Summer Dance Class

Grace is taking dance this summer and her friend Lily is in her class again. Here is a quick shot before class.

And here they are last summer- they have grown so much!

Bugs We Like

The other night we went for a swim and dinner at a friend's house. Just as we were about to leave, Jack caught and showed Grace a firefly. I really thought she would scream as she does with all bugs but she loved it!

Next thing we knew it was 30 minutes later and Grace was still running and yelling with delight trying to find fireflies for her jar. Below she is holding up her findings
It was such fun and a true surprise that Grace actually liked them. Jack has been talking about catching fireflies with her since she was born so it was great to watch them have a wonderful time!

Few Days at Grandma and Pop's

Jack and I had to go to Georgia for a few days for a conference I had to attend. Grace and Kate spent some time with their Grandma and Pop. This was Kate's first time away from us and she did great! Here are a few pictures of all the fun they had-

Daddy in Charge...

Pause the Game!

Grace doesn't watch much tv- we are actually pretty strict, only one 30 minute show every other day- but when she does watch it, she takes every advantage of the DVR. I guess she will never know that rewinding, pausing and starting a show late is not a normal tv function.
Grace and I were playing Chutes and Ladders the other day when she had to use the restroom. She stood up to go and turned back with her arms outstretched and a panicked voice saying "Pause the game! Can you stop it and then start it again when I come back?"

Rollie Pollie

Kate can get anywhere in the room in ten seconds by rolling. It's a bit of a problem with all Grace's little toys lying around but we are all doing our best to keep them picked up. Grace is getting good at watching her and always runs over and takes things away that she gets before she gets it in her mouth.
Kate is soooo different from Grace who never put anything in her mouth or rolled anywhere. Kate is keeping us on our toes...

Vertical!

"Big Girl Bath"

Time to sit up in the tub! Kate loves being able to grab toys floating by and playing with Grace.

First of Many Lessons by Grace

We have been trying hard to get Kate to sit up. Grace decided to take the task on. Most of her technique involves telling Kate to sit up- "Kate, just sit! Sit!" She says it very lovingly and serious, it's funny to see how frustrated she gets when Kate doesn't sit up. This particular day she decided to try to hold her up. First with her hands.

Then with her feet!

Sweet H2O Race

I knew this would happen one day but it was still sad- we missed one of Jack's races. And it was his longest! 50k Trail Race. Grace was sick the day we were supposed to go so Jack forged on by himself. Thanks to modern technology we were able to keep up with him via text messaging so we knew he was doing great. Poor guy woke up so early to drive over to Atlanta, did the run and then drove all the way back by himself. We were so proud of him!

(And I have no idea what that picture is- I gave him the camera and this is all he came back with on it)

Grace's New Favorite Location- Hotels!

Grace was so excited to hear we were staying in another hotel on the way home. She loves sleeping in the same room with us, the breakfast and in this hotel- the pool!

Kate seemed satisfied just hanging with me and watching

Last Round of Visits

Our last morning in Wisconsin was very busy. We started out with a good breakfast with Great Papa, Great Brenda and my cousin Teresa.

We then made a quick stop to get my favorite cheese- Apricot Honey from Kraemers! Sooooo good!

We stopped in on our way home to see my grandmother one more time. We missed her by two minutes, she had gone for a hair appointment. Just as we were turning to leave they brought her back to get a different wheelchair to wash her hair. Such luck! She skipped her appointment and we got to spend some time with her talking and watching shows by Grace.

Just before starting our long drive, we stopped by my favorite ice cream stand, The Kilte and had some ice cream. We were so full from breakfast we couldn't eat any lunch but we could eat hot fudge sundaes! Grace couldn't believe we were eating ice cream for lunch- but she was very flexible and joined right in! ;o)

Dinner with our Hosts

After our cookout we went back to my Uncle Don and Aunt Sheila's house for a great spaghetti dinner. They were such great hosts and were very flexible with our busy schedule. The girls really enjoyed spending time with my cousin Bart and Jack enjoyed having a basketball watching partner. Thanks Don, Sheila, Bart and Teresa for having us and for all the help with the girls!

Memorial Day Cookout

We had a great Memorial Day Cookout at "Great-Papa and Great-Brenda's" house. (We let Grace decide what to call my grandfather and his wife and those are the names she came up with-pretty good ;o))
My Uncle Pat and Aunt Tina brought their family and it was great to spend time with my cousins and to meet Adam and Corey's girlfriends and Amelia- my cousin Kevin and Jessica's baby. Grace had a fun time playing blocks with her.

The food was delicious and the company was wonderful as always!Kate meeting her Great-Papa- she was thrilled!My cousin Greg and me peeling some good Wisconsin corn.Greg's wife Tracy hanging with KateJessica, Amelia, my mom and Grace building bridgesAnd then it got serious...They have a great yard for bocce'
Kate was also thrilled to meet Great-Brenda!
Lots of Nana love! This was super cute- they were both giving the other lessons...

Breakfast with Great Friends

We were so excited to learn our great friends Kristy and Matt were visiting her parents in Wisconsin at the same time we were there. I have been friends with Kristy since the second grade and we took several trips together- before we had kids. It was so great to get to meet their son Jack and to introduce them to Grace and Kate. It was a short visit but lots of fun!

My Pretty Girl

I just like these pictures

And this one was just cute