Where has the summer gone????

Well it has been over a month since I have posted, but I really do have a good reason. I have been pouting because my camera broke while we were on vacation in Myrtle Beach. Sooo, I have very few pictures from our trip and I just have had a hard time getting back into posting since my camera has been in the repair shop. But now it is back and I do have some posts that I need to do. I just can't believe that July is almost over. Here is what we have been doing the last month.

We enjoyed spending time at my Aunt Linda's and watching the air show in June. The girls loved playing with their cousins and eating lots of good food. Thanks Linda for planning such a fun day for us. The next week we flew to North Carolina. Wow, that was a long flight with 4 kids. We had a 7 hour lay over, and so to make up for it, they stuck us in first class. For most people that would be very much appreciated, but not for John and I with 4 kids. It was very stressful. Anyway, we spent a week at the beach house in Myrtle beach and then about 5 days at his parents home in North Carolina. We had a great trip and the girls were so sad when it was time to come home. The beach house is something our girls always look forward to. This is the trip though that my camera died and so I only have a handful of pictures, so sad!!! When we got back from North Carolina, I took the twins in for their 15 month check-up and they both had ear infections. The doctor put them on an antibiotic. A week after being on the medicine, Preslee woke up with a horrible rash and Payge followed with the same rash the next day but not as severe as Preslee's. Preslee was so swollen and covered from head to toe. The doctor figured it was the way the virus reacted to the antibiotic.

Tennis Time

We signed Brilynn up for tennis lessons, so John has been spending the evenings teaching Brilynn and Maycie how to play the game. John was a very good tennis player during high school and spent his summers at tennis camps and practicing from sun-up to sun-down. He loved this sport and hopes to be able to teach the girls how to play his sport. This was actually one of the first things that Brilynn has been excited to do. The girls beg John to take them out and play tennis. I think John may be rethinking his dream of teaching his girls to be tennis players:)

While at the tennis courts, Preslee decided to remove her poopy diaper. I didn't have any spare diapers but thank goodness we had wipes. So I stripped her down and put her in the bike stroller in the nude and biked home as fast as possible hoping that I wouldn't find a wet bike stroller. Thank goodness she was nice and dry. Not quite sure why Preslee "LOVES" to take her diaper off. I love this picture below because she was so not thrilled to be naked in the trailer!!!

How Sweet!

The twins have been struggling with their nap schedule and I think they are trying to eliminate their morning nap. I finally gave in and decided to just do one nap a day. However, they did get a little fussy before it was their "new" nap time. I put on "Yo Gabba Gabba" (thanks to my friend Kami) gave them their binki's and favorite blanket from their Grandma Great, laid them on a pillow and they actually laid there and watched the show while I finished cleaning and made them lunch. I was amazed. Preslee actually laid there longer than Payge but they both seemed to enjoy a little healthy television:) Nothing like having a best friend to curl up and watch a good episode of "Yo Gabba Gabba."

I don't need training wheels!!!

On Friday I was sitting outside watching Brilynn and Maycie ride their bikes. Maycie told me that she didn't need her training wheels anymore. I told her that I wasn't going to try to teach her to ride her bike just yet. As soon as John came out she started to bug him about taking off her training wheels. Being the good Dad that he is, he grabbed the tools and quickly removed them for her. It took a few minutes for John to teach her how to stop and start on her own...and she has been training wheel free ever since. She is addicted to riding her bike and rides it whenever she gets a chance. She only comes in to eat lunch and dinner and then heads right back out. Her and our neighbor Eva have spent much time together this spring riding their bikes, scooters, and playing on the swing sets. I am so glad that summer is here and that we spend almost every evening outside as a family.

5K race, 1st Grade Recital, and Pet Lady Bugs

This year we decided to do the 5K race for Brilynn's school. A huge thanks to my mom for helping out with the kids. As the race started I tried to make Brilynn and Maycie run with John and I. Brilynn gave up fairly early so John had to stop, turn around and take her back to my mom. Once John caught back up to us he decided to go on since Maycie was going very sloooooow as well but was trying hard. After a short distance, it was my turn to turn around and take Maycie to my mom. Once I was free of kids, it was nice because I was actually able to run and my sweet husband slowed down and waited for me to catch up. Towards the end of the race Brilynn ran into a mirror on a car because she wasn't paying attention. So not only was my mom pushing the twins and Maycie (who decided to hop on the stroller as well) but was also trying to console Brilynn. HOWEVER, they did make it to the end and managed to not be in last place. Not sure how they did it, but thanks Mom for allowing John and I to run the race and letting the kids also participate. It was a family effort to complete that race!!!

On Thursday Brilynn had her First Grade singing program. She was chosen to be a Ladybug and was proud of it. She became very animated during the program and really exaggerated every action (I'm sure that's not a surprise to most of you).

For Christmas the girls had received a Lady Bug habitat. The first time we ordered the lady bugs, it was to cold and they died in the mail box. So finally the end of April we received our lady bugs. When they first hatch they look nothing like lady bugs. They stay in their larvae stage for about 5-6 days and then they go into a cocoon for about 3 days. When they come out they are cute little lady bugs. Instead of keeping them in the little habitat, we decided to let them go so they would live longer. Brilynn and Maycie were sad to let their little pets fly away but they made sure to let them crawl on them for a very long time before doing so.

Laffy Taffy

Maycie made me laugh when we had the following conversation

Maycie: Mom, can I have some floss? I need to get these Laffy Taffy's out of my teeth

Me: Why do you have Laffy Taffy in your teeth.

Maycie: I don't know. Why do you get Laffy Taffy's in your teeth?

Me: I'm not sure what your talking about

Maycie: You know those black things you get from eating lots of candy.

Me: Oh...you mean cavities?????

Maycie: Oh, ya, dats what I mean!

Easter Festivities!!!

On Monday before Easter we did the annual egg coloring. Since we were going to be out of town the Easter bunny came to our house early this year. The girls wanted to make sure that they left out the eggs so that the Bunny could hide them for them. The Easter Bunny was pretty tricky and it took us 2 days to finally find the last hidden egg. Thank goodness it hadn't gotten to stincky.

The Easter bunny only did motor scooters this year. Brilynn and Maycie had been asking for them but were disappointed when they got the scooters and not a lot of the other things they are used to getting for Easter. . It's a no-win situation!!!

On Friday we packed the car and headed down to my sisters in Kanab for the baby blessing. On the way there we stopped at the Cheese factory in Beaver. We love to buy the fresh "squeeky cheese" and the twins were due for a break. Brilynn came up with her own joke while we were there, Why do mice squeek? Because they eat squeeky cheese. Haha!!!!

Since my sister is living in a tiny rental until they can close on their house, we opted to stay in a hotel instead. Brilynn and Maycie took every opportunity to swim in the pool and were quite upset when it was time to leave "the apartment"

So on our way into Kanab we saw a sign for a Best Friends Animal Santuary. When I asked my sister she said she didn't know anything about it. We decided that it would be fun to take the kids on the free tour. So after switching all the carseats over to the 18 passenger tour van, we were on our way to see the Best Friends Sanctuary. I really don't know how or why they even call it a tour. It was the most boring 45 minutes of our whole trip. It is basically an outdoor animal shelter. They drove us around the dog house, then around the cat house, next we stopped in front of the bird house for a few minutes, and then drove by 3 horses in a field. The last thing we saw was the pet cemetary. Brilynn and Maycie were so bored out of their minds and all Maycie could say was "When are we going to see the bears." Needless to say we could have gone without the whole tour. Once I realized that we were going in a circle and that we wouldn't be going back the way we came on the tour I explained to Brilynn that we were almost done and that we didn't have to go back the way we had came. Brilynn's response was "Good, so we don't have to see all that stuff again." We all had a good laugh about the tour and I can promise that nobody in our group will ever be returning to the Best Friends Sanctuary.

After the lovely tour we went back and my mom did an egg hunt for all the kids. Brilynn and Maycie had their baskets completely overflowing with eggs and were very kind to share with those who didn't have as many.

Since we had to be out of the hotel I decided to send Brilynn and Maycie to church with my sister while we finished getting ready and packed the car. Since the twins weren't ready at that time, I wasn't able to get a picture of all four girls in their Easter dresses. We may have to do some posed pix next time they wear them to church. Overnall we had an excellent Easter weekend and look forward to visiting Kanab again.

Just throw them in the sink!

The twins got really messy tonight after eating their dinner. I decided that it would be much easier to put them in the sink than trying to wipe their entire bodies down. Brilynn and Maycie loved the idea of spraying them with the hose and Preslee and Payge enjoyed the new bath tub. I decided to post all of the pics because I loved their different expressions in all of them