Ava and Harper's 2nd birthday

Two years old today! They almost posed for me in their playfort, well, at least they stood still for a second but no smiles. In fact, Ava was growling at me because they were rolling a ball down the slide to Rielee and I was interrupting the fun.

They got lots of nice gifts. Ava loved the clothes, both were excited by a crawling baby, a musical guitar, Play-Doh and bubbles.

They held up really well for their party despite not having naps (they opted to play in their cribs for 2 hours before the party instead of sleeping). They even stayed clean, thanks to their Papas and Grandpa staying close with the wash cloth in hand.

Rielee the super garage saler

We hit a few garage sales this morning, which is always entertaining with Rielee along. At one, she found a badminton/volleyball set she was interested in, it didn't have a price on it, so I told her to find out how much they wanted for it. The next thing I know, she is lugging it up to show it to me, "it was only $5, so I bought it!" she says. Then she found some stuffed animals she really wanted and used up all her change buying those. Then it was an art set she had to have for $2, so she borrowed that from Papa. She did dust and wash windows when we got home to pay him back though. In Rielee's world you can't have too many stuffed animals!

Now it's too quiet

Ava and Harper left this morning to go with their other Grandma and Papa and then to pick up Mom and Dad at the airport. The house is way too quiet already. Fresh and clean after their bath, Ava wanted socks on since she had a little owee on her foot, of course Harper had to wear socks, too.

Evening walk

No bottles today and the girls did great. Harper asked for one in the afternoon but I opened the cupboard and showed her they were "all gone" and she settled for a snack instead. At dinner I mixed a little milk in with the water in their sippy cups and neither one noticed the difference. Before bed, Ava went to the fridge and asked for milk, so I gave her some in a regular little cup, no chocolate or straw this time, and she drank it right down, yeah! Alan flew his plane with the HD video camera mounted on the front today, Ava and Harper were fascinated by it, and kept a close eye on where it was flying.

Papa wanted to take the girls down to the Riverfront trail this evening for what he thought was a short walk down to the river. Short for us but not for them, they made it one way but just after I took this picture of them headed back, both decided they couldn't walk any further and we had to carry them back to the car. They were very excited by all the nice rocks they saw along the way, and also collected a few sticks to carry along, too.

Big girls

These girls are growing up, swinging on the big swings, going potty, what? Harper shocked the heck out of me tonight. She said she had to go potty, so I took her diaper off and she got herself a book and went to sit on the potty chair. Ava got some more books and sat on the stool beside her and looked at books, too, moral support, I guess. When I went in to check on them, I could smell that Harper had actually gone potty! I had her stand up and look, Ava looked, too, and they both went "ughhh" and their eyes were like saucers! Parker was on the computer so he was a witness. We both cheered and made a big deal out of it. When we asked Harper if she went potty later, she just said "yeah, gross!" Hope she isn't too grossed out to do it again soon. We also made it through the day without any bottles, and had some success with Ava drinking chocolate milk out of a cup with a straw before bed, Harper tried a little bit but ate a little bowl of cereal instead. After the big potty event, we went to Toutle to watch Emmy's alumni team play the Rockets. Ava and Harper were very good, it helped that Rielee had a bunch of stickers that kept them occupied for quite awhile.

Harper's eye "problem"

We will have the girls until Thursday this week while their parents are in Las Vegas. Harper was awake this morning and cried on the way home, Papa even stopped in Kalama to see if she was buckled too tightly or sitting on something, but she wasn't. She perked up after she got here and played, but at about 9 she started to cry and say "eye" and rub her right eye, this happened during computer time and she didn't want to sit and do that, and several more times. We were thinking she must have maybe scratched it or had something in it, although neither of us saw anything happen that might have caused a problem. I was worried and starting to think about taking her to the doctor but Papa said let me sit with her and try to calm her down, he had her on his shoulder--and she fell asleep in about a minute! Guess the only thing wrong with her little eye was that she couldn't hardly keep it open! She was perfectly fine after a long nap. They are sure talking a lot more, we really noticed it today. Stringing 3 words together a lot, and they are counting to 10 when we start counting, we say a number, they say the next one.
This picture is of Ava checking all the doors to the car, Harper started it first, going around and around, checking every door. Couldn't get in but managed to get their hands pretty dirty from our not very clean car.

Sunny Sunday

Nearly 12 hours of sleep makes for happy kids-Harper was all smiles while waiting for breakfast. It was such a sunny morning and we had them outside playing early. Papa put a little water in their wading pool so they splashed around in it or played in the sandbox.

Papa decided to clean out the cars (their carseats were so dirty and encrusted with crumbs from their long rides yesterday) and move the carseats to the red car and before he knew it, he had help,

but not really, they just wanted to play in the car. Lots of screaming when it was time to get out!

We took them back to Kelly about 2:30. Later in the evening, we went over to the Dolan's and played badminton with Rielee, Parker, Auna and Em. Em, Rielee and I beat Auna and Parker, no contest really although they did the better trash-talking. Parker, Auna and Em came over to watch Big Brother with us, and Parker stayed to spend the night.

Wedding Day

Teo Park in Stevenson was a beautiful setting for Charb and Kelly's wedding, the weather cooperated, it was warm with no wind. All the kids looked so nice all dressed up. We were a little concerned about Ava and Harper and how they would do walking down the aisle because beforehand they were getting a little fussy during pictures, but as it was, they did a great job, holding Rielee's hands and their baskets just perfectly! In this picture I think Charb is trying really hard to remember a long passage of his vows. It was a very special ceremony that included the kids in the vows. They tried to get Ava and Harper to come up and join in at the end, Ava went up but Harper wandered away to hand out flower petals.

Cake cutting-what the kids were waiting for- they had been eyeing them, and I think Emmy even snuck a couple out of one of the extras left in a box on the ground...

and Ava licked hers clean!

After the ceremony and a some food, the twins were ready to play and wandered around, visiting with lots of family.

When we left to drive home with them, we were so sure they were going to go right to sleep, everyone agreed that they would probably be asleep before we left Stevenson, but no, they were so wound up from all the partying (and probably all the frosting) that they stayed awake the whole time!

I love this happy picture of Charb and Emmy.What a perfect day!

Posing girls

Laury, Papa and I went to the Flower Market early this morning and picked up the girls on the way home so they could spend the day with us while Mom and Dad get stuff done for the wedding. I put the Play-Doh away 3 different times today, only to be met with tears when they noticed it wasn't on the table. James came over with Parker and I even caught him playing with it. He said "Aunt, I remember playing with Play-Doh with you every day when I was little."

This picture is one of about 20 I took of the girls at Aunt Linda's house. She has this tiny doll bench in her living room and the girls could just barely squeeze into it, but they loved it! I ran to get my camera and they posed over and over, when I walked away they would sit down again and say "MORE!" It was so funny since it is about impossible to get a picture of them together these days. We grabbed them right from their naps to get down there in time to see Papa's Aunt Gracie and cousin John who were visiting from CA, that's why their hair is kind of wild.

Bike ride

Wednesday we took the kids to the River front trail for a bike ride. Except Rielee didn't want to ride her bike and brought her scooter instead, a decision she quickly regretted. She kept up, though, and rode the whole trail, then Papa rode back and brought the truck up to the north end and picked her and I up while Parker and Auna rode back through town and met us back at the car.

Harper's potty attempt

Harper had to suddenly hop out of the tub this morning to go potty, she thought...as it turned out nothing happened but she was in the mood to give it a try anyway. After sitting there for awhile, she shouted "book" and ran to get one. After looking through 2 different books, she finally gave up and closed the lid.
The sun finally came out today! The kids were so happy to be outside playing.

Rielee lets the girls pretend to push her over with their feet, she likes it when they laugh as she falls down.

Rain rain go away

The kids slept in, Parker was the last one up at 9:15. We had an enjoyable morning with a big breakfast, coffee and conversation with Norma. She left to go for a pedicure with a friend, and it wasn't long before Riels and Parker were getting kind of squirrely, too wet to play outside and nothing to do but bug each other and wait until their parents and Macee got home at 3, so after they did an hour of reading, we went to rent yet another movie. Rielee found one they watched at the beach, Cool Dog which wasn't too bad, although Parker and Auna said it was terrible. Then we got a call from Des that their flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems so they weren't going to get a flight home until midnight-oh my gosh...

But then Ava and Harper came up to spend the night and they livened up the place. Of course, they went right for the Play Doh first, no surprise there. Des ordered us Papa Pete's for dinner and had Parker pay for it so that was a nice surprise. At 9, I put the twins to bed and Papa took Norma, Parker and Rielee over to their house and stayed so they could go to sleep in their own beds.

Saturday

Geez, another rainy day...fortunately, Auna showed up at 8 since her parents went to work at the fair, so Rielee had someone to play with. Parker also went to the fair, to spend the day with Boris in the barns. Now he said he is saving his money to buy fencing so he can get a cow. Rielee spent most of the day in her new dress, which made her a Queen, she said. Papa had to play the role of her husband and Auna was their daughter. I overheard this conversation:

Rielee to husband Papa: "Honey, our daughter just told me she is running away!"

husband Papa: "What, that's horrible, why?"

Rielee: "She said I wasn't a nice Mom, that I was mean to her!"

Auna cracked up trying to explain- "She said she wanted to have a talk with me, then she sat down in front of me and sang "Jingle Bells", the whole song!" It was too much for her.

She still plays pretend all the time, but it is more fun for her when one of us plays along, too.

Auna and Rielee went to the fair in the afternoon. Rielee got to ride the ponies again, and even got one last free ride.

In the evening we watched a couple of not-so-good movies, Hotel for Dogs and Grownups, Norma came over later and spent the night with us.

Garage sales

We were up early to hit the garage sales, first in Toutle, then CR. All I found was a pair of rain boots for the twins, but Rielee made a haul. It is amazing how much stuff she bought with $8, including this cradle and shopping cart, she also bought a princess dress, jewelry box, piggy bank and a couple little cars. Parker went along, too, looking for another safe but didn't find one. Parker went to the fair a couple different times with Norma and Papa took Rielee back to ride the ponies again. Parker went back again in the evening with his boots to spend some time in the barns with Boris. He was planning on petting a cow, a new experience for him.

Fair

Rielee's day started out great when Jillian got to come and play in the morning. They get along so well now, and Jillian even sat still for a make-over. I hope we got most of the make-up off before she went to her swimming lesson. Tonight was the CR parade and fair. Rielee and Parker collected a big bag of candy at the parade. Then we headed over to the fair. Rielee was so excited for the pony ride, but she actually got to ride on a horse.

She didn't stop smiling the entire ride, and is going back tomorrow with Papa for another one.

Boris was there with his pig and took Rielee in the pen with him. Then another friend of Rielee's took her in with her pig and she got to brush that one. Then that girl's Mom took her over to the chickens and she got to pet 2 of them. She also went down the big slide and played several games in the Quarter arcade. Parker shot BB guns with Boris but that was about all he was interested in.

Rielee and her crafts

She was happy to win 2 "big" ribbons, one on her tiger picture and frame, the other on her puppy doghouse, the rest got 1st place ribbons. Parker won 1st place on his Lego "prisoner barge" entry.

Lunch with Norma

Gabe and Des left early this morning to take Macee to Stanford for a volleyball camp so we had Norma, Parker and Rielee over for breakfast, Auna, too, since she was spending the day with us. After breakfast the older kids went home to hang out for awhile and Rielee took a long bath. We decided it would be fun to take them all out for lunch so we let them pick the restaurant and they decided on Applebee's. Norma was excited to go there because a high school friend of hers works there. Our lunch was good, except for Auna's, somehow the waitress thought she was ordering off the child's menu, so Auna's hamburger was a very tiny one. The shocked look on her face when she got her plate was pretty funny! We all had to share our food with her so she didn't go hungry, the kids also got dessert and she didn't have any problem finishing hers. Oh yeah, Parker and Norma's friend Dan Smith were also at lunch with us, but somehow we didn't get a picture of them, oops.
After lunch, Papa headed back home with Norma and Dan, who had to get to work, while I took the other kids shopping. We went to Pet Works for some goldfish for the pond, then to Target so Rielee could spend her giftcards.

Summer league volleyball

This was cool, Auna got to play with the JV volleyball team tonight since they thought they might be short of players. She played well and even scored the winning point in the last game. Go Auna! After watching Auna, we got to watch Tierney and Macee play against Emmy and the Alumni team. The Rockets took 2 of 3 games off them, but had to work hard to do it, those "old ladies" are tough. Fun to see the competition between the cousins.

Harper is sick

Thank goodness Ava was back to normal this morning, although she didn't have any solid food yet. Play Doh continues to be the most popular indoor activity for the twins (another rainy day). They play with it, put it away, and ask for it again a half an hour later. They are pretty good at helping clean it up, though, so I don't mind. Auna and Rielee are really good about helping to entertain them, too. Auna made several cell-phones for them, definitely upgrades from Papa's. The are getting into playing restaurant, too. It was cute today, they have watched Rielee taking food "orders" with her notebook, and today Harper came to Papa and I with her pen and notebook and asked us "num num?" which I guess meant "may I take your order?" She pretended to write down whatever food we asked for. Parker and Norma showed up early for breakfast. I had forgotten that I told Parker I would cook this morning, and then slept in with Ava since she didn't feel good, so it was sort of controlled chaos while we threw together breakfast for everybody. It all turned out well though. Macee and Rielee came over after they got back from Rielee's piano lesson, and they all sat around and looked through old photo albums, laughing at funny pictures of Norma from last year.

Norma and Macee hanging out and trying to figure out what they would do with the day.

*Ava and Harper went home at 1:00, Kelly called later and said both girls fell asleep right away, then Harper threw up about Ridgefield.

Ava gets sick

Charb dropped the twins off to us on his way to Seattle early this morning. It was a sunny day so they got two long play sessions outside. Chalk was fun...

and Ava still has her moves!

After this we went in for lunch and a nap. Came back out to play after naptime, Ava played but didn't quite seem herself. When we went in to have dinner, we learned why--she threw up 3 times and was sick the rest of the evening. She slept through the night, but tossed and turned like she couldn't get comfortable. This is the first time she has been sick besides having a cold.

Debbie's graduation party

Sunday we went over to Alan & Vera's for a graduation party for Debbie, who just graduated from R.A.Long. It was a fun party with tons of wonderful food and great conversation. I especially enjoyed visiting with James and reminiscing about how many good times we have had over the years.

Debbie has grown into a beautiful young woman and is anxious to get on with her studies towards a nursing degree, she did Running Start the last 2 quarters so she is off to a good start. Alan put a slide show on his TV with hundreds of pictures of Debbie through the years, it was a lot of fun to watch.

Auna softball/Norma's back

Papa & Macee picked Norma up last night, her flight came in about 10. She is back to visit for about 3 weeks. She came over this morning with Rielee and Parker and brought me some pretty towels from Italy and Papa a wallet. She looks great with her hair blonder than she had it last year, and is anxious to see all of her friends.

Auna in playing on the Sting softball team at the 12U state tournament in LV/Kelso this weekend. Although her team lost their first game Friday, Auna played well at 3rd base and she had 2 hits and scored 2 of their 3 runs.

Play-Doh phones

Note to self: do not try to sleep with twin toddlers! We all woke up tired and grumpy, Harper looked like a little zombie. They did have fun with Play-Doh in the morning, and the "cell phones" that Papa made them, then they were down for naps by 10. Woke up much happier. Laury, Emmy, Auna, and Mary came over to visit. Mary had not seen the twins since their first birthday, the girls were a little quiet and shy at first but not for long.

A perfect summer day

We had such a fun day with the kids. They were out in the pool, well, Harper was, before noon. Ava got in and then I picked up the hose to add a little more water and it scared her, she wouldn't get in it again. Harper loved it though, and even went in the big pool, floating around on the air mattress with Auna. Ava sat on the side with me and put her feet in.

They played in and around the wading pool and in the sandbox off and on all day, and had fun cooling off Papa's feet with water.

In the evening, after a bath to wash off sand and popsicle drippings, we went for a walk, over to see Rielee playing in the pool, then to see Uncle Alan. The girls were so happy, and sat down on the driveway where I was able to take a picture of them, and their wild hair, together. Harper is wearing a swim ring for a bracelet.

After leaving Alan's, we headed over to the playfort. I was following Rielee and Ava, and all of a sudden I look up and they are both up in the playfort. Ava had followed Rielee right up the ladder! Harper quickly followed and the race was on, up the ladder-down the slide, over and over.

They had a ball! We let them play for quite awhile and it was tough to make them quit and go inside, Harper had to be carried in-screaming the whole way.
Now it is time for Papa to remove the 2 bottom rungs of the ladder so we don't have to worry about them climbing up there unattended.

4th of July

Well, we all survived another fun Gourde 4th of July party involving many unSAFE and inSANE fireworks. Nothing like tweens and teens running around with propane torches to keep you on edge...here they were blowing up some kind of water bomb. They had already blown the bottom out of one bucket.

We had two tables of "31" going. Somehow, I got to play with a table of crazy kids, several who were trying to cheat, too. But I manage to win, despite almost having a heart attack when Dan shot off his cannon in the middle of the game. The game was delayed while the kids laughed and laughed at how loud I screamed.

Rielee was braver this year and lit many little fountains. The boys had a lot of morters, most of them very loud. The most excitement was from a Chinese hot-air balloon thingy Mik brought, which floated right into the fir trees between our house and the Dolans...fortunately it burned itself out and fell to the ground before it lit the trees on fire! That was a little too much excitement for me!