Making Progress... Here comes the CONCRETE!

The rain system is finally installed - and Daddy is working on laying out the deck boards.  We are not too sure he still likes the design Mommy picked out - but it does LOOK cool :-)

The guys from MD Concrete came to prep the yard last night - we loved watching all the gear in the yard! 

Then, the BIG day!  Mommy let us stay home in the morning so we could see all the big trucks (the pump, like Uncle Tony, and the mixer, like Papa Pizza).  We were so excited we couldn't finish our breakfast!  The guys were great - they waved at us all the time!!

After the concrete dried for a little bit, we got to make hand AND foot prints in a "pad" of concrete!  It was a special one they poured just for us.  Brooke only wanted to squish - so her prints are a little deep, but it turned out really neat!



Getting ready to "highlight" and stamp!



Where is Brooke's Shadow????

Brooke has discovered her shadow - and everyone else's!  She loves looking for the "baby", but she also loves to step on Mommy's "head" - and to catch Mommy's shadow. 

It's FINALLY Summer

Enough said!

Brooke's 1st ER Visit

After all the parties on Sunday, we were REALLY tired when we got home - and Daddy was finishing a few things in the backyard.  Brooke was in the front with Mommy.  Mommy went in the house to unlock the front door - and Brooke was gone.  She walked through the garage to the backdoor - Mommy found her at the top of the stairs.  She was holding her bunny, her book and her sunglasses - and yelling "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy".  Mommy didn't get there fast enough, and Brooke went HEAD FIRST down the concrete stairs to the paver patio.  She cried right away - didn't get sick or pass out - but Mommy and Daddy decided to have her head examined "just in case".  Brooke is fine!! 

Here are a few pictures of her eye -- it doesn't appear to be bothering her much, but she will show you her "ouie" if you ask!

Monday

Tuesday

Waiting for 'Nee & David

Neela wanted to make her own countdown chart this time - for Aunt Renee and Uncle David's visit.  She looked at the numbers in a book, then wrote them herself...

Can you follow 1-7 from top left to bottom right?

Party, Party, Party (Take 2)

Another weekend... more deck work for Daddy... more PARTIES for us!!

On Saturday, their was a party right next door for Meriah!  We walked over with her gift - and loved being able to get pickles and cake so easily.  (We also enjoyed the leftovers her mom gave us... yummy turkey!)

On Sunday, we had MORE parties!!  First, we went to Mommy's cousin, Lorna's, party.  We played on the trampoline with Caroline and Emmy (SO MUCH FUN we didn't want to leave), and Aunt Carol brought us cake!

Then, we headed to Abby's house!  We ate taco salad, chips... and MORE CAKE!  Abby's daddy gave us lots of frisbees to take home - we were so excited!  Daddy enjoyed thowing them to us - and we LOVED chasing them.  Abby couldn't believe how big we were getting - but she did offer to teach us to golf (she's a state champion golfer!!).

Finally, we ended the party day at Kristin's.  Kristin had snow cones, pork sandwiches, lots of yummy fruit... and... you guessed it, CAKE!  We tried everything - just so we could have snow cones and cake!  Brooke kept going back for more canteloupe -- "Brooke's canteloupe".  Mommy lost her a few times - so let's hope she didn't touch too much canteloupe!  We also got to chase Daddy at Kristin's house - and he loved every minute of it!



Armpit Fudge

OK - it does SOUND disgusting, but it was a LOT of fun to make!  You dump all the ingredients in a plastic bag, squish it together (under your armpit if you'd like), and then eat it!!!  Who wouldn't want to eat chocolate this way???

Thank you, Robert, for the recipe - and thank you, Mommy, "Queen of Distractions during Deck Building"!

Happy Anniversary & Happy Father's Day!

Mommy & Daddy went to a Vietnamese wedding the night before Father's Day.  Everything was in Vietnamese - with a few exceprts of English - but they learned a lot about the weddings in other cultures.

Their friends served an 8 course meal, the bride wore 4 outfits, and the gifts are presented to the bride and groom by every table while they wear outfit #3.  Traditionally, the gifts are money - and the wedding party collects them as each table toasts the happy couple.  It was fun to spend time with some of Mommy's co-workers - and learn so much about weddings :-)

Of course, Mommy and Daddy celebrated their anniversary one day early at the wedding! 

Happy 12th Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Daddy told Mommy not to buy any anniversary or Father's Day presents - and she listened.  Daddy didn't!  We bought Mommy 12 flowers - 4 purple flowers from Neela, 4 pink flowers from Kylie and 4 red flowers from Brooke.... and some pepper-infused chocolate, too! 

Father's Day, we went shopping for Daddy's breakfast!  We bought him a large variety of donuts and coffee.  We were headed for fishing and a picnic when the fire department got called to a large apartment fire...  Instead, we went and bought Daddy his fishing license - and took the picnic to the fire station to wait for him.  He came back while we were eating - so we spent a little time with him before going to the park :-) 

It turned into a great day for everyone!

2270 Open House

On Saturday, we got to go to the fire station open house at Daddy's New Fire Station!

It was super-humid (check out our hair!) - but we managed to have fun.  All the trucks were outside, the big bouncy firehouse was inside - and so were the freeze pops!  We got there just in time to help Daddy get dressed for the extrication demonstration...

Helping Daddy put his gloves on

Daddy uses the jaws of life

Getting ready to lift the roof off

After the demonstration was done, we tried on Daddy's fire gear -- he's our hero!  We couldn't pick a better way to spend Father's Day weekend with our Daddy!

(Of course, the 2nd extrication was not nearly as fascinating - Daddy was not involved!  But, we all did get to sit with Daddy!)

Swimming Lessons

Here was our schedule for the week:

6:45 AM Wake-up

7:15 AM Out the door to Tracy's

7:45 AM Mommy gets to work

4:30 PM Mommy picks us up from Tracy's

5:00 PM Mommy feeds us supper

5:30 PM Time to put swim suits on!

5:45 PM Babysitter arrives!

5:55 PM Everyone in the car - heading to the pool!
6:05 PM Mommy & Brooke go swimming

6:40 PM Kylie & Neela go swimming

7:20 PM Shower & get dressed

7:30 PM Drop-off babysitter

7:40 PM Snack time & Story Time

8:30 PM Bedtime

9:00 PM Mommy eats supper

Repeat....

(PS: Daddy spent the entire week in Austin, Texas!)

So... Mommy got to use her logistics degree A LOT this week just to get us through swimming lessons!  Thank goodness Danielle, Dominique and Olivia were able to help us out!  And Nena (Mommy's friend) was the swimming lessons' supervisor!!

What did we learn??  Well - it rained 3 of the 5 nights, and we aren't ready for the next level, but... we can get our heads in the water, float on our back...  Brooke is a daredevil, Neela is a bit cautious but usually tried things, and Kylie was a bit concerned but sometimes switched to cautious.  Brooke's favorite part was jumping and using the water can on Mommy's head (rain, go away!).  Kylie and Neela LOVED the train!

Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

Brooke & Mommy

Brooke practices her front float & blowing bubbles

Neela & Kylie wait "patiently" for their class

Neela learns the front float

Kylie learns to front float

Neela does the back float

Kylie tried the back float - it was not her favorite!

Kylie - ready to jump!

Neela - all smiles!

Party, Party, Party!

Mommy told us we had 3 parties to go to this weekend, but  Daddy and his friends worked on the deck on Saturday morning and most of Sunday - and we were their biggest fans!  We said "Hi", did "knuckles" through the screen, and Brooke even turned her high chair around at meal time to get a better view!

After a bit of deck work, it was time to head out to the parties!  First, we helped Terri & Gump celebrate their "milestones": 30 years of marriage, Gump's retirement from the post office and Terri's retirement from the State of Minnesota.  We were a bit shy - but enjoyed the strawberries, cheese and candy favors on the tables!  Then, it was on to Nolan's house... we KNOW Nolan, and were soooo excited to be there for a party.  We found every goodie on the table - and tried to eat them all.  Too bad so many grown-up's knew us - Mom, Dad, Jeff, Tracy, Nolan, Parker, Averi, Ms. Korey and daycare Grandma all told us "No" at least once!!  Our final destination was Tony's house.  Tony lives by our old house - and his daddy is a firefighter, too!  Mom & Dad couldn't believe he was graduating - and our favorite foods at his house were the pickles and cake (of course!).  Brooke thoroughly enjoyed the bunny decoration, and then managed to fall into a 2 foot pile of water/mud in front of the house on the way to the car.  It's a great story - and we'll all remember it!

On Sunday, Mom had to distract us again.  She found an old sheet to cover the table - and we got to do PROJECTS!  For Christmas, Grandma Banana gave us letters for our names - Mommy let us paint them to match our new room.  We had a ton of fun - and it kept us busy for a LONG time!

Bear Necessities!

For Kylie & Neela's 4th birthday, Grandma Banana and Papa Pizza decided we should try Zoo Camp at Angie's "new" zoo!  Mommy dropped us off - and we spent the morning with the staff learning about all kinds of bears, what they eat, how they hibernate... we even made a polar bear cave, and colored our own polar bears to hide inside the cave.

While we did this, Brooke had her first "Zoo" experience where she really understood the animals.  We spent most of the morning looking at the farm animals.  Brooke loved climbing on the pig, talking to the animals in their own language ("Neigh", "Moo", "Cluck, Cluck", "Baa") - and feeding the goats.

Zookeeper Brooke

MOO!

Feeding the Goats

Kissing the Pig

One big pig - and "baby" came with!

It ended up being an eventful day at the zoo - a wolf escaped, and it was realized about two minutes after Brooke walked by the wolf's cage.  We were almost at the barn when Aunt Angie called to "suggest" we go inside a building and listen to the zoo volunteers very closely.  The wolf was shot a few minutes later - but the area was quarantined for a while... so we explored the farm until we could walk back.

After a picnic lunch with Angie, we decided to have a little fun at the park inside the zoo.  We also checked out Dr. Suess on the loose, and enjoyed the water fountains (it was a perfect day for water fun!).

Thing 1 & Thing 2

Brooke & Neela

Brooke & Kylie