Oklahoma came to town!

Well before our Oklahoma family came, Lauren visited us from New Mexico. She arrived about an hour after I put the girls down for a nap. I knew Curly wasn't actually asleep so I took Lauren up to her room to surprise her. When she first saw Lauren she was speechless (very unlike Curly). Then she ran and hugged her and wouldn't let go for a while. It was very sweet to see. Aunt Lauren then joined us for an afternoon of pool fun. Her visit was short but fun. We look forward to seeing Lauren again in October.

Aunt Debbie and Cousin Tyler drove in from Oklahoma last Thursday. Curly was beside herself with anticipation for Tyler's arrival. Curly has had a very special place in her heart for Tyler her entire life. When she was younger she used to say "Tyluuur. Tyluuur. Tyluuur."whenever he was around. Just for dramatic's sake, Curly tends to act shy for a brief period of time when someone comes around that she has not seen in a while. She pulled this act on Tyler and Debbie. It didn't last long. We all quickly ventured into the back yard for a fun afternoon of play time. We enjoyed a nice relaxing time with Aunt Debbie and Tyler catching up, playing and of course watching the US Open.

Tyler showered us all with University of Tulsa gear. The Bear refuses to go to sleep now without her new Tulsa bear she has named "Goldie". We will all wear it proudly this fall while we cheer on your team Tyler!

Touchdown Tulsa!

Saturday we all went to the Fernbank Museum. We spent the day looking at dinosaur bones, geckos, a walk through time in Georgia and other cool exhibits. The girls got completely worn out and took great naps.

Fernbank Museum

Blowing Big Bubbles

Examining different egg shells under the microscope

The Bear decorated an Ostrich egg necklace

The Big Dinosaur and his little egg

Up North Down South

This past weekend some of my mom's family from Minnesota flew down for visit. It had been a long time since we had seen them. The fire kinda threw our traveling to visit far away family out the window. So my grandmother, Aunt Karen, Uncle Ernie, and cousins Katie and Kari came to Georgia. Curly and The Bear were excited to have new people to chase and play with. Curly kept referring to Uncle Ernie as Tom. Not sure why or how she got that name in her head. By the end of their visit she learned his real name.

Sunday we went down to the Georgia Aquarium. Curly and The Bear always have fun when we go there. It seemed like the Minnesota clan had fun too. The new penguin exhibit was open and awesome. Last year when we went it was closed for renovations. They also now have a really gross looking albino alligator. See picture below. Super creepy.

Everyone left Monday afternoon to head down to my parents house and then off to Biloxi, MS. We switched cars with my parents for the week so they could all ride in one car. While my mom's car is nice and all, I am REALLY missing my automatic sliding doors on the van. I didn't realize how dependent I had become on them. They are so awesome. This opening both doors for the girls and having to help them up into their seats takes so much longer. Call me crazy but I'll drive a Swagger Wagon for the rest of my life as long as it has those sliding automatic doors. Hope my family is taking good care of our van this week.

We really did love having everybody here. You all are welcome to come back anytime. We hope to come up to Minnesota too. However, next time we are meeting in Disney right?

"I'll smile but I'm NOT touching a stingray"

The Bear driving a shrimp boat

Uncle Ernie proving that the whale slide is not just for little kids

The girls had fun making crowns at the aquarium

Watching the fish

Hangin' with Katie, Kari and a tank washer man

The girls with Deepo

The Bear was not in the mood to take a picture with Curly and GG Lucy

GG Lucy, Curly, Katie, Kari, The Bear and I

Splashing Around

The other day we visited the Roswell Spray Ground for a fun play date with some of our church friends. Curly ran around a had a great time with her friends. The Bear took a long time to actually go near the spraying water. When she finally decided to venture in and touch the water she only stayed near the two spouts closest to the edge. The Bear hates showers and the spray ground is like a big shower. A few weeks ago when we went to Orlando, we didn't want to give the girls baths at the hotel so we gave them showers. Daddy helped them take the shower and I would dry them off and put on their pj's. The moment The Bear got in the shower she screamed "NO MA'AM" "NO MA'AM DADDY" "NO MA'AM". It was hysterical. When we got home, she noticed the shower head in the bathroom. She asked "What's that?". I told her it was the shower head and she said " No shower head on me.". So the spray ground was not exactly her cup of tea, but after a while she had fun. Cautious fun but fun. Here are some pictures.

The Bear decided to have some fun

Curly and her friend catching the water in their mouth

Sitting on a water spout. So ladylike ;0)

Picnic lunch with our friends

This and That

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I thought we would struggle to find things to do this summer, but so far I've been very wrong. We've been busy busy. Which is fabulous but also very tiring. We are at the pool quite often. The girls both love to swim. The Bear is insane about the water. She LOVES the pool and is a bit of dare devil. She is always wanting to jump off the side whether someone is there to catch her or not. Good thing Curly is getting closer and closer to being a full on swimmer so I can let her go on her own and just be with The Bear. Both girls prefer to hang out with Daddy in the pool rather than with Mommy. Must have something to do with his high throwing ability. The Bear gets very upset if Daddy goes off with Curly to the deep end to practice jumping/diving/swimming and she is "stuck" with Mommy. She pouts until Daddy comes back to claim her. Guess that means Mommy gets to lay out and read a book while Daddy stays in the pool. Sounds good to me;0).

Curly is in swim lessons again. Her new teacher this summer is Mr Erik (just like Ariel's prince as she happily pointed out). He's been the best teacher she has had thus far. He's awesome. A little girl from Curly's preschool class is also in her swim class which makes it a lot of fun for her too. Tomorrow will be Curly's first tennis lesson. Our county has great programs for kids at really cheap prices, so we are taking advantage. I'll be sure to take pictures. We aren't sure how much Curly will like something where balls are being hit towards her. She is such a girly girl. However, we know two little friends who will be taking the class with her so hopefully it will be a lot of fun.

I'll be spending the week cleaning around the house as we prepare for a big week of out of town guests. We've got family visiting from Minnesota, New Mexico and then Oklahoma. We are very excited about seeing everyone and spending time catching up.

We took a break from potty training. The Bear still goes on the potty at bedtime and bath time but other than that she doesn't tell me when she has to go and throws a fit if I make her sit on the potty. So diapers are back on and we'll attempt potty training again later. Should I have just toughed it out? Perhaps, but I don't think it has clicked with The Bear yet and I'm willing to wait another month or two and try again. We took advantage of some Memorial Day sales last weekend and bought The Bear her big girl room furniture. Last night was her first night in her new bed and it went perfectly. No issues. Curly was the same way when she transitioned to a big bed. Every now and then there are things in parenting that actually go smoothly.

Back when we showed Curly her big girl room the first thing she said was "It has TWO pillows?". Not exactly the reaction we expected, but she was really excited about having that extra pillow. When we showed The Bear her big girl furniture she said "Where's Violet and Bunny?". Okay again, not exactly the reaction we expected but I showed her that her much loved Violet dog (Thanks Aunt Lauren) and her pink bunny would move from the crib to her new big bed. We still have not disassembled the crib but we will soon. I also need to get a lamp for the nightstand and maybe some pictures and then I'll post pictures of the whole room. Until then enjoy these pictures.

The Bear, The Bunny and Violet

Pretending to take a nap with Sissy

Ready for her first night in her new big bed