Little Girls' Dance Camp Week

 Last week, Maisie and Ruby participated in a fun dance camp in town.  My niece joined us for the week so that she could go along.  It was one of those weeks in life where you know that you bit off a wee too much but wouldn't go back and change a thing.   The girls danced/sang/painted and basically had the time of their lives each day for FOUR hours.  Daphne, Henry and I did a few special things of our own while they were busy.  And then in the other hours of the day we spoiled Phoebe with things us "Riddle gals" love to do in our hometown...swim, visit our favorite ice cream shop, watch girl movies that her brothers would NOT appreciate, and also a variety of activities that aren't exactly special, but part of OUR every week, like the gym kid room, hours in the backyard and bedtime story time that goes on and on.

I loved the girl cousin time, and the leisurely things Daphne and I were able to do together....like lunch at the Sage, lunch on a bench in Carlton, and taking her girlfriends swimming too.    Was I exhausted?  Yes (there was lots of laundry, LOTS of lunches packed, and little fighting too)  But, you have to be intentional with relationships and Phoebe was worth it.  We'll do it again for sure!

The recital on Friday was the sweetest thing I've ever witnessed.  Ruby danced like-n a four year old "butterfly" should ....with total girlie-ness and pride.  You all would have died...as my sister-in-law or good friend.  All the girls were so stinkin' cute.  It really was a wonderful experience for the girls.

I can't close this post without saying that on top of all the busyness of our lives, the week was made more emotional with the announced move of my neighbor girlfriend and her special family.  After two years here on our block, they were headed back to their home state.  So, when I wasn't preoccupied with my charges, I was planning their goodbye bbq and feeling sad for our loss.  You will see Maggie, their eldest daughter in some of these pictures too.  She's the blond with the big brown eyes...a friend Ruby and my girls will surely miss!  Me too. 

It was a week full of memories for sure!

o

We spent a fun afternoon at the park with my mom this past weekend.  My girls were so excited in anticipation of seeing her that morning that they picked her flowers and Maisie even wrote her a poem.  Mom has the hard copy, but I wrote it down because it was too cute to not save!

Dear Grandma,

These flowers are for you.

Purple is for ice cream.

Pink is for everything.

White is for the summer clouds.

Blue for sky.

Yellow for the bright sun.

Silver for your car.

Red for hearts.

Gold for the best Grandma ever.

We love you,

Maisie, Henry, Daphne and Ruby

Henwee, my boy!

Henry, or "Henwee", like Maisie lovingly calls him, is growing up way too fast for me. He is doing lots of new, fun things though, so as everything in life, you have to ride the wave and be joyful! He just started crawling two weeks ago which is sorta late...especially since Maisie was walking by now, but then again I guess they are all different! As everyone told me that certain things are just in boys' dna, he has begun making broom broom sounds with whatever toy he can pretend is a vehicle. I'm chuckling out loud as I write because it really is the cutest thing ever! He recently cut his top two teeth. He loves food and is starting to have table food more and more, which I know he prefers! Just last night he was eyeing his Dad's spaghetti plate at our favorite Italian restaurant and I thought he may just crawl across the table for it! Mike really would love to get his hair cut, and I agree his bangs are in need of a trim, but I am putting my foot down about the "high and tight" comments. And lastly, I get a lot of comments from strangers about this babe. "gerber baby" "cartoon baby" "beautiful eyes" "sooooo cute!" It makes my least favorite chore of grocery shopping a wee more tolerable. I can't say it enough....I love this little guy SO much!

A Very Full Fourth!

Our family is usually at our cabin in Idaho over the 4th so this year we celebrated a little differently.  It was a very full and sociable day.  I really had a great time!

Mike had to work for most of the day, so I got the girls up early and all gussied up in their matching 4th outfits and we were off to St. Paul for their very patriotic parade.  We picked up Mom on the way and she was a huge help.   I snapped some cute pictures of the kids before the dust picked up and the candy dripped down their clean faces and white tops:)  We waved and cheered and stood for the veterans riding by.

After the parade we packed up and moved on to our second stop of the day, my grandma's assisted living facility.  We couldn't find her in her room and were quite perplexed until we realized my Aunt Dee and Uncle Robb from Creswell were there visiting also, and they were all in the private dining room having lunch.  My cousin, Cade was there too and everyone, including the other elderly residents, were so tickled to see my kids in their matchy matchy outfits.  Uncle Robb gave up his lunch to the girls and we snapped a lot of fun pictures.  Grandma was happy for all the visitors.  My other Aunt, Kathie, even stopped by unannounced and so we genuinely had a little family reunion right there.

In keeping with this busy pace we came home briefly and repacked the van for our third event, a bbq at Mike and Pam's house with Matt and Becca and their kiddos.  Mike got home around then and we set off, hungrily awaiting for a juicy burger.  It was a feast for sure.  We ate traditional summer foods and watched the kids in the sprinkler.  The guys and eldest kids even did some careful shooting out front.  Before dark came we let off a few fireworks with the cousins and again snapped memorable pictures. 

By then Mike was super tired, but this activity director had even more fun planned for our crew.  We couldn't head inside without setting off more fireworks with our good friends and neighbors Cori and Darren and their kids.  This was really the girls' favorite part too.  We waited to almost dark and started.  Oh, my, the kids were WAY excited and into it.  Finally when Mike had burned his last finger  and no more "works" were left unlit, we called it a day.

Mike was in bed faster then anyone of us, and I spontaneously turned on the Washington DC fireworks show up in the kids' loft.  They passed out on the floor with God Bless America playing thru the screen.  And I was left, last one standing, with a past out house and a satisfied heart.

We really have a blast up in the mountains when we are there on the 4th but this was amazing too.  I loved seeing so many groups of the people we love and cherish and letting the kids set off fireworks too, which we don't do at the cabin.  My dad always loved the 4th of July and had a common saying not reserved for just that holiday....he'd always say, "Only in America".   I remembered that this year as I went to bed...how blessed we are...how laden with pleasures...how much I have to be thankful for!