Dentist!

Cara went to the dentist for the first time in July.  She did much better than I thought she would (I think the preparations we did ahead of time-Cara going to watch Brynn at the dentist 6 months ago, reading lots of books about dentists, and doing lots of talking about what would happen at the dentist- really helped). 

 She was a champ the whole time!

 Dr. Hankerson always takes a picture with kids on their first visit...

Brynn insisted she get a picture with Dr. Hank also!

Before D.C.

Brynn had been begging to go fishing all summer long. Before Darren went to Washington, D.C. he took time out of his very busy schedule to spend some time with his favorite ladies.

 Honestly, the worms were the best part of the whole fishing process!

 We caught one!

 And another one!

 Didn't I say the worms were the best part?!?

 The second best part of the fishing was the ducks, they were plentiful...and hungry for the bread we brought!

Fun with the Olsons!

Our daycare was closed one day in June...that meant Evalyn and Elijah's daycare was closed too.  We were lucky enough to have them at our house for the day.  They are super easy kids so we will do it ANY TIME you need us to, Amanda and Jason!

 We spent some time in the pool.

 Swinging.

 Checking out the neighbors's pool.

 Playing on the swingset.

 Taking care of babies.

 Doing a little more swimming.

 Having some lunch.

 Even Henry, Charlie, and Auntie Key stopped over for a bit.

We also worked on some activities while Cara and Evie napped!

SUPER fun day!

She looked like a witch!

One day this summer Cara insisted that I use my straightener on her hair.  She was giddy while I was straightening it and couldn't wait to go in her bathroom  to check it out in the mirror.  Once in the bathroom she was quite disappointed with the final result.  She kept saying (in a very whiny voice, I might add), "I don't yike it.  Put my curls back."  Her disapproval may have been due to the fact that Brynn and I were laughing at her and commenting how she looked like a witch...because she really did look like she had which hair!

 The straight hair didn't last more than a few minutes before she was in the tub washing out the straight hair and bringing the curls back.

Sports of All Sorts

We signed Cara up for Sports of All Sorts this summer through the Rosemount Park and Rec.  She had so much fun the first 3/4 of the "season"-the last 1/4 was a little rough and I had to bribe her a bit to get her to participate.  Overall she did very well playing playground games, kickball, and soccer.  The best part (for me anyway) was that Cara's good buddy Claire also played on her team so once a week for 45 minutes Jenny Paul and I were able to talk nearly uninterrupted :) 

 Don't mind the arm circles that are going on around you, Cara...

 Cara and her good buddy, Claire...that is when they are both in the mood to be buddies :)

 Trapping the ball!

 Feeling lonely, Cara?

 Receiving her participation trophy.

 Auntie Key and the boys even came to Cara's last "game."

 My favorite little lady and me!

Coach Taylor, Coach Kelly and Cara.

Fourth of July PARTIES!

Our Fourth of July (Yes, I realize it's October and I am just posting about the 4th of July...I find myself not taking nearly as many pictures lately since I am soooo behind.) sure was a fun one this year. 

We started our first celebration at our great friends, the Eckhoffs, on the 3rd of July for their annual Fourth of July party.  They sure know how to throw a good party, great company, great food, fun activities and FIREWORKS!  What more could you ask for on the 3rd of July?

We always bring the same flag cake every year.  As the years go by the kids are getting much better at decorating it like a flag on their own.

The cake is cute, but I'll have to say the kids are even cuter!

The Eckhoffs have a huge hill in their back yard and this year (since it was nearly 100 degrees) they added tarps with a hose then a slip and slide for the kids (and the big kids) to try to stay cool. 

SUPER FUN!

Brynn went down a few times and ended up with grass in her swim suit and decided she wanted no more to do with it.

The grass/mud puddle at the end of the slip and slide clearly didn't bother Beaner!

After it got dark Jeremy and his neighbors put on quite the firework show. 

Cara just had tubes put in her ears two days before the party due to constant fluid in them.  Her hearing had been borderline since she was born.  The noise of the fireworks didn't bother her one bit last year, but oh boy the noise scared her this year.  She and I ended up in the house to watch from the couch...and several others trailed in behind us.

The 4 Aslehoff kids :) 

They truly are the best of buds!  We are so lucky to have such great friends!!

After spending the night at the Eckhoffs we headed to Austin so we could hit up the Spam Town USA parade.  Thanks to my great memory from the year before I had my dad set our chairs up on the opposite side of the street (which I clearly remembered was in the shade last year while we baked in the sun).  Sure enough it was in just the right spot!  Even though the heat wave continued we only sweat out 2 gallons of liquid instead of 5.

Our 4th of July festivities ended with some swimming and dinner with our neighbors.  It sure is nice to have neighbors with a pool in their back yard on hot summer days!

 I really don't care to swim...I mean REALLY don't care to swim.  I always get my suit on but very rarely end up in the pool.  Brynn thinks she is quite the little swimmer and will often swim farther than she should or "dive" a few too many times.  At one point I thought she was about to drown so I had to pull out a little Bay Watch to rescue her...turns out she was just trying to get her dive stick.  However, because of the warm summer we had the pool was already very warm on the 4th!

We had a very busy but FUN 4th!