Relaxin' in the Pool

In this heat, we heart our friends with pools! :) In late June, our good friends Ken and Angela (and their darling son Jack) invited us over to swim with more friends Brian, Mechelle and their kiddos. Emmaline quickly latched on to Brian, and wouldn't let anyone else hold her in the water! And, in typical fearless Emmaline fashion, she eventually didn't want anyone to hold her and instead floated around the pool on her own (wearing heavy duty floaties, I was impressed!). Owen liked the water, but hung on to someone the entire time. I just enjoyed hanging out by the pool talking to Angela and Mechelle while the guys watched my kids, ha!

Emmaline and Owen Turn 2!

Emmaline and Owen turned the big T-W-O on Saturday, July 16, and we celebrated with a morning bash at our neighborhood spray park. Despite the crazy heat, our sweet friends and family arrived ready to splash and eat cake!

We rented a pavilion at the park and served fruit, Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets, chips and juice boxes...so we covered the toddler food groups! My sister was the photographer and did a great job! Unfortunately, I forgot the video camera, because I would have loved to have recorded all of Owen and Emmaline's friends doing their best to sing (scream?) "Happy Birthday" with the parents...hilarious!

Each hyped-up, overstimulated and ready-for-a-nap guest under the age of five took home a sand bucket filled with bubbles, sunglasses, beach balls for the boys and a fish hair clip for the girls (shameless plug for Claire's clips here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/audreyhepburn82).

Mission Accomplished!!

"Heyyyyy, party people!"

Concentrating...

Miss Ava Claire neatly tearing into her cupcake.

Sweet Jackson smiling for camera.

James noshing on chips and cake.

Olivia says "Peace out, see ya at the next party!"

I have no idea why he is making this face...but its funny.

Delish!

Genevieve and Jillian, one of four sets of twins at the party!

Owen clapped along during Happy Birthday, and Emmaline thought he had lost it.

My bracelets rock!

Bianca, Adam and Violet

One of the four party tables, complete with balloons, Owen and Emmaline's new favorite thing.

This Just In...

...Owen and Emmaline love their crib tents!! Since Emmaline flung herself out of her crib a few weeks ago and landed on her head (scene complete with blood), we bought her a crib tent. The tent decision was made after I pictured Emmaline wandering around her room yelling and keeping sleep-loving Owen up for naps and nighttime. To keep the peace and fragiile balance in my home occupied by two nearly 2-year-olds, I decided to go with the tent!

I was so upset about zipping her into it, and was just sure she would freak out. Quite the opposite happened! In an effort to make her feel comfortable, we put both kids in her crib within minutes of installing it. Vince hid in their closet and was popping in and out to make them laugh. :) We've now bought Owen his own "tent" too, and I have a hard time getting them out of bed every morning!

Water Babies

Owen and Emmaline were so excited on Memorial Day weekend when they went "swimming" in their new pool (with sprinkler, which made for some hilarious pictures)!

Owen Busts a Move

This afternoon, while Vince was getting ready for the Jimmy Buffett concert tonight, Owen danced and danced! I had to shoot him from the side because he was so busy watching Daddy and copying his moves! Emmaline was my production assistant (that's her hand and snack cup flashing in front of the camera).

First Easter Egg Hunt!

I am way behind on blog postings, so I'm going to get to work in the next week and catch up! Owen and Emmaline had a great time at their first Easter Egg Hunt, hosted by our neighborhood, the weekend before Easter. They participated in the "under age four" hunt, so the eggs were scattered all over the grass. The more serious egg hunters in the big kid group were on the other side of the playground. I loved dressing the kids up in their Easter outfits, though I wish Emmaline would put a stop to the Just Say No to Bows/Barrettes/Rubber Bands/Anything Touching Her Hair campaign she's been hanging onto since the fall. :)












After the hunt, we met our friends Angela, Ken and their son Jack at Chuy's for dinner (friends not pictured :)).

Hats Off to Octomom

My friend Kerri, mom to adorable twin boys on far right, took this picture after our MOPS meeting on Tuesday. The kids were a little grumpy since naps were right around the corner, but the fact that we had four sets of twins in a picture was pretty special. As Kerri said in the subject of her email of the photo, "Taking up the entire hallway..."