Clean Kids?!

Not much is new.  Just trying to survive the heat.  I feel like we are always hot, sweaty and dirty.  So I thought it was a rare sight to see 3 squeaky clean kids on Sunday.  The girls got new dresses and Adam has a new shirt that I've been saving since he was like 3.  Pretty cute.

Silly Elli

I was looking thru some pictures and found this top one of Elli when she was about 2.  I said to myself... "That seems just like yesterday!"  Then I remembered it happened again too long ago!  Messy girl.

Day Off

Riley and the kids had Memorial Day off, so we went to the beach.  It was crowded, but we found a spot.  The warmer it gets, the more we want to go.  The water was a little chilly, but it will warm up soon, too. 

Amy and the Ocean

She wanted to spend most of the time in the water.  

She didn't like to be all sandy afterwards though.

Fun Birthday Stuff

Here's what I got for my birthday!  CUTE!  Riley's mom made me the pretty bag, my friends had a surprise lunch for me and gave me the flowers, my sister sent some new baking tools I've been wanting (so I had to make the cheesecake with them), and a little jacket I ordered with some money my mom sent.  I had a really nice birthday!  Riley gave me some good running things I needed and some Creme Brulee ice cream, too.  Thank you everyone!

Birthday Girls

Here's Elli now that she's six!  And here I am now that I'm 20 something.   

Elli's Cake-Pops

Elli didn't have a birthday party this year.  There were about 4 parties right close together and I just wasn't in the party planning mood.  We did go to a movie, dinner and tried to go swimming... all picked out by Elli.  (We were all in our suits and at the pool, but the lifeguards didn't have a key to get in, so after waiting for about 45 minutes, we left and let them jump with the sprinkler.)  Anyways, I saw these on a blog, Bakerella, and thought they were cute.  To be honest, I kind of persuaded Elli into picking these for her cake.  I didn't really persuade her, but I told her I found a good idea and acted super sweet and nice when I showed them to her.  She really did want them too.  They don't look as good as the ones on Bakerella, but let me just say, they were more difficult than I thought.

Rainbow

We've had some pretty good rainy days in the last month.  We drove home as it was clearing one day and saw this over the water.  It was coming right out of the water!  You could see every color in it.  Pretty cool.

Warm-ups

Here's Adam at one of his games.   The boys seem so little still, but there are some pretty good plays and each game they get better.   I think we are about half way through the season.  

Sunday Walk

Sandy's favorite thing to do is to walk on the beach.  She is slowly getting braver with the water and gets deeper and deeper every time.  She doesn't have to be on her leash so she can run free.  She's pretty fast.  It wears out puppies and little kids.  

Elli had to bring the shovel.  She drug it most of the way and made a wavy line in the sand.  Amy would walk behind right on the line.

Out Front

We are trying to get Sandy to chase a stick when we throw it.  She likes to chase it when one of us has it, but will just run right past it after we throw it.

Amy's Birthday Bike

Amy didn't get a birthday party this year with all the excitement of Riley coming home at about the same time.  I told her she could get a bike instead of a party.  Well, it's only about 3 months later and we finally went to Walmart (eww, I know) and she picked this one out.  She keeps asking to go on a bike ride with Riley and they got to go today after the rain stopped.  Pretty big!

Strawberry Picking

For play group this week, we went to a strawberry farm.  It was hard to stop picking even when our bucket was full.  The strawberries were so red and tempting.  The farmers don't mind if you taste a few, too.  Hopefully we can go back before the season is over.  I still have jam from last year when we went.

Mmm Boy!

The load.  There were about twice as many.  I froze the other half.  We didn't make anything with them... just ate them.

Let's go Swimming!

The girls were so excited to go swimming.  Adam was still sick on Saturday, so since Riley took Adam to a movie last weekend, he was going to take the girls swimming this weekend.  They left the house and came back about 10 minutes later.  There was an accident at the pool and they had just closed down for the day.  It was pretty warm, so we put the sprinkler on the trampoline and they had fun anyways.

Riley

Just thought I'd put a picture of this handsome guy.  He doesn't change like the kids, but he's still nice to look at.

All the Girls

Sandy is finally warming up to us and isn't so scared all the time.  I think she likes us, and we like her.

PUPPY!

We finally decided on a puppy and brought her home last Saturday.  We named her Sandy and even after a week with her, I still feel like we are getting used to each other.  She's pretty scared of Riley and the kids.  Surprisingly, she likes me the most and I have no idea what I'm doing.  We are going to take a puppy class at Petsmart so I know what to do.  I think the child in me is so happy.... I've wanted a dog since I can remember, but the mom in me is thinking twice.  Is it too late to give her back?  Just kidding, but wow!  We have a dog!

Friends

Amy loves to be right next to Sandy and always wants to hold the leash and have her lay only by her.  All the kids have been great so far helping take care of her.  It's a lot more work than I thought.  I think I'd rather have a baby.