Beach Day

We had a super day at the beach yesterday. Our friend Katie was at her parents shore house this week, so Melynie, Shelly and I went with crew for the day. The weather was perfect and all 10 kids had a blast. Here are a few pictures from our day, there are plenty more on my flicker account if you're interested.

Swim Lessons

The girls have been getting swimming lessons from Aunt Meghan (she's marrying my brother in a couple of weeks) this summer. Emma is learning real strokes and kicks and how to dive. She's loves swimming and her Aunt Meghan! Lila is maybe one of the younger students that Meghan has ever taught, but she's doing well too. She's learning to kick and blow bubbles like a champ. She's not afraid of the pool at all - that's the main reason we anted her to have lessons. We're hoping she'll learn to keep her head up for a minute if she ever had to.

NYC

I had a great day in New York on Saturday! Ryan stayed home with the girls, so I could go with two girlfriends, Melynie and Shelly, for the day. Melynie just moved back to the east coast and is planning on taking advantage of living so close to so many sites for the next year. We had no major agenda and no kids, so we had a great time. Shelly did her research and showed us around Central Park - the areas I hadn't been to before. Then we went down to the Greenwich Village area and had lunch at a sidewalk cafe and shopped around a little. Melynie wanted go to a peanut butter restaurant she had seen on the Food Network. We of course checked out Emma's picture all over FAO Schwartz (Alex toys products) and strolled 5th Ave. Oh, and a delicious cheesecake slice to share on the train ride home. It's great to have some time away, but I was secretly glad the girls were still awake when I got home.

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend here. Friday Ryan was off and we took the girls to Sesame Place. We have season passes from the end of last year since Lila is so infatuated with Elmo. It was a beautiful day, though a little chilly for the water rides - oh well. Emma was thrilled that her little sister was tall enough to go on Emma's favorite roller coaster. Lila was less thrilled, but a good sport once she started breathing again! She held her breath for the whole ride, and when we finished announced, "we did it!"

We came home on time to get to Emma's Lacrosse Award night. They had make your own sundaes for all and Emma received a trophy for her participation in the league this year. She likes lacrosse and has gotten ALOT better this year - she can catch, throw and cradle. She told us that she likes soccer better though, her reason - her dad is the coach.

Strawberry Picking

Today we went strawberry picking with Melynie and her 3 girls. A delicious time was had by all...especially Lila...the delicious part. I told the kid that weighed our berries that he should have weighed her before we went to the field. Five little varying shades of blond girls at a farm - very cute. The three biggest girls took their picking seriously and did a nice job. It was a gorgeous day and after dinner we enjoyed our berries dipped in chocolate fondue.

Hard Working Girl

Yesterday I took Emma on a modeling shoot. It was for a stock photographer. That means he takes all sorts of random pictures with no specific client in mind and later sells the images. She worked for this photographer 3 years ago (I remember because I was pregnant with Lila), and we have enjoyed seeing her face pop up all over the place because of it. Emma did a super job as always. She posed in the rain, sick in bed with a thermometer, in many classroom scenes, listening to an i pod, playing game boy, with a microscope, setting a table, drying dishes, wearing medals around her neck, holding a watermelon slice, etc. - probably 25 different set ups. She's always so friendly and agreeable, but not overbearing, when we go on shoots. I guess that's why we keep getting asked back to the same places even though we're not pursuing the modeling gig AT ALL anymore. Hey - if you want to schedule around my child and pay for her time, I'm happy to oblige. The people we've worked with are always so impressed with how well-behaved and willing to work she is. My mom and I were wondering if most child models are just brats!?...probably.

So, my mom and Lila came with us for the day. The funniest moment came when they served a plate of cookies and brownies after lunch. The brownies were made in a mini muffin tin, so they were small - can you picture them? So Lila, just up from her nap says, "What's dat mom? Oh, dat's poops? Dat's poops mom?" My mom and I laughed so hard! Is that what my daughter thinks is normally served on a platter?! Luckily, no one else heard.

Emma's Turn

Emma wants to write about the best part of her day now:

When I was modeling ...
I was on one of the last pictures and I was on the ROOF! of the building, you know it was flat and had lounge chairs! One of the pictures on the roof was me holding a tree frog in a jar. After I was done on the roof we were going in and the lady who owned the frog for the picture said...
do you want to keep it if it is OK with your mommy. I said OK I will ask her(very excited.) So I sort of ran in to tell my mom! So I went in the room and asked her can I keep the frog? And she said yes! On the way home we looked for a Petsmart and we could not find one. BUT LUCKY
us because... my dad was on his way home from the airport so he stopped and got a tank and stuff!
my frog's name is Nellie Ellie King frog and she eats LIVE crickets EWW! Here is a picture!

First Day of Summer

This is our first official day of summer. Emma finished first grade yesterday. She really had a super year with a great teacher, but we were all ready for our schedule to lighten up a little. The girls colored a little this morning and after the powder issue, we went to our friend's pool. It was 90 degrees today, so it felt great and the girls had fun. I'm trying to come up with a little structure for the next few months. It's hard to entertain a 7 year old and a 2 year old together all summer. We'll come up with some fun activities and responsibilities I'm sure.

Powder Problems

Today Lila came downstairs with a little surprise for me. She had emptied the large bottle of baby powder apparently over her head in her room. When I saw her mime-like face, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.... then I saw her room. Did you know that you can have SO much powder in a carpet, that it won't all come out - no matter how hard you try? It was everywhere, but the upstairs smells great! You'll also notice the marker that she already had all over her nose before the powder incident. She likes to see if they are scented...

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day! Ryan took Emma to church early because her kid's choir was singing in church today. She smiled and sang her heart out. (She is the 3rd from the right in the front row.) Lila and I joined them for the last 2 services. We had a fun day swimming at Gappy and Grammy's pool, but after dinner Ryan had to leave for NH for a few days. The girls (especially Emma) hate it when he leaves. She felt a little less sad when I let her fall asleep in my bed. Tomorrow is her last day of school!

Helping?

Yesterday, I was upstairs getting a load of laundry together (for a change) and I heard the Laundry Room sink turn on. Lila gets in trouble for this daily. So about 40 seconds later, I came down stairs saying, "Lila, what are you doing?" I found her walking naked towards the Living Room holding (and sloshing) a cup of water. It was sudsy water as it was the cup I use to measure laundry soap. She told me very matter-of-factly, "I have to rinse the pee pees off." Apparently, she had an accident on the piano bench, stripped, and proceeded to "clean up" after herself by dumping cups of soapy water all over my floor. Thanks.

First Post

So, I just decided to do this blog thing. I had to really, because there is no other way I'll ever remember the sweet, admirable, crazy, funny, impressive, loving, adorable and sometimes naughty things my girls do. I'm also hoping that all of our family across the country will know us better because of it. I don't really need another thing on my plate, but if I can figure this all out, it'll be worth it.