Cora is a Bear Cub!

Amara always loved this class.   Half hour to tumble, climb, hang, crawl, and jump with mommy :)   This time, big sis came along to watch from the sidelines, and it's in a new building--slightly bigger space I'd say.

The first class, Cora was all about it.  She had watched Amara 'grow up through the ranks' of gymnastics, always waiting her turn, so when they let her loose--she took off and didn't look back for mom!

She liked jumping and rolling too.  I think Eric couldn't get any pics of her because she never stood still!

She loved the tunnel best--then the trampoline of course. 

At the end, they did the parachute, everyone's favorite--then stamps and one tiny tootsie roll, she loves that.

Bath, brush, books, bed.

We girls have a routine, it's bath, brush, books, bed.

It doesn't always happen that way, but when it does, we love it.  At 2 and 5 now, any time we can spend together is golden for me.

The girls have gotten used to being in the bath together--they play and splash. Sometimes for 5 minutes, sometimes for 45.  It gives daddy some times to work downstairs while I get soaked...haha


...then on to jammies, and snuggling in sissy's bed.  They usually watch a video or two and Amara "teaches" Cora to do things on apps and games. It's quite cute.

Eric and I normally just sit there in awe of them--knowing it will end ANY second in a scream fight about something, but for those minutes, it's amazing.

Blueberry time!

As soon as the berries start to come on, we are out picking!  This year, we went to our friend Kenny's house to pick on his farm and it was incredible! The girls had their cheeks full of blueberries before we knew what to do!

Clara helped the girls find the really good and sweet ones while Eric snuck over to the blackberry rows--Kenny said those will really come on in a few weeks still.

Amara picked her bucket about half full in a blink, then we headed up to play with the kids and drool over their new swimming pool (ideas, ideas.)

We had no sooner gotten out of the field when Amara asked if we could make a pie for daddy--of course :)  We got right to it when we got home and no joke, Eric ate 3 pieces that night!

Good thing I have a good pie maker in training--she loves to help me with most things in the kitchen, but she really likes to make the things she likes to eat (go figure). I need to get some pics of them ENJOYING the pie--but it was gone too quickly!

water fun at g'ma's

In between the rain, fireworks and parades, we made it to mom and dads to fire up the old slide.  Eric and I had to run out to meet the contractor, so we left the girls to play with their cousins a bit.

When we got back,
they were almost waterlogged, completely confident, and having a blast!

Cora was wearing sister's bathing suit, that kept falling down, but she didn't care.

The boys were having a blast running and splashing the girls and the girls gave it right back to them.

They would line up in the yard and run for the pool--running from so far away that they were about exhausted by the time they finally made it there!

By the end, we had the water jets off, but it was still slippery enough.  As things started to get cool, we packed it up, dried them off, and headed home.  Not sure if it'll make it out again, but they sure do have fun with it!

Rainy fireworks

After the
soggy parade in the morning, came the soggy fireworks afterwards!  Cora couldn't hang--so I took Amara into town to meet up with Gideon and Shepherd.

Grandma and grandpa Jahn walked over to Tony's and got pizza and drinks for the kids.  We all sat in the back of G'pa's truck and waited for it to get dark for showtime.

Even though the rain was on and off, we all had fun. The kids didn't mind the rain and the fireworks actually started early at 9:30, since it was already dark anyway.  We were soggy and tired, but we had a great time playing in the parking lot with our glow sticks and umbrellas.

rainy July 4th parade

We have had an insane amount of rain this last month of so and the July 4th holiday was not spared.  Regardless, we headed out to enjoy the parade at Ashville, with umbrellas, buckets, and blankets all ready.

Waiting on the parade wasn't as fun as usual though--the girls were bored and kind of sweaty and kind of over it--but as soon as the parade started, they perked right up.

Cora loved the drums and bands, tractors and kids.  A lot of the younger kids in the parade came right over to her to hand her suckers, she was in heaven.

She also waved to every single queen (or princess) I can't believe her arm didn't fall off! Her wave was adorable and she caused a lot of smiles that morning for the girls in the parade.

Horses are always a favorite for the girls too.  We also enjoyed lots of ball teams, big tractors, cheerleaders (which thrilled Amara) candy and fun.  The rain let of a little a few different point in the parade, so we weren't soaked--but the girls were certainly ready to go when it was over.  Hey, at least we didn't get sunburned!

cherry picking!

So after our turtle discovery,
the girls and we were ready to pick cherries.  We have been finding a few fruit trees on the property, so that is an extra added bonus we didn't know about in January :)

Grandpa took off with his girls on the mower and
Eric got started picking--i think we were ALL surprised with how very sour and tart they were, WOW!  I told Eric I'd make him a pie if he got 4 cups, but i bet we didn't get half way there before the girls lost interest. 

It was hot and I think because they weren't interested in eating them,
they were ready to move on to something else.  We grabbed as many as we could--they were beautiful, pristine and the PERFECT red.

It's just so fun exploring and finding all the great treats that feel "just for us," even though they have been so long ignored.  Maybe by next year we can manage to get a pie off of this bad boy.

Mr. Turtle

So one night at the new house,

we had come out to pick cherries and play a little. As we approached the driveway, we saw a rock--or so we thought, but then quickly realized it was a turtle!!  Amara was so excited, she wanted to pick it up, but G'pa Jahn told her it was a snapper.

She wanted to pick him up and keep him, but

I discouraged her from that--I figure with the amount of wildlife we've seen--it was worth just enjoying them as we find them.

Since he didn't move too fast, we enjoyed watching him during the evening.  Dad picked him up and moved him so we didn't run over him as we left--and Amara was intrigued by the fact he "peed" from being scared :)

Just another chapter in exploring all the fun things at the new place!

t ball is done!

Tball is a funny sport for Amara.  She asked to do it, and is excited to go--but when she gets there, she says she's bored just standing around for an hour ;)

She hit the ball REALLY well this season.  She loves the running part of practice too.  Fielding isn't her favorite--largely I think because the mosh pit that is every ball hit really isn't her style.

Little sister had fun exploring at the games too.  Tennis courts, dugouts, outfield--nothing was off limits.  I think all her grandparents got to take in some of the games this season.  Even though it was only a short 6 weeks, we certainly looked forward to it.

At the end of the night, Coach Jason awarded medals to each of the kids.  She was super excited to go out on the field and be recognized.

The group all huddled up for one last Indians team cheer and then they all shared ice cream treats--it was Beanie's week to bring drinks, so she was happy to hand hers out and skip out to the car.  One more sport done--now she's already asking for ballet and cheer.  Oh lord.

Corolla, OBX June 13

Beanie had been talking about all her friends going to  the beach since Spring break. Lots of kids in her preschool class going, units in school on the ocean, etc....so for her big 5th birthday, we decided to surprise her and take her on a little trip to North Carolina and the outer banks.

We prepped the car for our first big overnight road trip to the beach on the Saturday after her birthday.  Loaded with beach toys, suits, animals, bathing suits and patience, we headed south.  The ride there was a little rough, but we arrived in Corolla just after 7 am on Sunday morning.  We stopped and got some fresh donuts from Duck donuts before going to the hotel.  It was too early to check in, but we were prepared, so we quickly changed into our suits and headed to the beach.

The waves were choppy from a hurricane, so we toggled back and forth between the beach and the pool pretty much the entire time we were there.  The hotel had 3 nice pools, so it was fun for us all to take a dip from time to time--the ocean was kind of chilly!

We also explored the other communities in the OBX.  That seemed to be a good way for the girls to nap (and once me!) and also plan our next trip.

In the evenings, we cleaned up and headed out for dinner and shopping. We found lots of nice places, had hawaiian ice, bought shirts and gifts for grandma's and grandpa's and Sarah back home.   It was great watching them explore a completely new city, shop, sightsee, etc. It was so great.

Cora started getting sick the morning of our 3rd day there, so unfortunately we had to do a quick cleanup/ packing job and get on the road--but even our quick visit was totally worth it. Beanie has been talking about our beach trip to anyone who will listen, Cora recovered from her stomach bug, and we have a lifetime of memories from our first beach trip/vacation together.

Mommy's birthday

I got a very different surprise the afternoon of my birthday this year--Eric ordered a singing monkey telegram for me!  It was funny, because he used Steve, the guy who does all our balloon delivery for the surprise.  He sang to me, gave the girls candy and crowns, posed for photos and then was on his way.

After that, daddy had got a beautiful cake and g'ma and g'pa Jahn came over for cake.

The girls sang happy birthday to me--Cora sang so loud and sweetly--i hope the camcorder captured it.  It was the sweetest thing.  I enjoyed spending the day with my family and all my treats and surprises too.  

Eric and I went out to a movie and dinner later--his gift to me, and we had a great time. It was nice to pick a movie that wasn't a cartoon and actually order what we wanted for dinner :)

Connell's kids club/mommy's birthday flowers

The morning of my birthday happened to be a kids club flower class day.

Eric had planned on taking Amara to Connells without knowing this detail--so the visit was non-traditional :)

We got there and the staff was so kind and got everything ready for us to have our own private class--the girls were thrilled!!  Eric picked out some roses for me for my birthday too, so the visit was a blast and their arrangements were adorable!

The girls made little arranged baskets with all kinds of beautiful flowers.  They also got balloons and even a snack!   They always love coloring at the arrangement tables when they are done. We and they love this event so, SO much.

Seeing them happy and enjoying themselves was such a great start to the day and a fun way to celebrate my birthday with the family too.

Amara gave me her basket of flowers and told me they were for me for my birthday (how sweet) so the house was definitely full of flowers and love all weekend.