Fun at the Lake

The end of August

It feels like summer is coming to a close-the air just feels different. I love fall, but dread what comes after. I am so mad at myself. This past weekend my cousins from North Dakota were here for a short but sweet visit and never once did we get pictures. How is that possible when I am the camera queen????? I guess Kimber and Tami will have to come back soon-ha. Good Luck Chelsea in your masters program this n/year at U of M Ann Arbor. I meant to post tonights pictures more than a week ago. Grandma Blanca, who is a very special lady in our church who is in her late 90s-I think she is 97-HANDMADE these adorable little yellow dresses for the girls. She has sewed, crocheted and knitted many beautiful clothing items for little ones throughout her lifetime and after she made these dresses (embroidery and everything by hand) she said she was done. So here are some pics of the girls in their special grandma Blanca dresses at church 2 weeks ago.
Just an added note-we are going through Olympic withdrawals-which is OK since we've been getting to bed WAY TOO LATE during the games. Amidst all the controversy, the games were great and China put on one spectacular show. The closing ceremony was almost like something from a sci-fi film. As the torch was passed to London for the 2012 games, out comes this double decker red bus that you see in London and out pops a few pop stars and David Beckham soccer star-who proceeds to kick out a soccer ball. Truthfully, I felt it was somewhat pathetic after viewing all the gorgeous costumes and the classy presentation of Chinese culture. London has it's work cut out for them. ps-I was so proud of Latvia and their medals they won-I was secretly rooting for them through the games. I've been closely paying attention to the Russian/Georgian conflict and pray that nothing befalls our Latvian friends in the Baltic States or any of Russia's other neighbors.

Hot Air Balloon

Tonight the girls and I were sitting on the couch winding down for bedtime watching Baby Van Gogh when the phone rang. My dad called to tell us there was a hot air balloon that had landed in the cornfield. So off we went for another adventure. The girls were pretty excited to see this huge balloon until the captain pulled the cord and a huge ball of flames came out. Eden was not fond of this, to say the least, and so her and I sat in the Pilot until the entire balloon was deflated and was stuffed back inside it's big bag. I think farmer Dwight was enjoying this excitement and late evening audience as he had nabbed 2 hot air balloon passengers and had them in one of the corn fields picking and taste testing corn. And he's going to retire????????????
(Should I mention that I have been feeling-and looking like-a hot air balloon lately? Eight more weeks till we get to meet our newest little baby girl!!!!)

Glad this day is over!

Have you ever had a day you wish you could re-do? Today was one of those days. This morning I was trying to get breakfast ready for the girls. We were out of milk and the pancake mix was on low and I was trying to figure out what to feed them. The girls were pulling at my pant legs in the kitchen with a sense of urgency so I was rushing around, ignoring several calls coming in on the cell phone. Elle had left, to play I thought, and a few minutes later she comes back to the kitchen with dirt in her hands. Of course, the living room rug was covered in dirt as she had been playing in the plantar-AGAIN. I scolded her and told her "no, no touch". I returned to the kitchen, put some oil on the fry pan for pancakes and dialed my voicemail since I'd missed a call from the hospital. No sooner had I done this when I hear muffled crying. I hadn't heard crying that quiet before and got worried. To my horror, the side door was open and the gate to the stairs going down to the driveway was open and Eden was at the bottom of the stairs covered in dust and screaming. I am sure she had tumbled down quite a few of those stairs as evidenced by the matching gooseggs on her head and some scratches. I am just relieved at this point that she is breathing and crying. I checked her all over and she was fine. I know she was very scared but probably not as much as her me. I was hugging her and consoling her when I remembered there was hot oil on the stove which was smoking and almost on fire when I got back inside. I got the burner turned off just when Elle comes around the corner with her hair full of dirt clumps just as happy as can be. I was pretty close to losing it at this point. I don't think Elle appreciated having her head vacuumed but it worked. Of course, today we had a photo shoot scheduled at JCPenny's. It never fails. Schedule pictures and your kids get banged up. Oh, and get safety latches on the doors-!!!!!

our dirty daughters

Thursday night we had a picnic by 3 Oaks park with Judy and Jim, the Morgans and my family. Our special guest was 13 year old Ryan all the way here from London, England-his first time here visiting and will be staying with Judy and the Vixies. I think every second of his next 2 weeks are planned with adventures. We haven't gotten to spend much time at 3 Oaks this summer and the girls were running free. What caught their attention-and was our entertainment for the evening-is the dirt and soot from the bonfire pit. After a 4-wheeler ride with grandpa, they spent the rest of the night literally covering themselves with dirt and soot. Needless to say, they had 2 baths last night-the first one turned the water black. And thank goodness again for oxi-clean!!! Oh, did I mention the girls' obsession with themselves in the mirror. There are several hats and items we play dress up with in front of our big bedroom mirror. Since the door is usually closed to our bedroom because of things they could break or hurt themselves with, we usually go in their when I can constantly supervise. They love to walk back and forth in front of the mirror with their hats, etc... and you'd think they were on the runway in Paris the way they oogle and smile and bat their eyelashes at themselves. Its hilarious.

Niagara Falls, Canada

We stopped at Niagara Falls on the way home. It never loses it's wonder. I think what was just as interesting was watching all the different people there from all over the world.

Longsands Beach, York, Maine

My only regret is we didn't spend a whole day at the beach. I could live in York, Maine. Its breathtaking. They girls had no fear of the ocean, even when the waves came splashing over them, they kept wanting to go deeper. Eden was jabbering the whole time, if only I knew exactly what she was saying. I can only imagine what they were thinking-all that sand, all that water-WHAT FUN!!!

A little peak at RV life

The girls had a couple of baths in a large tub of water in the RV living room. Meal time was easier parked-feeding the twins going 70 mph down the road was a little trickier. Here we are eating breakfast in Maine at Winslow State Park.

Winslow State Park, Maine, USA

We camped 1 night at Winslow State Park in Maine. We had an ocean side site. Having never spent much time near the ocean, it is amazing to watch the tides come in and out. Kyle had the most fun finding crustaceans and hermit crabs-and I am thankful none of them made the trip back home with us.

Here are some picture of Grandma Walker with 3 of her boys and Kyle, Blaine's cousin David and girlfriend Maria, and Aunt Marci with her 2 sisters.