Ava & Harper's 1st Birthday

Ava and Harper had their 1st Birthday party in their backyard today. They looked so cute in the little tutus that their Mom and sis Lexi made for them.
This is Ava-

and this is Harper, you can tell they felt very special with everyone looking at them. They were very good all day.

Des' Mom Denice made the cupcakes and girl's giant party cupcakes, too. They not only looked cute but were also delicious. It was a really nice party, and they got lots of clothes and toys. I made a little video of the day, it's on YouTube, search "Ava & Harper" you'll find it. I'd put a link on here but I'm too tired to try to remember how...

Friday fun

Ava and Harper came up today to visit. They were going to spend the Thursday night with us, but I had a migraine so we could only had them for the day. Emmy stopped by on her way to Spokane, the twins were kind of tired and just weren't too sure about her, so they were "studying" her. We were out at the playfort and Rielee's car was there, so I put Harper in it to see what she would do. She ended up loving it and crying when it was time to get out.

Charb came up about 3 with Luke and his cousin Dale, they were going to just pick up the girls and head for home. But Parker came over and all the boys started playing and they didn't leave until 5:00. The boys played with the dog, jumped on the trampoline, hung out on the hammock,

in this picture Luke and Dale are pushing Parker, trying to get him to flip. They really wanted to get in the pool but didn't have their swim trunks, so Charb was saying no,--but I finally convinced him they should get in for a few minutes anyway, and took them over to the pool. Pretty soon Charb was right in there with them. Parker and Luke racing.

Charb was complaining later about how they were all going home with wet underwear...

After they left, Parker decided to spend the night. We fixed dinner and then decided we would get ice cream for dessert from the ice cream shop. Parker was so impressed with the shop, especially the bubblegum ice cream and he told Penny that he really wanted to buy the place "after he retires", she said she was afraid she might still be there to sell it to him.

Harper has a tooth

Harper got her 1st tooth, but she doesn't care to show it to anyone. Auna did catch a glimpse of it when she was feeding her today though. She seemed a little cranky so maybe her other bottom tooth is coming through soon.

She loves this blanket of Rielee's with the dogs on it. She'll say "gog" and then kiss them and lay her head down. She is very affectionate, kissing animals and kids in all their books. We tried to get her and Ava to kiss or hug each other today, but they wouldn't. They do both blow kisses now, give high 5's, and do the motions to the "itsy bitsy spider".

Pool volleyball

* The old women in the above picture may appear larger than they really are...

Auna's weird pool "do"

We had a really fun day playing in Gabe and Des' pool while they were at the houseboat. Doni, Emmy, Auna and I put up the volleyball net and played volleyball all afternoon. Laury came over and played too, after she got back from buying groceries. Uncle helped by keeping score and retrieving the ball when it went over the fence or under the deck.

Jillian's here

Rielee spent the night with us so she would be here in the morning when Jillian arrived. Rick and Heather asked if we could take care of her since all of her other caregivers were on vacation.
Rielee was very excited and they played like crazy all morning. I gave them the job of watering my flowers and that kept them busy for a long time, they even watered the rocks.

When the sun came out we headed to the pool, Jillian was all gung-ho to get in and play, but once she felt the cold water she changed her mind. She did sit on the shark for a few minutes, but then she slid off of it and got wet, so that was the end of her pool time. We brought over Ava and Harper's little wading pool and put some water in it for her to play in, so she was happy.

And Maggie got to cool off, too.

Later in the afternoon, Rielee left for the houseboat so Auna stayed to play with Jillian. We brought the pool back over to our house and they played in that and with the hose. I made them cones and then it was time to go in the house and dry off before Rick came to pick Jillian up.

All day all I could think about as I watched Jillian play was that before we know it, Ava and Harper would be 2 like Jillian, and how in the heck am I ever going to survive it?!

Thursday

Macee had a little time before going to driver's ed., so she sat down and read to Harper.

Rielee's new favorite game is playing restaurant. "My name is Kaylee Gourde and I will be your waitress" she told us before she took our orders.

After lunch and just before we were loading up the twins, Auna and I sat them down and tried to get a good picture of them, which is darn near impossible these days, they are so squirrely.

We ended our day watching summer league volleyball in Toutle, where Papa and his helper Rielee kept score.

Wednesday-Twins for the night

We got the twins Wednesday morning for an overnighter. Auna came over to help, thank goodness, as did Parker and his friend Morgan. You can tell by the look on Parker's face in this picture, that he was a little put out by all the attention Morgan and Auna were paying to the twins instead of playing with him.

So we all went outside so Ava and Harper could swing, and after a little bit I made Auna and Morgan go over and swim with Parker(at this point he was laying out in the field by himself, trying nonchalantly to get his point across!) They ended up swimming for a long time, with Macee's supervision.

We took the twins outside again later in the evening, they are so happy outside, and when we came back from our stroller ride, we parked them in front of the TV and they were still content, it looked so funny I had to take a picture. They were really tired and asleep by 9:30, they slept until 4:00 a.m.

This was how they looked after a bottle, and then they went right back to sleep until 7:30.

"Grandma, I need you to move your car!"

"No, Parker, we need to move the 4-wheeler". Seems the brakes don't always hold on it, and it rolled down the bank right into my car, denting the fender. We went to Alan for help since Papa wasn't home and he had James pull it back with the lawn tractor so I could move the car.

Twins for the morning

We had the twins this morning while Charb and Luke went fishing, plus Rielee, Parker and his friend Eric. Papa was gone taking Macee to Woodland for volleyball, so I was on my own. We did fine until nap time. I tried putting them down for their naps, but after 10 minutes of stereo screaming, I caved, again, and rocked them to sleep. Hey, I was afraid Harper was going to have a sore throat, she was wailing so loudly...that's my excuse for today.
So this was how they ended up napping after I had to get up to check on Rielee and go to the bathroom. Em came over to help with them during the morning, and Auna came over and helped feed them lunch.

Poor Rielee was sick all day with a bad cough and fever. She said the sunflower seeds were healthy and were making her feel better. She begged to go swimming once the sun came out, but we decided she should just rest so she watch the Chihuahua movie and took it easy.

Ava was fascinated today with Rielee's baby dolls, squealing and hugging them, then throwing them down on the floor. Then she would plop them back up on the coffee table and touch their eyes. You can see another baby flopped over on their play table behind them.

The big baby

Papa had surgery on a hernia today, and was calling himself a big baby before he tried taking two pain pills-then he was a much happier patient, laughing and joking around. He was feeling so good he sat and watch "The Berenstain Bears" with Rielee, eating Dill Pickle sunflower seeds, too, guess those would be considered a "light" diet?

Fair

We had a full day, spending the entire afternoon at the pool and then going to the parade and fair.

Parker and Will goofing off. Parker was playing around with the towel and put it down on bottom of the pool and tried to lay on it.

Rielee had two of her dreams come true today. First, she won a big ribbon for her foam picture, she had been hoping to win a big ribbon like her brother and sister have. Macee added 2 more big ribbons to her collection for a mask she entered. They all won several other 1st and 2nd place ribbons for other things they entered and Rielee got an Honorable Mention for one of her flower arrangements.

And then, this was a biggy--she got her first ever ride on a pony, something she has always wanted to do! She told her Dad he should just build a barn now and forget about a shop, so she could get a horse.

Fair entries

Parker spent the night last night and slept in until 9:30. Since Macee and Des are in CA, Papa went over to the house when Gabe left for work so that Rielee could sleep in, too. Papa made oatmeal and toast for he and Rielee, I made eggs and fried spuds for Parker and I. It was nice and hot today, so they got to play in the pool. Rielee tried swimming while holding Maggie, which didn't work and Maggie went underwater. She stayed away from the pool all together after that. In the afternoon, Rielee picked some flowers and I helped her make a couple of arrangements to enter in the fair. She really loves to make bouquets, and if she had her way there probably wouldn't be a flower left in the yard, she would have them all in vases, and be wearing one tucked behind her ear. She is trying to learn all the names of the flowers.

Sunday - Wave Runners

On Sunday Harper took a turn in the water, but first she floated with Dad on the chair. She didn't like the water any more than Ava did.

Sunday we took the houseboat over to the other side of the lake to Cove Palisades Marina and David rented a couple of wave runners. Everyone took turns riding them, and it was a ton of fun. We had lunch on the way, Charb and Kelly fixed tacos and burritos.

Ava and Harper spent the day napping and playing. They were really very good, despite the heat and having not slept too well during the night. Both kept waking up hourly during the night, and then Ava rolled off the bed at 5:30 and Harper had a blow-out in her diaper, so for a little while they were both pretty upset. But they went back to sleep until 7:30. They were so cute in the afternoon, Ava kept snuggling up to Emmy, putting her head on Em's shoulder, over and over, and Harper pointed out 3 "noses" her own, mine and Papa's.

Em, Macee and Luke riding slowly--didn't see much of that! They are all speed demons, even Auna was riding as fast as she could go.

Luke and Rielee in the hot tub, Em laying out, we saw this scene off and on all day. Rielee loved the hot tub, even though we never heated it, it was a place for her to play and we could cool off the babies in it also. When we got back to the dock that evening, Gabe and Des fixed us all halibut and hamburgers, the kids went fishing, and we played "31" and then "poop on your neighbor".

A great day, and they were some happy kids Sunday night when they posed for this group picture!

Saturday houseboating

Saturday Charb, Kelly, Luke, Ava and Harper joined us and we took the houseboat on a cruise up the lake. The kids did lots of tubing as we cruised along.

Harper sitting with Papa as he steered from up top.

Ava wasn't exactly thrilled with the cold water, but eventually she calmed down and floated around with Dad for a little while. We stayed out on the lake all day, having lunch on the water. That night Laury and David fixed us teriyaki chicken and we played "31". One of the funniest moments came when Rielee, who was sitting on the couch playing a game of "Guess Who" with her little friend, asked her "does your girl have a mustache?"

Friday-Laury's 50!

After a busy day playing on the lake, we celebrated Laury's 50th birthday on the houseboat Friday night. We played a trivia game about Laury which David and Gabe tied as winners.

We didn't take the houseboat out, but Gabe took everyone out in the boat for tubing and wakeboarding. The kids also played on the waterslide and jumped off the top of the houseboat, hung out in the hottub,

and just enjoyed the sunshine. Later in the evening, Auna and Rielee went fishing, Parker put out the crawdad traps, we played cards, and the kids watched a movie.

A day at the pool

Since it was so hot today, we spent a lot of time at the wading pool, Ava was trying to get out when Harper gave her a little help.

Emmy stopped by this morning to see Ava and Harper. She was happy with this self-portrait she took of herself and Ava.Their little feet, this was my view as I was rocking them this morning. I finally got them to sleep, then tried to put them in their cribs, big mistake, so they took about 20 min. naps.

They looked so cute in their tankinis, but didn't have much interest in getting in their pool until Papa worked with them, finally just plunking them in and playing with them and their toys, then they liked it.

They spent some time checking out the stroller and pushing it around, they especially love the straps, good chewing.