4th of July FUN

We took the kids to see their very first parade! The Lakeway parade by Poppa and Lala's house was a good one - lots of really cool vintage cars, a horse drawn carriage, army jeeps, war vets dressed in camo and carrying rifles, bubbles, floats and LOTS of candy!! I had forgotten that candy is a big part of a parade - most kids knew this and came with large bags to collect their loot. For our kids, who have hardly ever tried candy, this was amazing!!! They each got to eat one lollipop and have asked about the rest since (I only partly feel bad about this...hold them off as long as we can!)

Then we headed to Poppa and Lala's house and Uncle Matt, Peyton and the Corens came over for a day of swinging, playing, bubbles, slip 'n slide (a huge hit with the girls!!!!!), yummy lunch and a delicious flag dessert with berries, whip cream and cake made by Lala!!

Hi and Low

For the last couple months, at the dinner table, we have been each sharing our high moment from the day and our low moment from the day. All 4 of us share and it's been really fun (and funny)! I sometimes have to remind the kids what we've done that day and it sparks an answer. 

Two memorable responses:

Sierra: "my high was playing with Alex and Anya and my low was not seeing you, Daddy, when Alex and Anya were here". Soooo sweet!!! Daddy and Uncle Matt had been at the ranch for a few days while Auntie Kindel, Alex and Anya stayed at our house for a fun weekend of play. But she obviously still missed her Daddy :)

Reid: "my fwavorite is the real cow at Chick fil A!!!" (he said this every night for at least a week and the funny thing is that he was terrified of the cow!!! But his memory of it was very positive :)

Tattoo

 We did kids' tattoos for the first time today (thanks to HEB buddy bucks).

And now, at 8pm Reid is in bed (supposed to be asleep) crying "can I have a tattoo, Mommy?! Can I please have a tattoo?" over and over

...I fully expected to hear this question at some point in his life, but didn't think it would be at 2 yrs old and with "Mommy" attached to it!! Haha!

Baby love

Sierra loves babies right now!!!! She wants to hold them as long as they'll let her!! 

Little Penelope was so sweet and still for quite a while while Sierra lovingly watched her and tried to give her toys and pacifier over and over.

I love her hand so gently placed on the baby's leg ...and the sweet look on her face, looking at the baby :)

Building

The kids are both very into building things right now - actually this has been a very long phase...maybe they'll never tire of it but it will just evolve to different materials as they grow older. They have been into the Duplo blocks for a year and a half and now also LOVE Reid's new bday toys - wooden stacking block set and big cardboard bricks.

This weekend they helped (like really did get to help! Daddy was so kind to let them help hammer!) Daddy build his new shelf for his office....

Curiosity

Rest time

I may start a series of posts about what Sierra does during her 1.5hr rest time every afternoon. And napping is rarely it. Her imagination is amazing and she can entertain herself in hilarious ways. She dresses and undresses several times, she sings very loud and long made-up songs (as she is singing right now, I just heard part of her song "we get to go swimming today, with Mommy, Daddy and Reid...Mommy and Sierra are beautiful but Daddy and Reid are not..."), she puts all animals to bed, plays teacher/school, disciplines her animals, plays Mommy to her "kids", makes paths/trails with books, does whole puzzles on her own, reads, jumps on her "trampoline" (i.e. trundle bed), plays under her bed, which of course is the sea, dresses and undresses her animals, and on and on....

It's always a surprise when I open that door! And she is always very excited to tell me all about her adventures and activities. She is SO full of life, joy, expression and fun!!

Here are the only photos I have from my phone...

I went in her room to let her out of rest time and she very excitedly said "Look Mommy, it's Christmas!!!" haha

One of the rare days she napped - on the floor

A picture of what's to come in 10 years?! Again, I walked in to her room to find her just chatting away "on the phone"!