Looking unalike

Most of the time, the twins look more alike than different, and people who don't see them regularly can only tell them apart if they are wearing their signature green (Harper) and pink (Ava).  But in these pictures as they were waking up from their naps, I thought they looked completely different.

Ava didn't want her picture taken very badly at all, Harper managed a little grin.

Donuts

Harper and Ava had a busy morning.  They made sun catchers and birthday cards to give to Lexi, it's her 15th birthday today.  I was proud of them because they both wrote Lexi's name on their cards, then they decorated sacks to put their gifts in.   

They were so disappointed to wake up from their nap and find it was raining again.  We sang "rain rain go away" but it didn't help, Harper said we had to sing louder and was on the verge of tears, so I told them they could make donuts instead.  They concentrated on decorating some to take home for their family and did a great job.  It is a chaotic, messy experience but they sure enjoy it.  Afterwards, the sun came out so we went for a walk to pick flowers, swing on the big swing, feed some grass to the chickens, and play in the creek. 

Ukulele, Barbies

Rielee had try-outs for the school talent show today, she is singing and playing 2 songs with the ukulele,  so she practiced a little before school.  Ava really wanted to help so Rielee let her do some strumming.  Rielee also had cleaned out her room and brought over a bunch of toys and games for the girls which kept them busy all day.  Some were Barbie toys, they love Barbies these days and got out all of the clothes and were excited to dress them up in pretty dresses.  The only problem was that we have no matching shoes for the Barbies, they've been lost over the years. That didn't sit well with them at all.

Tor at Cale's party

We went to Cale's graduation party this afternoon, it was nice and  I got some quality baby time with Torian, he is so sweet.

Norma!

 Norma is back!  She will be here for 2 weeks and goes back the day after graduation.  Her visit was a surprise for Macee, well, almost.  I opened my big mouth last night and started to say something about Norma...but even if Macee suspected something,  it didn't make her any less happy when she opened the door and saw Norma standing there.

"the cobra is gonna get you"

Norma couldn't get over how much Parker has grown.  Rielee confessed to Norma that she once put a frog in a jar and put it by the bed when Norma and sister Marta were sleeping. 

New punch balloons

When Aunt Des dropped off Rielee this morning she brought Harper a green Tinker Bell punch balloon and Ava a pink Princess one.  They were so happy and put their names on them right away and I added some hearts.  Their old ones lost all their air yesterday so it was perfect timing.  They've been getting a lot of good rainy day play out of these things.

Kids at home

Since Papa had a dentist appointment in Vancouver and both Charb and Kelly also had appointments after work, I took the twins home.  Becky was giving Luke and Lexi a ride from school and was a little late, so we waited on the porch for them.  The girls both had to go potty badly, so badly that I finally told them they could go outside, like you might if you were camping in the woods.  So I got some tissue out of the car and took them over by the boat, shielded them and let them go-they thought it was so funny, and giggled the whole time.  And then we find out when Becky and the kids get there that Kelly had left the front door unlocked.
It was a quick visit,  Ava and Harper showed me their big girl beds, Luke showed me Ava's Earth light and Harper's Moon light and I saw how big Emma the dog has grown, then snapped a picture of the four of them and headed back to pick up Papa.

Talent contest/Uncle Barry

 Ava doing a hula hoop dance as she participated in a Talent Contest that Rielee organized last night.  I had to score them on 4 rounds,  3 dancing and 1 playing the piano.  Rielee won, having an definite advantage on the piano.  Auna is cut out of the picture, she came over and watched.

Barry came to visit today.  At first, Ava and Harper were a little shy, but before long they brought out the piano and put on a little show for him.  After he left, they both told us they really liked Uncle Barry. 

Little servers, softball

First thing every morning lately, the girls get out the PlayDoh, cut out a bunch of "cookies", and then serve them to us, along with other food.  Harper has them stacked up her arm, they both serve this way-apparently, they really study the waitresses when they eat in restaurants.  Ava likes to fix a nice plate, she will work for a long time to make it look just perfect.

Wearing their new sundresses,  Ava's with princesses and Harper's with Tinkerbell.  Their hair looks crazy because they had been running through the sprinkler.
Rielee came over after school with a bucket of balls, mitts and her batting helmet and asked if I would play softball with her.  I told her I had no softball skills, but she didn't care, and ran home to get a bat, which she had forgotten.  As we played, she was very encouraging, even telling me I was a "natural" when I hit the ball, so funny!

Pizza and a firepit

 

Macee: "Parker, just smile a normal smile!"

I met  Gabe, Des and the kids and the Dolans at Papa Pete's for dinner tonight while Papa went to watch District softball games. 

 The kids managed to win a small amount of candy and goodies out of the machines.

Perfectly perfect smilers

Emmy (and Will) are home for the weekend (Will didn't come to pizza- he was in Portland with Cale).   It was nice visiting with everyone.   Later, Rielee came over to get some marshmallows for Smores because the Dolans were having a firepit so we all ended up over there.  Uncle, too, he had us all laughing when he told Emmy he was going to  wear his Army uniform to her graduation.

Luke baseball

 We watched Luke play baseball tonight.  He pitched, played 1st base, hit a triple, made a great catch for a double play, and they won.  Great game.

His little sisters entertained themselves by basically just being silly, silly and more silly.  We heard a steady chorus of giggles from them.

Brownies

We had a cookie crisis this morning.  Papa ate most of the Fig Newtons last night, leaving just 2 for the twins, so we whipped up a batch of black bean brownies.  Ava looked a little grossed out when I handed her the blended black bean and water mixture to pour in,  but as soon as they stirred it into the brownie mix, they happily tasted it and licked the bowl.  We put peanut butter frosting on them and shared with the neighborhood, yummy. 

Auna softball

Uncle went to watch Auna play softball tonight.  Her team won easily and Auna had a couple of good hits.

Rain go away now

Harper sat at the window this morning, singing "Rain, rain go away, come again some other day, rain, rain go away, Ava and Harper want to play" over and over.  But when the rain didn't stop, she was sad and then mad!  She said "Grandma, I sang and sang the song and it's still raining!"  She was so upset that she went in and threw herself on her bed and stayed there.  Later when she came out, the sky briefly brightened and she just started screaming "it worked, it worked, I sang and it worked, it stopped raining!" 

Homemade water slide

Rielee showed the twins how to make a homemade water slide this afternoon.  The expressions on their faces when they came down it were priceless.

Nothing like splashing into a puddle of muddy water.

Rielee really launched herself on this one and the landing hurt.

They made a volcano and then flooded the sandbox.  By the time they were done they were really dirty.   I had them strip so I could hose them off before they came inside for a shower.  They sure got a kick out of running around naked in the field, I had to chase them down with their towels to get them to come in.

James baseball

We finally made it to see James play some baseball tonight after missing all of his school ball games.   We were running out of time since he is having knee surgery next Friday.  His Babe Ruth team won 7-4, it was a good game.  We have no action pictures  since Uncle was struggling with his photography skills (no glasses),  he took 8 pix of James batting and either his eyes were closed or the picture was blurry.  When James was running to score, Uncle got a  picture of the fence and one of some trees...I snapped this one as James was going out to warm up before pitching the last inning,  Michelle told James I needed a picture so he smiled for me.

Waking up

It was so sweet this afternoon.  Harper woke up first from her nap and went to Ava who was still snoozing on the couch.  She kept saying "Mommy, wake up Mommy,  puppy, puppy, puppy" over and over, and kissing and nuzzling Ava's face with hers.  Ava opened her eyes and said, "why do you keep saying "puppy"?"  "I'm a puppy, you're Mommy" Harper said. 

Sprinkler and bubbles

Another perfect day for blowing bubbles and running through the sprinkler.  The kids have lots of bubbles now since Aunt Laury gave them Super Miracle Bubbles, much better than plain old Miracle Bubbles.

 

I bought a round sprinkler since they always break the oscillating type by standing on  them to block the flow.  But by the end of the day, Harper was balancing on the center of this one and rotating it by spinning around, pretty impressive.  I wonder how long it will last now.

Parker won!

 Harper, Rielee and Ava relaxing, for a second, and only a second,  at the Middle School track meet.   Rielee had to leave early to go to her piano lesson.  The twins spent their time picking flowers, playing with rocks, and going to the bathroom, twice each (they never seem to have to go at the same time).  They cheered for Parker and Auna.  Parker had a great meet, winning the high jump and 400, and his two relay teams also won.

Auna's leg is still sore so she only ran in the relay, no picture since Uncle was standing in the wrong spot, other runners got in the way and he got a picture of the fence instead.

Parker and friend Bryce behind him running the 400

Senior Prom

 Senior Prom-the last dance for best friends Macee, Kenzi, Tierney and Maddie.

 cousins Macee, Cale and Tierney

Macee and Pacer

The whole gang, they were off to El Compadre  for dinner, then to the prom at the CR Elementary cafeteria...and back to Macee's for a movie if the prom wasn't fun.

Lexi's game

Lexi talking to one of her coaches before she went up to bat

 We went to Lexi's last home game of the season against Battleground, they won 3-1.  Lexi played left field and had a good hit but it was caught.   

 The twins entertained themselves playing in some sand behind the stands. They were excited to get Mom's empty water bottle,

 and worked together to fill it up, getting dirtier and dirtier by the minute. 

 

After the game, we couldn't believe Harper's face, a little chocolate but mostly dirt! 

Washing rocks

Washing rocks, inside or out, keeps them happy for a long time.   

 More sprinkler fun again today.  Ava got really wet, even putting her hair in the water.  They wanted popsicles,

but then were so cold they huddled under their towels.

May Day

 Auna turned 13 today, we asked her to stop by before school so we could give her a present and cards the girls made for her.

 Delivering May baskets at Alan and Vera's house, they had lots of fun with the entire process, especially the hiding. 

 It was just warm enough this aftenoon to play in the sprinkler,

  they had a great time.

Warming up on the driveway.