Baseball starts and other June happenings

ready for t-ball with her cool pink and purple mitt!

It was quite cute seeing all the munchkins (3 and 4 year olds)

This first day they played catch and split the group in two to run bases.
The coaches were great and Lydia ran so fast.  

My Abigail is a summer blondie and still likes her nuk.

Abigail puts a puppet on and pops through the curtain. Lydia can't miss out on the fun.

Went to Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bruce's over Father's Day. Lydia got to play with Emily!! Tea party was a hit.

And so was the swimming pool.

Abigail, Lydia, Emily, Kinsey, Hailey, Kailyn, Nathan, Jacob.

Happy Father's Day to Ben and his dad!

Happy Birthday to Stacy!

Been trying to take more silly pictures of the little ones when I feel like the time when they are so cute and so precious is slipping away. Just wish we could can the laughter and hugs and always remember the sweet and funny things they say and do.

LYDIA

AALIYAH

Chocolate ABIGAIL

Madison, WI

 I had to title this post Madison, WI because upon using the GPS, I found out that there is a Madison in almost every state. So anyway, we had a fun-filled day trip in Madison on Saturday: Farmer's Market, Children's Museum, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, UW Union Terrace, and Cousin Zach's Graduation Party.

We met up with Anna & Greg at the farmer's market. It crowded the entire capitol square, but wasn't hectic.
 

Lydia frolics in the street with her new Slinky.

The "Rock-It" had the girls engaged for a long time.

Buttons, music and sense of control...

...Lydia loved it!

View of Lake Mendota from the museum terrace. Very fun up there!

The peonies were all abloom in the event garden.

Lydia and Abigail stop at a water fountain.

The rock garden was fun to walk through.

One of the colorful iconic chairs at the UW Union Terrace. We got excellent ice cream from The Daily Scoop and then sat by the water.

15 Month Checkup

Abigail went to the doctor for her 15 month checkup. She's steadily growing, checking in today at 22 pounds and 30.5 inches. Lydia consoled Abigail with "it's okay" after her shots, and a bright orange band-aid on the left thigh made it all better.

May Wrap-Up

Oh, the fun we're having in May. We're outside whenever the weather permits.

Abigail is like a machine climbing up the ramp and going down the slide. She has no fear!

Lydia and Abigail play together all the time! 

We're using the water table!

 And we're inside playing hide and seek when the weather doesn't.

Where's Daddy hiding?

One of Lydia's hiding spots. Haha, I see feet!

I've added another candle to the birthday cake.

But Lydia has been impressing us by how old she is by putting her shoes on all by herself, and most of the time on the right feet! She has also been big about telling us when she needs to go potty and jumping on the horse at the playground. She's a sweet girl. She roams fields of dandelions and returns with a bouquet of them for you.

This past week, we implemented our landscape plan! Marking, tilling, shopping, edging, planting, mulching, watering, whew! Abigail liked to think she was helping as she pushed her little wheelbarrow around.

We're most excited about the garden on the south side of our house.

After explaining to Lydia that we are growing fruits and vegetables in the garden for us to eat, she found a turtle in the garden. Lydia asked if we could eat it... 

 Even when it rained and we couldn't work outside, we kept busy. We painted the walls and added crown molding to the living room. So then it was about time for some family fun at Apple Hollar farm.

Miss Abigail is getting big too. She gives us outbursts of laughter, all throughout the day. She says, Mama, Mami, Dah (Dad), me (more), yeah, no, taedue (thank you) and screams. Oh yeah, and "Hi." She says it to every person in the store and every car that passes, with a courteous wave. It's really cute.

* Happy Memorial Day! * Bring on Summer! *

Two Crazy Kids, One Happy Momma

Happy Mother's Day!

Ballet Class

 Lydia likes to get dressed and have 'ballet class' in the morning. She presses play on her Classical Lullabies CD and dances around her room. 

Intermittently she stops to wipe her hand across her forehead sighing, 'whew.' A sip of water from her fishy Dixie cup is so refreshing, so she continues on with her interpretive dance.

 "This is how we ballet."

Up, Up & Away

 Warm temps and gusty winds make for perfect kite flying conditions.

 Lydia does a great job holding the string.

 We all have fun flying the kite.

Abigail loves being outside, probably the most out of all of us, but inside...

she loves climbing up the stairs!

Bottom of stairs baby gate is now in place!