Summer vacation 2015

Our summer trip is almost over, (we'll be home Sunday), so I thought I should post some pictures before there are so many I don't want to deal with it.  

Before we left for Flagstaff, the girls took swim lessons. They both did really well! Molly is a fairly reliable swimmer now and loves to jump off the diving board.  Maggie really impressed me this year though. Her teacher said she's passed preschool level and is ready for level one.  That means she could already be in the 6 year old class if she wasn't too young. Way to go girls!

Enjoying an ice cream after graduating to duck level.

Molly on her last day of class. So glamorous in her "high heels".

They created a club after loosing all TV/tablet privileges and some toys for a week. I wasn't invited. At least I'm still smiling!

They had slumber party in their "clubhouse"- back room off the kitchen. Maggie has a hard time with boundaries when she's sleeping.

We got to Flagstaff on Saturday and have really been enjoying the nice weather. The first few days were rainy and awesome. There's a lake about a mile from Granny's house that we walked to.

Future Gator at the lake!

Found a little bench of questionable integrity. They didn't seem to mind.

Granny has a bird! The girls love Jewel even when she gets a little nibblely. 

No pooping! No pooping!

Little fuss budget hanging out on the Praire.

Half naked and cheered up.

She kept saying "nobody better see me naked!".

We lost a day to intestinal distress. Poor thing.

Back in business, they found a new clubhouse in the aspen trees.

We all had to attend club meetings that appeared to follow the 6 year old equivalent of Parliamentary procedure. We voted several times.

We took a little hike around Laws Springs. Lots of petroglyphs. Pretty cool!

Getting the eggs from granny's chickens!

Today, Molly and Grannny went for a trail ride.  Molly's first! I kind of wish I had gone looks like she had a fun time!

Granny said she was a natural.  

Guess we need a horse!  Not! Hahaha.

Dive!

We've been going to the pool as a often as we can and the girls are definitely getting better at swimming. Molly has, for better or worse, never had any fear of the water. Here she is demonstrating her "flip" which is actually a pretty decent first attempt at a dive. I think I was at least 10 before I attempted anything like this. Crazy kid.

Maggie's been getting better too and can swim underwater about 5 or 6 feet at a time. We're hitting swim lessons hard this year, so hopefully they'll be good to go by September.

Where the hell do I fit in here?

Rock climbing at the library.

The other day the girls shut the door to our room while Jonny and I were getting ready in the morning. We didn't think much about it, they're always running around and slamming doors. Jonny tried to leave the room first and he started laughing and called me over. They had barricaded us in our room with cushions and pillows.

Here's what they were secretly up to. 

Maggie's no good with secrets, but she's really good with Nutella.

Our last (free) watermelon of the year. Why is broccoli season so long here and watermelon season so short? Not fair.

Doing more things without Gran's approval.

4th of July! They wore various 4th of Julyish clothes throughout the day.

This is what they ended with. We had watched the casino fireworks from our balcony on the 3rd, so we had our own little parking lot show on the 4th. Thankfully the box of fireworks that Jonny came home with were much tamer than the box had led me to believe. Growing up, sparklers were illegal and we were not the type who would cross the river to get them in CA. So pretty much everything looks nuclear to me. The girls thought it was great and Gran even watched too.

Apple Picking

I suppose 110 degree days aren't exactly what you might imagine for apple picking, but Yuma weather makes growing stuff a little different. Since it's Yuma, the apples are hit and miss. Last year they were pretty mealy and we just threw them away. This year I thought that's what we'd do again, but my mom picked a few and and made an apple crisp with them and it was pretty good, so I thought I would attempt to use them.

Molly was sad that we had picked them without her, so Jonny put her on his shoulders and let her get the ones up high.

Then Maggie was sad, so I had to put her on my shoulders and let her pick a few more.

They got new matching nightgowns and were pretty pleased.

We spent some time in Carlsbad last weekend. They HAD to go on the train at the mall-then they just sat there stone faced the whole time. I guess it was disappointing.

The Ruby's car was WAY more fun. Even if it didn't go anywhere.

We hung out with my cousin Allison and her family at the aquatic center there. 

Happy baby Remi, Gael, and the girls. They had a lot of fun playing together! Thanks to Allison and Pablo for a good time and a great dinner!

M&M's melt in your mouth, not in your hands! Hershey bars just melt in your hands. Children are filthy slobs.

We also went on an unplanned walk to the beach. I didn't remember to take any pictures because as I get older and as my children get more adventurous-I think I hate the ocean and I'd say all natural bodies of water even more. Honestly even pools freak me out, although I do feel a little more in control of that.Maybe when  they're better swimmers I'll feel better about it. 

Dance Party USA

We'll start here and go backwards.  Molly and Maggie had their dance recital last weekend. Every year I wonder what I was thinking signing up for this nonsense-it's a lot of hours to put in with little kids (some of which are later than we're used to). There's also just air of stress that seems to linger around backstage. Then every year I see her do her performance and she looks like she's enjoying herself and is totally adorable and I soften. This year with Maggie in the mix I softened even more. I didn't know if Maggie was going to make it to the recital. She loves to talk about dance class, but she always  does her whole separation anxiety thing when it's actually time for class. So I've signed her up and pulled her out and signed her up and pulled her out over and over again. She made it to the end this year! She even let me leave her in the chaos of backstage so I could watch from the audience. We'll probably be back for more punishment next year.

Madeline says: "such a little pro" hahaha. 

This was the best picture I got of the girls together. Our little beauties!

It may look like she's giving me a pre show fist bump, but really this is her "I'm just going to hold my breath because I'm freaking out that you're going to leave me with a bunch of crazy people" face.

We had Lydia, Allysia, and Ramsey over for a crazy Bel Air Estates neighborhood reunion with all but 1 of our kids. They all had a blast running around and whooping it up.  Can't wait to do it again!

Can't believe they're all mostly looking at the camera.

Club life is hard.

Maggie bubbing it up Aunt Cassie's going away party.  Jonny's family is abandoning us! We're going to miss them! We're also kind of happy we have a nice cool place to visit in the summer.

The saddest day of my life! I totally cried for so many reasons. 1) My baby is a first grader (I know that's not that old, but still...)2) We love Molly's teacher and we're going to miss her so much (I couldn't even make eye contact with her) 3) We're going to miss Alice Byrne so much! I know I have serious sentimentality issues with Alice Byrne, but we had a good year there and it's sad to leave.

Hopefully we're making a good decision! If not, I'm blaming Holly (good thing she doesn't read this!).

Kate and Molly big old first graders!

Where we left off last time: Diamondbacks game! We survived! There were a few "I'm boreds" but they loved the rhythmic clapping,  ice cream and cotton candy. 

Summer is in full swing. We don't have any big plans, but I'm sure we'll have fun!