whats the deal...

with duck tape? when I was growing up, it was silver and purely for utilitarian uses like holding together my dad's suitcase or fixing something random around the house. and, I thought it was duct tape (you know, to tape ducts), but its actually duck tape. who knew?

but now...it comes in all sorts of fancy colors and designs

and its not so utilitarian

except for the fact that I got some work done around the house while the girls created :)

weekend recap

this weekend was a whirlwind...spent largely in a pool with goofy kids, sangria (for the adults of course), cookouts and good old fashioned fun with family & friends.

we also had a milestone for my girl, who swam without holding her nose while underwater for the first time (i celebrate the small things around here)

we had a few giggles over her puffy goggle eyes

...and relaxed on our driveway while our neighbors tore.it.up with some serious fireworks

hope your 4th of July was fun & safe!

A....

i *heart* this girl so much that sometimes it hurts.




thats all for today!

leprechaun houses and fairies...

my girls are suckers for good old fashioned, make believe fun. when we go out and about, often our adventures take us to places where there are plenty of opportunities for hunting leprechauns and leaving presents for fairies.

so, on father's day, I found myself with 4 hours of time alone with my gals while the DH went golfing with his dad.

i knew the perfect place to take them exploring...it was an hour drive, and a place where I did a client session a few weeks ago that I kept thinking about. it did not disappoint and they found lots of little barns and sheds to call out to the leprechauns, and perfect hidden walkways to search for sleeping fairies.

little C was a tad perturbed that the leprechauns didnt answer the door...again. poor kid cant catch a break, they never seem to be home :)

but she rarely stays mad all that long and was soon hopping all around the nearby bencha few months ago, I did a client session and the little girl wore her mom's wedding dress. after Big A saw those photos, she nagged me non-stop to take mine out of the box so she could wear it. I decided against it, but came up with the second best thing...a very old, quite worn frilly dress, repurposed as a long skirt for her to run around in.

the skirt/dress is not pretty, but it served its purpose.


and then we finished off our day in eden with a picnic lunch and a trip to the mall for some new flip flops.

have a great week!

i survived!

last weekend, we went camping with our friends...who happen to be pretty experienced campers, whereas D & I are not. actually, it was my first time camping. ever.

My friend tried to prepare me for what it would be like...no running water, no plumbing, waaaaaay in the woods, sleeping upstairs on cots, locks on the windows to keep bears and other animals out, etc...

she did a great job, because it was just as I had envisioned the weekend...relaxing, fun, good outdoor air and beautiful scenery.

this was camp G&W for the weekend...Big A was her usual self...being goofy and living it up in the dirtand mastering her roasted marshmallows. her technique is amazing and she gets just the right char on those suckers. trust me, I ate a lot of them.Big P kept her creative juices flowing by impromptu painting sessionsand she fully embraced our photo scavenger hunt we did on our hike.Little C was up to her usual antics and did a lot of hanging aroundand the littlest P was a true joy to spend time with...we didnt have the easiest of starts in our relationship (bad first photo shoot w/ an unhappy one year old), but she warmed up to me and I loved hanging out with herwe ended our first night by making a welcome sign for tinkerbell (because fairies live in the woods) and the girls made a few little homes for them to bunk in overnightand super delicious s'mores and a roaring fire...
we came home filthy, dirty and smelling pretty bad, but it was a great weekend and hopefully a start to a new tradition with really great friends. and, i lived to tell about it, which makes it even better.

dancing....

its recital week in our neck of the woods, which means I am going to be elbow deep in hair gel, hair nets, bobby pins and make up.

this is little C's first year of dance and she is quite the mover & shaker. she has an active imagination and has thoroughly embraced her role as a princess.

This is the 4th year Big A has been dancing and I got to watch the run through of her dances tonight. she has gone from a fairly uncoordinated little duck to a graceful ballerina.

although her inner duck still comes out once in a while...

Rudy

For some time now, Big A has been asking to take horseback riding lessons. I have to say that I wasnt all that excited about it, not because I wouldnt love for her to learn, but because I have heard that it can be, well, expensive. I know all kids activities are costly nowadays, but I feared that horseback riding would drain my wallet moreso than, lets say, the church choir.



So, before I put any money towards this little endeavor, I called in a favor to a good friend. She has a horse, Rudy, and agreed to let us come spend some time at the barn so Big A could see if she really wanted to learn how to ride a horse.



We met her horse, Rudy, who was peaceful, patient and gentle the entire time



His momma knew how to talk to him to calm him down, and was great with instructing the kids to not stand behind him so they didnt get a hoof to the chin (honestly, this was something I had not given any thought)



as soon as I saw A's face as it neared her turn to ride, I figured that she had called my bluff on the whole horse deal and her interest in horses was really legit after all.



she did a great job and rode like a champ...even allowing my friend to lead her in a trot.



Little C got in the action, too. Even though she is smiling in this photo, she quickly decided that her time would be better spent creeping around Rudy's stall to see where he sleeps.

Rudy's barn mate is Slew...who is a descendent of Seattle Slew (and I'm not going to pretend to know which race or races he won). Apparently, Slew inherited his good looks from his family, but not the quick legs.

(did you know that horses had whiskers?? I totally did not and think they are hilarious!)

Thank you Rudy & family for a wonderful Mother's Day morning...it set the tone for a great day. We are ever so appreciative of your time and for letting the girls explore and learn.



(in case you are wondering how this all turned out, Big A has not stopped talking about Rudy. I found a local farm that has introductory classes that are very reasonable, and wont break the budget. She turns 8 this week and we figured lessons would be the perfect gift for her...)