The Dog Days

July is flying by and we're continuing our summer fun.  The girls continue to improve in their swimming and their bike-riding, and it's amazing to see the change each week can bring.  Nina has figured out how to do a front-crawl, hand stands, and swim to the bottom of the pool to pick up items.  Pip can now jump in and then swim back to the wall unassisted.  Nina is also learning how to play solitaire.

 

The girls had a great birthday party at Como Pool.  Some friends & family were able to come and the girls had a blast showing everyone their favorite parts of the pool.  We were fortunate that all their grandparents were able to make it to the party and could also hang out at the lake for music afterward.

 

For Ben's birthday we played mini-golf (Nina was an excellent score-keeper), ate Jucy Lucy's, and we had a picnic on the beach at Lake Harriet.

The girls got to go to the racetrack for extreme race day.  We had fun watching the horse races and loved seeing the camels and ostriches.  The girls struggled at picking winners; twice Nina's rider's fell off their animal and Pip kept picking horses that scratched and didn't even race.  They enjoyed the petting zoo and playground too.

How park trips sometimes feel

Four with a Frenzy

Link to HD Video

Pip is four and determined as ever.  She makes us laugh, shake our heads, and get out of the way.  She can be very caring towards her doll (Rosie) and to Nina.  When bowling, she jumped up and down and cheered then hugged Nina after many a roll.  She has taken to "reading" her dolls stories, wrapping them up, and telling everyone to be quiet when they're napping.  She is proud of riding her bike and swimming underwater and it's hard to tell her when she can't do something.  She still doesn't watch too much tv nor will she sit through many games.  We are proud of her relentless efforts and we are constantly laughing at her crazy sayings (sometimes to her dismay).  

 

 

Current favorites include going to the pool, The Monkees, playing hot potato, riding her bike, seeing her friends at daycare, eating sesame chicken and semi-solid foods (yogurt, oatmeal, applesauce, ice cream, etc.)  She is a crazy and funny mix of many family members and it's fitting that she likes this crazy mix of the Monkees playing a song by written weezer, two of our favorite bands, coming together in a way we never could have predicted.

Nina is six!

Link to HD video

Our sweet Nina is growing up too fast.  She has grown in many ways: learning to read, dominating card games, making her own sandwiches, learning to swim, etc.  But in many ways she is still the same: she is a rule follower and a pleaser, she is sensitive, loves to draw, loves to study, and she is a wonderful big sister.  We feel so lucky to have such a wonderful person in our lives.  

 

 

Current favorites include: slapstick humor, sarcasm with mom ("really?"), Mo Willems books, One Direction, math, mancala, carpool karaoke with James Corden, crazy eights, and cliff-jumping at Como pool.  

We take more pictures in the summer

Summer fun is running high and we're sad to see June go already.  We've been playing hard and working occasionally, but trying to have fun throughout.  We have been going to the pool almost every night when the crowds die down and both girls are getting more adventurous.  Pip is going underwater more and can do the lazy river on her own tube (although we're not too fond of that one).  Nina, meanwhile has progressed from the slides to the diving board to jumping off the mini-cliffs!  Kara is really not fond of that.  They continue to grow at alarming rates.  For other Como fun, we have been riding bikes, went to Como Town, been to the zoo twice, and Ben and Kara tried paddle-boarding.  How Aunt Cassie does yoga on those things is a mystery to us.

The girls went strawberry picking with Kara's friend, Judy and picked a million (so if anybody wants some, please stop by).  We're also fixing up a few spots on our fence, so the girls tried using a hammer and a screwdriver on the old wood.  No one got hurt, hooray!  Kara was excited to meet one of her favorite bloggers, Glennon, who runs momastery.com