Ava likes worms

 Ava surprised us by picking up a worm in the sandbox today.  Then she told us that their teacher brought a box of worms into their class ("W" being the letter of the week) and that she had touched one there, too.   She found several worms and Harper dug new homes for them.  They flooded the sandbox when Rielee got home.  There was a crisis when they saw a worm floating around and they all suddenly went into high gear trying to find it and save it.   By the time they were done digging through the sand and water, they were totally messy and the fingernail polish I had just applied to their nails was long gone.

After a shower and an inside break to get out of the heat for a little while, they went back outside for a tea party at the kid-sized picnic table Papa built them. 

Ava and Harper told a funny story to us today about their birth. Ava said she was born first but Harper stayed inside asleep.  Harper said she stayed inside Mommy's tummy because she was afraid of the doctor.

The girls made cards for Auna and we took them over to her.  David gave them lots of good pushes on the swing and taught them how to do "trick sticks". 

Early morning craftss

These three can cram a lot into their half hour of play time before school.  They managed to get one of the crates of craft supplies down from the closet, Harper spotted some pipe cleaners and beads in it and they decided to make bracelets.  Ava got hers done but Rielee and Harper had to finish theirs in the car.  Ava made one for Mom, Harper's went to her teacher and I got Rielee's. 

Lexi and Auna Regionals

Auna at the net

 Regionals were held at the Oregon Convention Center this year.  Lexi and Auna's teams were both in the morning wave.  They played at opposite times their first two matches and then both played at noon.  It made it nice for us to be able to see them.  They are both such good athletes, it was really fun to watch!

Lexi anticipating the ball

Auna serving

Lexi serving

That twin bond/paint brush cookies

Harper was out and slept for a couple of hours after they got here this morning, in her coat on the couch.  Ava painted a craft and played but kept checking on Harper to see if she was waking up. When she finally did,  Ava was right there in her face, it was like they hadn't seen each other in days.  They were giddy, hugging, giggling and rubbing their foreheads together, acting silly and trying to make each other laugh.  The love they have for each other is so incredible and fascinating. 

They made paint box cookies today, then went with Papa to deliver some to Grandpa Gourde.

Legos and imaginary friends

Oh, the Legos, we've gotten a lot of mileage out of these over the years.  Rielee informed me that I need to buy some girl Legos now because she loves them. 
I heard Ava and Harper talking today and Ava said "after we play this, let's play Googy Gaga. I asked what that was and they said Googy is their "pretend" friend.  She was in the play room and they brought her out to meet me, she is 4 yrs. old, too.  It was so cute how serious they were about her, she ate lunch with us and they both were talking to her, and for her.  Then another friend showed up, but they couldn't think of a name for her so they called her Gaga, too.   She had a baby named Rose.  Made for an interesting day, to say the least!

Easter

 Easter was back at Cathy and Bob's this year.  The little girls posed for me in the play fort, they were happy to be outside and ran around and played, Rielee went on the zip line about 50 times before the day's festivities started. 

 First up, the cousin picture, poor little Tor had just woke up and wanted his Daddy.

 Next came the egg hunt, Ava, Harper and Bridget hunted and found all the eggs in their area,

 then asked if they could go out and hunt with the other kids.  Not many eggs left by then but they found a few.

Rielee and Jillian got to hunt with the big kids this year, they got a head start and were running around like crazy.

 Parker and James combined their eggs and had $19 between them.

After the egg hunt, we had the raw egg toss, Ava looks perplexed about the broken egg Harper just tried to throw to her.  James and Ty ended up winning, beating out Michelle and Mik.

The little kids had their egg roll first and were all winners.  Then the adults went, Ty won it with Des taking 2nd and Laury 3rd.  Such a fun day.

Show time

It's been a long time since we've seen a show from the girls, but we got one today.  After we got home from school, Emmy, Laury and David came over to visit.  Harper had just dressed up as Cinderella and she was so happy to have a crowd to perform for!  Ava was taking a bubble bath but she got out so she could join in.  They danced alone with Ava doing a ribbon dance, and then together.

 After the show they served us all food and gave us money, too, so we could pay. 

We had stopped at a garage sale on the way home from school.  The girls were good shoppers and  found a Chipmunk movie and then Harper spotted a Hello Kitty alarm clock and they were thrilled, Papa let them pay the lady, too.  We set up the clock in the playroom when we got home and they got such a kick out of the radio, that's what started the dancing in the first place.  They figured they could put on shows right in the playroom.

Field Trip to Greg's Gardens

They were happy when they got off the bus and saw Papa with the camera.  But once the

 tour of the nursery began and they were told they couldn't pick any flowers, Ava and Harper were bored and wanted to go home.  They behaved well, although Harper's partner Alysha or Shayla (she didn't know which twin she had) wouldn't always hold on to her hand.   The only part that interested them was walking by the fairy gardens, Harper noticed one similar to ours.

 They perked up once it was time to fill their flower pots with soil and plant a strawberry.

 Ava wanted Papa's help.

Cuties

Ayla, Teagan, Seth, Conner, Shayla, Harper, Ava and Alysha

Lexi softball

 We went to watch Lexi play softball today at Union.  They beat Kelso 3-1.  Lexi hit a single and then scored on a base hit. 

heading to 3rd base

 

Ava with friend Jason, Harper is hiding on the bleachers behind them.  She wouldn't let me take her picture because I laughed at how dirty she was from playing in the dirt.  Her face was brown!

Star of the Week, Resurrection Eggs

 Rielee was excited this morning because she is Star of the Week at school.  She made this poster and took several other pictures to display on the bulletin board.  Before she left for school she added Harry Potter as her favorite book, she's read two of them.

Ava and Harper brought home "Resurrection eggs" filled with things that pertained to the Easter story that the teacher read to them today.  They opened each one and told us all about it.  I was amazed at how much they remembered.

They spent some time in the sandbox and Ava had Papa push her on the swing.  She had her eyes closed the entire time, she has a little bit of a cold so she was just relaxing and loving it. 

Harper wanted to rinse the sand off her feet and hands but by the time she was done, her pants were soaked and she was cold and ready to go in.

Weekend with Parker and Rielee

 We had Parker and Rielee this weekend while their parents went to Spokane to watch Macee play spring volleyball.  Rielee had her first soccer game Saturday, she scored 3 goals and they won.

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Parker and Papa finished cutting up the tree they fell on Friday, then Parker went on a 4-wheeler ride with a buddy who lives on SiTown Rd. By the looks of his 4-wheeler when he got back, he had a lot of fun.

He said he got stuck several times and his friend's Dad had to winch him out.

 Sunday morning Parker's Roots team played at Evergreen High School.  They lost both games but Parker played well. 

It was sunny and warm when we got home.  Rielee looked for the Slip n' Slide but couldn't find it so she made her own waterslide with the hose.

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Harper's flag

"U" is the letter of the week at pre-school so they studied the United States and made a flag.  Harper wanted to hold hers and say the Pledge of Allegiance for me.  When she came out dressed up she told me that the "S" was for "S-s-s-uper Girl".  Both she and Ava are starting to recognize beginning sounds of words. 

Bubbles

   Ava and Harper came up to spend the night, they were excited when Rielee came over to make an Easter decoration with them.   

 Ava wanted to take a bath as soon as she got here, Harper didn't feel like one then but took one later, Ava joined her for bath #2.  They called me in to see their soap beards, they were really having fun.  Papa was supposed to be monitoring them. I heard them ask him for more bubbles, he said "okay, just a little bit more". 

A little bit more to them was almost an entire bottle of shampoo, they had bubbles everywhere!  I think Papa was distracted by the women's championship game...

March Madness

We had the Dolans over to watch the Final Four games today since they don't get TBS, Parker and Rielee came over, too, Des and Gabe were painting but stopped by for a bit.  Dan made up a couple of  $5 boards for the games, hoping to win something that way since he and Emmy's bracket was a loser.  As it turned out, Parker won both halves of the first game, Auna and David won on the second game.  When Kentucky beat Wisconsin, David locked up  the family March Madness bracket contest, I took second and Laury/Auna took third.  $52 for me.  It was a fun day.

Last day of break

Spring break has been tiring for these kids.  Ava slept 12 hours last night, Harper 10 1//2.  They were pretty subdued this morning, played with Play Doh and Barbies, but then asked to do some homework, even knowing I didn't have any prizes left to hand out. 

 They went for a walk between rain showers, Rielee took the camera and got a picture of Parker as he was cleaning out the greenhouse.

As I was combing the girl's hair, getting them ready to head home, Ava asked for a ponytail and Harper did, too, saying "I want to look like Ava, like sisters".  Kind of odd because they rarely want the same.  As soon as I took the picture of them, though, Harper wanted her hair changed to a side pony and then took that out, opting for just curls. 

Auna and Emmy being silly at Papa Pete's tonight, we were helping Em celebrate surviving her 6 week substitute teaching job.  She survived and she still has her sense of humor, or else she's delirious... 

Chuck E. Cheese

Harper surprised me this morning with this table full of Play Doh cookies.  She used her blanket as a table cloth, she and Ava put a lot of effort into the presentation of their meals. 

Ava and Rielee posing for a picture

We met Des, Parker, Rielee and friend Netty at Chuck E. Cheese for a spring break lunch today.  We got there early enough to have the whole place to ourselves for a half an hour which was nice.  Once other families showed up, Harper and Ava made some little friends and played with them while Rielee and Netty tried to win as many tickets as they could.  It was a fun time, except the kids were disappointed that Chuck E. never made an appearance.