Two Years Old!

Evy picked this Barbie umbrella out for Charlie. Of course, it was Charlie's favorite gift!

Charlie is in love with the Chipmunks movie right now. I happened to find these chipmunks in CVS yesterday by accident. She was yelling "Alvin!" all morning.

 

New dress. Immediately after opening she said "I try it mom" and we had to put it on.

Birthday pancakes before school.

 

Charlotte Marie turns two years old today. Where has the time gone? We still refer to her as the baby. She even says "I baby." Charlotte is a silly little girl who uses funny voices and understands how to make people laugh. She adores her big sister and her big sister adores her. She has no patience and yells at us when she wants things--we'll continue to work on correcting that behavior! She hardly eats anything anymore--she ate everything until she was about 18 months old. She has a walk that makes her look like she's spent many years riding a horse, slightly bent over and slightly bow legged, which just adds to her funny little personality. Love you Charlotte Marie!

Friday Fun Day

Scott took the day off Friday and joined us for a fun day! Boating during the week, while school is in session, is awesome! No other traffic and the beach practically to ourselves.

 

The girls had so much fun at the beach. They were pretending like their noodles were horses, they were swimming and playing in the sand. And then, they started fighting over who had the light pink noodle. Can you even tell that there is a one shade difference in the noodles!?!?

Charlie is asleep. She looks very comfy!

After the boat we rushed home to shower and then hit the 4:40 movie. Charlie's first movie! She lasted about 20 minutes and then she and I went to Target to work off the wiggles while Scott and Evy enjoyed the rest of the movie.

School Days

For us, Fall means room changes at our daycare center. Evy graduated from the preschool room and moved into the Pre-K room last week. Her teacher is Miss Nancy. Evy says that Miss Nancy is kind of mean, and by that I think she means strict because Miss Nancy does not seem to mess around. I'm ok with that. Evy says she likes her new room because there are squishy animals like elephants, giraffes, tigers, lions, rhinoceros and hippos to play with. They are working on sight words and writing and sent Evy home with a list of 12 words to work on. Asparagus was on the list. I'm not even sure I can spell asparagus without the help of spell check. Evy says that she would like to be a cat groomer when she grows up. 

 

Evy says that Kiara is waving in this picture.

 

Charlie also moved rooms last week. She said her favorite thing to do at school is "Play toys." I asked her what kind of toys and she said "Bobbie Pop Sta" (Barbie Pop Star), which I seriously doubt as I haven't seen a Barbie in the center in four years.

Crazy Animals.

Squeezing it In

Our public schools are back in session tomorrow and although this has little to do with our schedule it reminds me that summer is coming to an end. We've been doing our best to fit in all of our summer favorites before the weather turns to fall.

 

 

Our first summer trip to the raptor center. The weather was great for a hike and some time spent outside. My decision to take the jogging stroller down the prairie walk was a poor one, but left all of us laughing. We were lucky enough to spot a deer from the bird blind!

I make homemade ice cream once each summer. Check.

One last trip to the City Park rides. Love this little attraction.

Last year Charlie wasn't big enough to ride the rides, but this year she does them all!

All aboard!

New Interest

Evy is very into coloring right now. Previously she had no interest so I'm super excited that she has something she can do on her own and it holds her attention for awhile. When I pick her up from daycare she is usually sitting at a table with 3 other girls coloring. She never wants to leave--she wants to finish the picture at school. She does a great job with her pictures and we've started her very own gallery on the back of her bedroom door, which she is very proud of!

Tubing

These photos are from our 4th of July trip to Scott's sister's house.

Charlie is so brave. She kept asking Scott to "do it again"!

Look at Charlie's face!

Family Shot!

24 Hours in Dubuque

Last week Scott was at a conference in Dubuque so we joined him for a day. The girls and I checked out the river walk after a healthy dinner at DQ where Evy ate most of Charlie's cheeseburger and Charlie ate most of Evy's hot dog.

We spent two hours at the water park and were amazed at Evy's bravery. She went down the large water slides by herself at least 35 times. Charlotte loved riding on our laps.

Evy went down this water slide twice but said it kind of scared her because it was dark. She said it was not her favorite.

 

After the water park, Charlotte fell asleep. We had a hard time getting her to go to sleep the night before but fell asleep on "accident" this time.

Riding a turtle at the National Mississippi River Museum.

Floating on logs at the National Mississippi River Museum. I am not good at taking "selfies".

Pre-School Wrap Up

Evy will be moving to the pre-K room next week. On Friday they had a school year wrap up and party. Evy's teacher, Miss Kylee sent Evy home with the following note:

"Evelyn,
You have been such a great girl to have in class. You are smart, funny, and caring. You have always been a great helper in the classroom. You are such a big girl and are ready to move on to the next room. I hope you have a great time.

-Miss Kylee"

Evy's had a great year at school. Weekly field trips, lots of art, learning letters and numbers and learning how to be a good friend and citizen. She has learned a lot and she is showing some maturity. I'm excited to see what the next year will bring!

Stand Strong

Last week Evy attended her first session of Bible School. After the first night I was anticipating several questions and admittedly was loitering around her when she got home. While she was getting ready for bed she turned to Scott and me and exclaimed, "Why are you both just looking at me?" Bible School was from 6 to 8:45 each night which made for long days and each day Evy told me she was not going to Bible School the following day. But, at drop off she skipped her way into the church and danced her way out each night. Finally, yesterday she said she wanted to go to Bible School again. She has not had any questions, but she has been repeating the theme of "Stand Strong" here and there.