Coloring

With all of their toys, games and puzzles

they choose to color the majority of the time.

Lily has progressed into controlled coloring and in realistic colors.

Emma is still working on her fine motor skills but is getting a lot better.

Needless to say, Daddy has a special file at work that holds the many, many

coloring pages and drawings they make for him.

BG Afternoon

We woke up this morning happy to have Daddy home and we asked the girls what they would like to do today.  Lily looked at us with her grown-up face and serious voice and said, "I would really like to go to Busch Gardens today. It would be so much fun for all of us, I think".

So, we went.

We did an afternoon/evening trip and it was great!

Lily with her favorite Street friends.

Fun on the Tea Cups.

One of Emma's favorite rides, the Balloons!

First time on this ride and after the "worker" went around securing their seat belts came and found us to tell us that Emma needed one of us with her. So, Mike squeezed in :) And, he was thrilled about it. hahaa...

We went on countless rides, saw shows in the Illuminights show, had dinner, went on a boat ride and had tons of fun in the cooler weather. They got to choose some jelly beans as their special treat...

and we caught the nightly fireworks as we were heading to the parking lot tram.

So much fun.

These girls love Busch Gardens and ask to go constantly :)

Our Week

I'm backdating so much right now...my only clues are pictures. I do know that this week Mike was in MD for three days and it's pretty much a blur. But here are some pics when I remembered to take some.

Blueberry Picking and trips to Target

Teaching Miss Emma to do the dishes :)

Writing stories in her journal.

In between visits from friends, trips to Target, dips in the pool, playing outside and reading books the week went really fast. Why is it August already and why does it feel like summer is over?!?

:( Just a few more weeks left.

Lily

This video was taken a week and a few days after her surgery.

Voice Dec 2011 for comparison :) there are a few more if you want to search for "video".

Ok, so now that it has been a few weeks since Lil's surgery her voice is now the "norm". I even forget how much it has really changed! I forget how loud of a sleeper she was and how really loud she breathed while doing simple things like coloring or doing a puzzle. She no longer sounds like someone is pinching her nose closed or as if a clothespin was on her nose all the time.

We thank God that this issue was solved by a very simple procedure and her quality of life has improved so dramatically.

Love you Lily and you sweet, little voice :)

Six Years

I'm not sure six years ago we treasured our leisurely days on the beach...

2006

2012

...but we're certain our beach days are a lot more fun now!

Bowling with Friends

After a fun birthday party for one of our school friends we got to hang out with the Parkers!

And, we went bowling!

All four kids looooved it!

We had two lanes, one for the kids and one for the adults. And, we all played two games. We made the kids carry their own bowling balls to ensure a nice night's sleep.

The kids did great, they really enjoyed waiting to see how many pins they knocked down. Some of them would kneel down, sometimes we bent over and we always had to jump up and down and clap. So much fun.

Pool Time

We are loving are pool this summer :)

Camping?

These two girls were very chatty but quietly busy.

When we checked on them, we found them stacking a bunch of toys on the sofa.

Why?

Oh, they were going "pretend camping".

And, from the person who had to put everything back...

they got a ton of stuff on that sofa!

Very impressive teamwork girls and

a very interesting view of what camping is :)

Back to Chic's

Finally.

Back at the beach!

With trips, surgeries, rain and extreme heat getting in our way...

we made it back! Woo Hoo.

Monday Evenings

Every Monday evening we take a walk on the beach.

This week, we went to Croatan and I took the camera :)

Love Summertime!