Ava & Harper are 4!

 Harper and Ava had their 4th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese in Vancouver.  They had a great time playing the games and riding rides with their friends and family.  Rielee helped when they opened presents, reading Harper's cards to her.  They got some very nice gifts, lots of school clothes and Princess toys, including a fun Princess mirror.   They loved their awesome green and pink cakes that Diane made for them.

 Grandpa Dan got them bikes and helmets which they jumped right on and rode around the parking lot. 

Kelly sent me this picture of them on their last gift- this huge pony that Laurie and Julie left for them at Grandma Barb and Papa Mike's house, they were very excited.  They took "Princess Pony" home and she went to bed with them, they even covered her with a blanket.  What a special 4th birthday!

Riels and Isaac, walking the dog

Rielee and cousin Isaac were out in the Jeep this afternoon giving the dog that they are dog sitting a little exercise.  Isaac was impatient to get moving since he was having such a good time driving, he said the Jeep was "almost like a real car". 

Morning swim

We were all in the pool early today, playing motor boat, shark girls, and marco polo. It was fun and the pool felt great.  From the pool to the play fort and then in for lunch.  Even though Ava and Harper slept for 11 hours last night, they still needed a nap badly, these busy days playing with Rielee and swimming had caught up with them.  But then they slept and slept and I had to wake them up to meet Dad at 6, Harper was in an okay mood but begging for oatmeal-she thought it was morning,  I made her some toast and tried to get Ava up,  but she was sad because Papa had left to go to summer league while she was asleep and she wanted him.  She decided to wear her swimsuit home instead of her dress, ok, no big deal, and then said she couldn't walk to the car,  when I refused to carry her, she whimpered "I'll crawl then" and started to, oh gosh, so I packed her to the car, picturing her burning her little knees on the hot deck... "pick your battles" went  through my head about then.  So, I bribed them both with a toy if they wouldn't cry on the way to meet Dad, and stopped at BK for some food to munch on, by the time we met him, they were both happy and so was I. 

Wagon ride/Parker's truck

 Papa was on his way out to mow this morning but didn't get by the girls, who were having a tea party at the play fort.  So he loaded them and their chairs up in the wagon and took them for a long ride.  When he went up and down a steep little hill by Des and Gabe's, they would have to hang on for dear life or they would slide forward, so exciting.  He had to do it over and over again.

 Parker only has 30 months until he can get his driver's license, so he started working on his truck today, cleaning it out and trying to decide what to fix first, and he has lots of options.  He is doing odd jobs and saving his money so he can buy the things he needs for it.   He, Mom and Rielee used it this afternoon to haul their bikes to town to go for a ride. 

 Ava and Harper did so much better in the pool today.  We put floaties on them instead of their life jackets.  Ava was floating on her back and paddling around and practicing kicking, sometimes letting go of Papa's hand all together.

 

Harper floated around on the noodle and she also got very good at kicking.  They had a great time.

Fun with Jillian and Bridget

Harper and Rielee

 Rielee, Ava and Harper got to go down to Aunt Cathy's and play this morning, then they all went swimming in Rielee's pool.

That is Jillian jumping off the ladder and little Bridget in the middle of the pool, paddling around with her arm floaties on.  Ava and Harper floated around in the boat and played on the ladder. 

Lexi regionals

 Lexi's Kaos softball team played at Regionals this weekend.  They lost Friday, won all their games Saturday and then lost out Sunday. 

 Lexi played great, had lots of hits and made many great catches and throws.

 Harper and Ava being entertained by cousin Adrianna or "Deedee" as they call her and Luke.

Lexi "down and ready"- it sure was fun watching her play.

Bikini tea party

Ava and Harper tried playing on the Slip n' Slide again this afternoon, but without Rielee's (who was at camp) enthusiasm and encouragement, they just weren't having much fun.  They slid down backwards slowly and got a little wet, then decided instead to swing and have a tea party at the play fort.

Slip n' Slide and the Fair

 This afternoon Rielee remembered that we had bought a Slip n' Slide at a garage sale last week, so we set it up and they all had so much fun on it. 

 We had planned on going to the parade and fair this evening but opted just for the fair since Ava and Harper were a little worn out and had not napped today.  They were so excited to ride the ponies but seemed kind of scared once it was time to saddle up.

 This was how they looked during most of their ride, with long faces and Ava had her bottom lip out, too.  Ava said she liked petting her horse at first but then she felt like she might fall off and didn't like it.  Harper's horse was acting funny and stopped and started a lot, Harper looked bored.  They were happy to get off.

We went through the animal barns, they liked the cows, sheep and goats, but not the pigs.  In the poultry/rabbit barn, a rooster crowed very loudly and they both took off running for the door while Ava yelled "I want to go home!"   They loved cotton candy and elephant ears.  We met up with Rielee later and looked at her baked goods and she had won the Red Star Yeast Award for her cardamom braid and got a blue ribbon on a little kitty she had sewed, she was super happy.  She, Parker and Macee had blue ribbons on everything they entered.  Ava and Harper were so tired from walking that we had to pack them on our backs to the car.

 

Wednesday-very scary drivers

 Our silly little bathers!

 The girls were excited to drive the Jeep, but boy, it was scary with a lot of distracted driving going on and very little steering.  They like to go fast and kept shifting into high gear and then would start laughing and squealing. 

Rielee was genuinely scared riding with Ava because she kept running off the driveway. 

Tuesday

After she finished making some food to enter in the fair, Rielee took Sophie for a ride in the Jeep.  I don't think Sophie was having much fun.

When I went to check on the guys I was surprised to find the old guy up in the tree putting a rope on it, and Parker on the ground but Papa said he liked climbing trees and Parker had a phone call.  Parker cut down a couple of trees, he loves it and can make short work of it, which makes Papa happy. 

 

Badminton

 I was helping Rielee tonight,  making an "Under the Sea" diorama to enter in the fair, when we got a call to play badminton at the Dolan's.  Rielee entertained Sophie while Papa and I played Auna and Laury (and won).  Then Rielee and I played them (and won).

Rielee really loves badminton and she's gotten quite good at it.

Singing for the sun

Ava had a ton of fun playing on the hammock.

 The twins came up to spend the day with us since Kelly was having a garage sale.  They were really good, little fighting and a lot of sharing and great manners.  Our only problem was when Rielee came over after volleyball camp, Ava wasn't ready to wake up from her nap, yet she heard Rielee and wanted to wake up and play, but was crabby for awhile.  All she wanted was oatmeal for lunch, so Papa gave in and made her oatmeal, the rest of us were having pizza.  Then Rielee asked for oatmeal, too, and Harper decided it looked good, so it was a weird lunch of oatmeal, toast and pizza. 
We had fun with them outside after lunch.  The sun kept going behind the clouds, so they took turns singing, in their little opera voices, their "I love the sun, come back sun" song.  When it came back out they would cheer and squeal!

Harper with her chalk rainbow.

Harper loved her hairdo this morning.  It was straightened from being in a ponytail yesterday and she thought she looked just like Rielee. 

Pool and water slide

 The girls slept in until almost 9 and woke up rested and ready to play.  They took a bath, played with Play-Doh, changed their clothes about 5 times and we made brownies.  The sun came out earlier so we went to the pool at noon.  Harper was ready to get in and try swimming around but the water was a little cold for her so she just played on the pool ladder instead.  Ava watched her having fun and had to try that, too.

 Headed to the play fort, being wrapped up in their towels seemed to be their favorite part of going swimming.

 They had a tea party and I caught Harper drinking right out of the pot!  Rielee put their "Gourde girl" stickers on again.

They made their own water slide with the hose.  Harper did some cool little jumps at the bottom.

We took the girls back in the evening and went to Luke's last All-Star game, which they won 13-6. 

 

Luke's game/girls overnight

 We went to Luke's All-Star game this morning, unfortunately his team had trouble getting their bats going and lost 7-1,  Luke made a couple great plays though.  After the game we brought Ava and Harper home with us to spend the night.  The first thing they did was to pick some flowers, the second was to call Rielee to come over and play.  Once the sun came out we headed to the pool. 

Ava and Harper were hesitant to get in the water but they did float around on the air mattresses and in the raft.

Rielee said the stickers on their foreheads signify that they are "Gourde girls".

 Back in the house to play some more with Rielee, they made cards, pictures and cookies to take to Laury's birthday.  She celebrated it early since everyone is busy on Tuesday.  Emmy and Auna had made her a very cute flower pot cake.

The little girls got to help her open presents and blow out the candles to practice for their own upcoming birthday. 

Jackie and J.P.

 We had a visit from Alan, Jackie and J.P. this afternoon.  J.P. was a little serious around us at first, but after awhile he relaxed.

Great-grandpa making sure J.P. is content.

 It was nice to see Jackie and we enjoyed watching J.P. crawl around and pull himself up on the furniture.  He is one busy little guy, he has to be getting another tooth, #8, because he was chewing on everything.

I got a little grin from him when I hid behind the camera to take his picture with Momma.

4th of July

"Someone light my punk for me!"

 Gabe and Des had their 4th of July party again after taking a break from it last year.  There was lots of great food and we played "31" while we waited for it to get dark, but actually the kids started lighting stuff off right away.

 

 James and Parker took turns setting off the mortars and big stuff.  They put on quite a good show

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Rielee and the other  girls were content to stay with the roman candles, bottle rockets, snakes, sparklers and other small stuff.

Kiss and a hug

This is how Harper and Ava say good-bye on the phone and then give a kiss and hug. http://youtu.be/aZsn4oI6fTY 

Rielee and Maggie

Rielee was thrilled to be reunited today with Maggie, the puppy she gave away 3 years ago.   They played and ran around together, and Rielee gave Maggie and her brother dog "Chip" some toys we had bought for them.  We were both glad to see that Maggie is a happy little dog living with a great family who love her a lot.   Rielee thought she maybe should have her hair trimmed a little though!