Macee's Bulldog debut

Macee only played for a few minutes today but had a great attitude about it.  She laughed and said her passing was 100%, 2 for 2 perfect passes!  She was just glad to get in and play.  Gonzaga lost to Portland State 3-0, they play Boise State and UW tomorrow .

Gonzaga fans Rielee and Auna

Rielee couldn't believe it when she got back from going to the bathroom and found that I accidentally gave away her seat-- an old man  asked me if those seats were taken and didn't understand when I said one of them was, and plopped his wife right in Rielee's seat...oops.  The girls had to move and sit by us, Rielee was not too happy.

A family picture afterwards.

Preschool orientation

Their orientation could not have gone better.  For one, the preschool has a kitchen.  Thank goodness,  since I had told Ava when she got a little nervous beforehand that I was sure it did.  They were so happy and made themselves right at home. 

 There was so much to look at, a parakeet, bugs, and an aquarium with fish.  They ran from one thing to another, happily exploring.

Ava stopped at the easels to do some drawing and impressed her teacher, Mrs. Dolan (yes, an easy name to remember!), by writing her name and drawing squares and circles.  After awhile, the director took all the parents (and grandparents) in another room, leaving the kids with the teacher.  Ava and Harper did just fine.  There is also another set of twin girls in their room, so that should be fun for them.  They can't wait for their first day!
They spent the night with us since they were up here anyway, and so did Rielee.  It was funny when Auna came over I asked them to tell her what their teacher's name was, Harper said "EMMY DOLAN!"

Playground

Since we couldn't take the girls to the zoo as planned, due to Papa's sore back, we took them to the school playground instead.  The screams were deafening when we pulled up, you would have thought we were at Disneyland.  They had fun being able to swing at the same time.  Rielee got going so high she said she felt like she was flying.

Ava just zipped right up all the climbing sections.  Harper was a little nervous, she kept stopping part way up, saying "wow, this is pretty scary" and backing down.  When she finally mastered the rock climb she was really proud of herself.

Em's scrimmage

 Today we went to watch Emmy and the Central Wildcats scrimmage at the U. of Portland.   They had bus problems and were late so we were sitting outside the arena when they got there.  Emmy came over and said hi to the girls and posed for a picture with them and

 her Grandma Mary.  Emmy played really well, it was so fun to see her.   Ava and Harper entertained themselves by looking for all of the #4 seats in our vicinity, and would have looked through the whole place if we hadn't stopped them.  That, and lifting up and then putting down all the armrests in the rows.  Good entertainment, luckily there weren't a lot of  people there so they weren't bothering anyone. 

Games and homework

The girls played lots of games today, starting with Horton Hears A Who.  Rielee played an condensed version of it that they could easily understand and enjoy.  They really had fun.  They played Tumblin' Monkeys after that and did lots of homework.  Ava worked on her writing, she wrote "Mom" today and was so excited.  Harper and Rielee worked on math.  All summer for her homework I've had Rielee writing about her summer break, it was like pulling teeth, she didn't want to do it at all.  But math she loves and happily did her 3 pages in just a few minutes.  Harper enjoys counting and is doing well learning numbers.  They went over to see Uncle Alan with the Jeep and played with his magnets.  Then they went to the play fort, Alan followed us over and we got to watch them ride in the Jeep.  It was hilarious, Rielee was chasing them, and they just laughed and laughed as she ran after them all over the field.  She tried unsuccessfully to stand and then sit on the back of the Jeep and catch a ride, but that made the girls do wheelies, not good.  Ava and Harper's driving skills are much improved.  Auna stopped by after volleyball and they all watched old YouTube videos of themselves, lots of laughs there.

Amazing kids

We were so proud Sunday of Macee, Tierney, Ty and Brock.  They, along with their friends and teammates, spoke with compassion and composure at the Celebration of Harlie's life,  sharing scripture, funny stories, and poetry about her. 

pie with Macee

Macee got home about 7 tonight, Des had made her blackberry pie and invited us over to visit.  She filled us in on her first 2 weeks of college volleyball practice.  She likes her coaches a lot and gets along well with the team. 

 Sadly, she is home to give a eulogy, with the rest of the volleyball team, at teammate Harlie's funeral tomorrow.  Then she'll fly back to Spokane in the evening.

Jillian's visit/hot cross buns

 The girls first went to play this morning at Aunt Cathy's, then Jillian came back with us while Bridget and Tor napped.  They played  Barbies, kitchen, at the play fort and in the sandbox.  We went over to feed apples to the cows but they weren't around, so they had a race back.

 When I started to take this picture of the girls, it was cute-Jillian said to wait because her friend "Rosie" wasn't close enough to be in the picture, she pulled Rosie over and put her arm around her.  We had never heard of Rosie before.

 

Harper kissing her hot cross bun

Harper asked me to make "hot cross buns" this morning.  She saw them on a video with the song on Starfall and said she loves them, especially the "white stuff on top" (frosting).  Since I had already had dinner rolls rising, I adapted them and made them look like hot cross buns for her.  She ate 3, Ava loved them, too.  They also liked the part about kissing them before you eat them.

Puzzle helper

Papa is always the one to help the kids with puzzles.  He has the patience to walk them through the process, helping them to match the colors and turn the piece until it fits.  The last piece gets a big "ta-da" and a  high five, then he has them run their hand over the completed puzzle to feel how smooth it is.  

Slumber party/pool

 Rielee, Harper and Ava were camped out on the floor watching "Toy Story 3" last night.  They all slept in until almost 9 this morning, which was really nice. 

We were in the pool before noon.  Auna and Rielee had a competition, first jumping through a hula hoop, then trying to catch the ball,  sit or land on the ball.  Ava and Harper didn't stay in the water very long and were content to watch the big girls.

Last swimming lesson

 Today was Ava and Harper's last swimming lesson.  They watched a 20 minute water safety video while eating popsicles and then got to go in the pool with Papa and Rielee.   The video was good, Rielee didn't know many of the safety rules and Ava was listening carefully and heard "never swim alone", she leaned over to me and said "that's what my teacher told me, never swim alone". Rielee was happy she finally got to swim in that pool, she practiced her cannon ball off the diving board and went down the water slide.  I thought Harper might go with her but I think she was nervous with a lot of big kids around and without her teacher with her.

 

 

No memory card

Today at swimming lessons Harper jumped off the diving board and went down the big water slide 3 times...and I forgot both the memory card for my camera and my phone.  She was so brave, and Ava was so sweet, before we left for lessons, she drew a picture to give to her favorite teacher, Mary. 

Vivid imaginations

Ava and Harper, posing with their arms around pretend "Ariel" at pretend Disneyland.

Their imaginations were in overdrive today, as they drove the Play Fort "train" to Disneyland and visited the castles of all the Princesses.  Harper was the driver, Ava and I had to buckle up on the swings while she drove us around.  They would run out in the field and up to the door of the castle and we would all hug the Princess and talk to her, then sit down and watch a movie or play games with her.  This went on for a long time, we visited every Princess,  they were so serious and having so much fun.  They are definitely ready for a trip to the real Disneyland.

Swim lesson #7, adjusting to a new teacher

 Ava had a setback at swimming today, her favorite teacher Mary was gone.  She cried for 10 minutes before she got used to Kylie, the girl sitting beside the slide.  The kids got to go down the slide today and also play with rubber duck squirters which they loved.  They had them float on their backs with the ducks on their tummies to help them learn to keep their tummy up.  Mostly they just squirted each other and the teachers.

This boy is really good with the kids and worked so hard to teach Harper to float on her back without float rings, she almost has it. 

Ava's flower picture

 Ava's first drawing of flowers, she was so happy with it.

 She was happy at their swimming lesson, too.  Her teacher kind of tricked her into letting go of her, a first, by asking her to hold Harper's hand when they were in the swim rings.  Ava even went to the ladder and climbed out, another first for her, and walked over  to the other side to get back in to her teacher.

She and Harper tied their wagon to the Jeep to haul their babies around.  They used it later to deliver cupcakes they made to Alan, Vera, and Barry and to the Dolans.  Auna spent a lot of the day with us since Laury was working and helped us with the girls, they really like having her around.

Swim lesson #5-no tears!

 Ava went into swim lessons today, put on her float rings and sat down to wait for her teacher, no crying!

She was all smiles and having a great time.

 She and Harper got to float on their backs together several times.  Harper made progress and got to take off one of her rings, which put her down into the water a little more and she had to work harder to swim but she did well.

 Near the end of the lesson they got to walk on the mats and then jump off into the water.  Ava helped her teacher hold the mat for Harper,

and then she climbed up and jumped off herself!  She got her face in the water and still, no tears!

She was so proud of herself! 

Emmy and Macee

Tonight, we had a send-off fire pit for Macee and Emmy, both heading off to college to play volleyball.  Macee leaves tomorrow for her first year as a Gonzaga Bulldog and Emmy leaves Sunday for her last year as a Central Wildcat. 

Bridget, Jillian, Rielee, Ava and Harper spent most of their time in the pool, practicing everything they've learned in swimming lessons.   Rielee, Ava and Harper were playing "motor boat".  Ava went in the pool with Rielee, it was her first time without Papa this year. 

 

Rielee explaining the card that she made for Macee.

Harper and Rielee posing with Macee.

Pool pix

Emmy's cousins Gracie and Jack following along as she chased Ava and Harper in the Jeep.  They thought it was pretty comical watching the twins drive. 

We went to the pool later, where they all posed for pictures.

 

They had to do this jump several times before we caught them all airborne.

 

Day 3 of swimming lessons started out rough, Ava was tired and cried for a half an hour.  Once she stopped though she had fun and did well, even starting to learn to beaver dive at the end.  Harper's teacher thought she was doing well enough to try floating on her back and kicking without her floaties on, she almost had it and then she went under a little, her face got wet and she swallowed some water.  When she came out she marched right over to me to report that she didn't like that one bit!

Hardly any tears today

 Ava did better today, she only cried for a couple of minutes and it was more like a whimper.  After awhile, she actually let go of her teacher and swam a little, but then she got water in mouth and wouldn't let go after that. 

Ava's teacher helped Harper swim on her back a couple of times, Ava paid close attention.   Rielee went along with us today, we stopped and got ice cream afterwards as a reward for the girls doing so well.   Papa brought home donuts for them also.  They didn't want to do anymore swimming when we got home and played at the play fort instead.

Ava & Harper's 1st swimming lesson

Ava was nervous this morning and didn't want to put on her swimsuit, so we weren't surprised when we opened the door to Briarcliff pool and she started to cry.   Harper cried with her, but stopped after a couple of minutes in the pool.   The instructors really know how to handle this situation because they were calm and  took Ava from me and handed her an instructor in the pool.  She took her to the far end of the pool and walked around with her, Ava cried for 40 minutes.  The instructor told us afterwards that she made a deal with Ava, if she was quiet for 10 minutes she could get out of the pool 10 minutes early.  Ava stopped crying and the instructor slowly worked her way back over to where Harper was swimming and let her watch her sister.  Harper swam over to them and they talked a little. 
                                                              

 Harper did great, she was starting to learn to beaver dive at the end.

Finally, Ava got out early, she was still sobbing a little, but when I asked her if she had fun, she said "yes".  And later when they were talking about their lesson, Ava was very animated and talked about how well Harper did.   We went over to Rielee's pool in the afternoon, Ava had fun and swam with the floaties while holding on to one of Papa's fingers, she even swam a couple of feet by herself to the ladder, too.  Progress!

Thursday and Friday

 Auna, Laury and David came over Thursday night to give Ava and Harper their birthday presents, they got Barbies and little puppies, which they loved. 

 Friday morning, Parker came over to show me his new glasses.  He was happy to be able to see and read better and also because they are Oakleys, his favorite brand. 

A little later Emmy and Will stopped by, they had coffee with us and tea with Ava and Harper.  The girls showed them how they can drink out of their saucers like kitties.