read to her one-on-one (just like Grace). She knows that the cow says "moo" and the dog says "woof" and the ducks says "dack, dack".  My favorite thing is to see her take care of her baby doll. She gives her baby doll hugs and kisses and gives her a bottle. Isn't it is neat for her to be so nurturing at such a young age. So sweet. Here are a few pictures of her birthday party.

Nana, Abigail, Grace (in elephant mask), Catherine & Auntie Lindsay

Grace requested cupcakes on behalf of Abigail! I made these toppers in photoshop.

Pappy!!

Cousins Roman, Jude & Titus with Grace

Before...

After!

Abigail feeds her baby doll. So glad Uncle Matt is back in town to stay!

Abigail enjoying her new toy! Grace loves to push her in it.

Happy Easter!

♪♫♪♫"If ever I loved thee, my Jesus 'tis now"...(words from an old hymn that I have had in my head all week) I am so thankful what Jesus did for us. And Easter is the time to celebrate his resurrection...and celebrate we did!

Grace dyed Easter eggs and decorated them...she even ate a few, too!

Grace with the Easter Bunny!

Someone found their Easter basket!

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter service. Grace helped the children to flower the cross.
I lead a handbell choir for the first time and they sounded great!

After Easter service we headed to Auntie Lindsay's parent's house for an egg hunt and dinner. It was lots of fun!



Nana, Pappy, Uncle Andrew/Lindsay's family and our family (we missed you Uncle Matt)

Abigail loved this little car!

...had to throw this one in, too!

Animal Fun

Abigail is 10 months old and crawling everywhere and into everything! She is having so much fun, though! Grace is a patient big sister now that Abigail likes to take her toys away. They are both such sweet girls. I am a lucky momma!

Abigail chasing her cousin's rabbit (Elliott). Poor bunny, but he did eat a hole in her sippy cup. Rascally rabbit.

Abigail & Catherine having a fun play date and learning to share the swing!

Abigail is into everything!

Our dog, Saki just turned 11. Grace made her a dog bone cake with icing and sprinkles (no picture, but Ben got it on video).  Grace put her baby dolls to bed and Saki thought it looked like a comfy spot for her, too. Sweet dog.

Abigail gets a bath in the sink...sometimes it's just quicker that way. ;)

Grace & Abigail had a fun day at the park with her cousins & Nana

Can you see the raccoon? It was in the tree as we were eating dinner. The raccoon climbed to the top and was eating the buds off the tree. It was very entertaining watching him bounce on those skinny limbs, but somehow he never fell!

Grace finally got to go to the circus. We've been waiting for them to come to town! It was a lot of fun!! The tigers were Grace's favorite.

Cousins Jude and Roman with Nana, Sharon, Abigail & Grace

The elephants were very impressive, too!

Abigail's favorite game is to play catch with the ball.