Date Night .....

and Daytime too! Last weekend Phil and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. Mom came in to babysit for us so we could spend the all day together, just us. We took the boat out for a little romantic time on the water. We are usually so paranoid about one of the girls falling in that we don't get to just relax and enjoy the scenery. When we got back home, we changed into something nicer and went out to dinner at a new restaurant. Our neighbors, Kari and Clay, lent us their Mercedes convertable. So FAST! Then we went to the movies and saw My Best Friend's Girl. This movie totally cracked us up....similar to Wedding Crashers. We laughed so hard, but I sensed we were one of the only couples that found it so hilarious. Others seemed offended. Not us, I guess we are just downright nasty. It was such a fun day and I am so glad mom was able to free us up for a whole 10 hours so we could enjoy some quality alone time. We need more of that!

What a happy day :)

I wish we could afford one of these! We may runaway to Mexico and never come back. No one could catch us in this thing!

Camping Fun!

This weekend we took the girls camping with a couple of our good friends, Kevin and Stacey. We are spending every minute we can out on the boat before summer comes to an end. Gina, Craig, and Kara met us on the lake Saturday afternoon and guess what..... I actually learned to water ski!! Wahoo! I really hurt myself the last time I tried so I was a little nervous, but this time I did it. It did not feel good when I fell though. Water shot into EVERY hole in my body if you get my point. I am very clean now! Of course, no one took MY picture while I skied so I have proof. Oh well, I have my memories, painful as they may be.

Gracie and Kara laughed so much. I bet their cheeks are sore!

The girls had fun hanging out and watching the grown ups act like little kids. So much fun!

The only picture of both of us together. Only missing

a few facial features. :)

We enjoyed a very pretty sunset just before heading back to camp for our dinner over the fire. Perfect ending!

Just Mommy and Ava

Early last week, I took Ava the orchard to pick apples. We meet some friends and went on a hayride while we ate cookies and apple cider. Then we headed out to the field to pluck the apples. It was so nice to enjoy my little Ava without interruptions from big sister. Poor thing only gets to take field trips to the grocery store and bank and the dry cleaners....you get it, not much fun for a 2 year old. But she LOVED this!!! I'll tell you that Gracie was very jealous when we told her where we went while she was suffering in school. But, I let her help me make an apple cake that evening and that smoothed everything over.

Lots of pretty pumpkins already. I am so ready for cooler weather.

Party Time!!

Gracie wanted the girliest girl party EVER for her birthday. So I delivered....the best I could, anyway. We had a Barbie cake, pink punch in fancy glasses, lots and lots of makeup and dress up clothes. She had the best time and I really enjoyed watching her interact with her Kindergarten friends. She seems like the class clown to me, which is SOOOOO different than she is at home. What a little showoff!

Barbie greets the guests as they enter the party.

Here is Gracie putting on MORE makeup.

Cake time!

Make a Wish!

Party girls!

Gracie is the only one NOT smiling, as usual.

Gracie is 5!

Yep, she's growing up fast. Gracie's birthday was actually on Tuesday, but this week has been nuts so I am not posting it until now. We went to Red Robin's for her favorite dinner - pepperoni pizza. Then she had an ice cream sundae as big as her head and she ate the whole dang thing! It was a nice family night out.

I'm not sharing so don't even ask!!!

We love Red Robin's!!

Working on it

Yeah, so, I lied. I am not going to be keeping this up as regularly as I thought I would, but hey, I am trying. I really thought that after Gracie started Kindergarten I would be more organized and have all the time in the world to get things done around the house. Seems the opposite. All I do is sit around and enjoy the quiet and every now and then hear Ava call for me to get her a "brink of juice pweese". Anyway, I am making a goal to use my time more wisely....starting next week. I PROMISE I will post some more pictures of our everyday stuff. But until then, I will brag a little on my kiddos. Gracie came home with another PeaceBuilder Award today (her 3rd one so far). It seems that she is just like her mommy because she was making craft projects for her friends "just because". How sweet is that! And Ava was the star of her class today too. Everyone just loves her at Moms Day Out. She was all smiles throughout the day and even gave everyone hugs and kisses goodbye. What a sugarpie!

Love these two girls so much!

Post # 1

This is it...my first ever blog post! I've been inspired by many friends to give this a shot as a way to keep a record of the daily adventures of my life. I hope my family and friends check in regularly to find out what we've been up to around here. I'll try to update often and will have lots of pictures to share. Until next time......