A Day on the Town

One morning of vacation was spent exploring Random Lake a little more.  Our first stop was at a coffee shop that was connected to the town's museum.  In the museum, there was an area that was for children to play.  Audrey had a blast playing with a dollhouse that was there.  Her imagination went wild as she set up different rooms in the house.  She loved playing there so much that we went back again before vacation was done.

Kate enjoyed trying on a hat from the dress-up area.

The other part of our morning out was a serious game of bowling.  It was Audrey's first experience bowling, and when she first went up, she put the ball down and tried to kick it!  Luckily, Dad was there to help her out.  She bowled a great game and gave Grandpa a run for his money.  At the end of the vacation, she mentioned bowling as her favorite part of the trip!

The long socks bring bowlers good luck.

At first Kate wasn't impressed with the game of bowling.

However, things quickly changed as she heard the excitement from the crowd.

A score of 72 isn't bad for a first game!  Her ball was sometimes rolling at a whopping 3.7 mph. :)

We're Back!

We'll have a few posts to tell about our fun vacation this past week!  We had another wonderful week in Wisconsin, and we enjoyed some gorgeous weather.  Even though the girls were battling runny noses all week, they were extremely well behaved!  On the way up, Kate slept almost the entire time, and Audrey occupied herself well.

Our first day looked to be the one of the warmest for the entire week, so we headed out on the lake and to the beach.  Audrey had forgotten Uncle Justin taught her how to honk the horn last year, so we had a much quieter ride this time around!  Kate took a short nap, as the sound of the boat was perfect white noise for her.

After a lunch and afternoon naps, we headed to the beach! Audrey had an awesome time at the beach and loved making creations in the sand.  She discovered how much fun it is to bury things in the sand and buried a few feet before the afternoon was done.  She was very brave in the water and walked out to chest level on her own.

What a great first day!

Audrey must have been thinking something was missing from this boat ride....a horn honking 100 times!

And then there's Kate.  She loved people-watching at the beach and smiled almost the entire time!

Fair Fun

We made a quick trip to the Great Jones County Fair this week, and we had a lot of fun!  The weather was gorgeous, and Audrey loved most of the rides.  She did not like the roller coaster and continues to remind us that she didn't like the hills.  She was so brave and didn't cry, but when she got off, she told us that she just kept yelling, "Stop!"  The operator could not hear her, though. :)  We walked through the animal exhibits, got some delicious lemonade, and by then, we were all ready to go.  It was fun, and we know Kate will love some rides next year!

If you look closely, you can see Audrey's terrified face.

Kate loved her bottle and people-watching most of all!

Kate at Seven Months

Happy Seven Months, Kate P.!  You are growing too quickly, little girl. :)  Kate continues to be such a happy, smiley, and content little lady.  We definitely have been blessed with wonderful babies.

Kate's new skills this month have been the waving and her ability to stand.  She loves to lean up against our ottoman and stand to watch her surroundings.  She can stand independently for awhile, but we have to be close by to catch when she wobbles.  She gets such a huge smile on her face when she stands, so we know she loves being a part of the activity.  She definitely loves being in her Jumperoo and gets herself bouncing pretty high!

Kate has been more challenging with beginning solid foods.  She can get her mouth in such a straight, firm line and will not let a spoon pass through.  Once we sneak food in, though, she will swallow it.  It has slowly been improving, and it seems her favorite food is a mixture of homemade carrots, apples, and chicken.  She opens her mouth eagerly for this.  She also seems to like mangoes and bananas.  We tried yogurt for the first time today, and she seemed fairly enthusiastic about that too.  We'll get there!  She definitely still loves her milk and her bottle.

Still no official teeth, but we can see the top of one just starting to poke through on the bottom.  It will be here soon!  Crawling is close, too.  She tries so hard but ends up resorting to rolling to get where she needs to go.

Here are some pictures of our two beautiful ladies.  Audrey had to sneak in on the photo shoot today, too!

Audrey : Seven Months

Sometimes my heart gets heavy when I see how grown-up she looks.

Big Girl Day

On Monday, Kate went to daycare by herself because it was "Big Girl Day" in our house!  Jeremy and I took Audrey to the Science Station, out for a yummy pizza lunch, and then she was able to drive her little cart around the grocery store to get groceries.  It was fun to get to spend some time alone with Audrey again and just be able to solely focus on conversation with her.  She did enjoy her time at the Science Station, even if most of her focus was on the table filled with candy machines! :) How scientific!  We had a great day with our big girl, and we know she had fun, too.  It was neat to see how concerned she was with Kate being alone at daycare.  That bond between sisters starts young!

Audrey wore her beautiful dress brought back from Hawaii by Aunt Kirstin.  She received many compliments from strangers during our outing.  One woman at Fareway even said she was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen!  We took that as a great compliment because the woman was in her 80s and has seen many girls. :)  Before we could leave for the day, though, Audrey had to get some housework done.

Audrey was too busy enjoying her pizza to stop for a picture.

We love you, Big Girl!

4th of July

Since Jeremy worked on the 4th of July (again!!!), our celebration was spread out a little.  We went downtown two weekends ago for the Freedom Festival parade for the first time and really enjoyed it.  Audrey took her little purse and gathered about 12 pieces of candy before announcing she was ready to go.  Jeremy and I both thought it just meant she was ready to eat her candy! :)  Without even being told, she started waving at all the floats and people going by.  It was sweet!

After the parade, Audrey sat in Dad's police car at the police station because that was where we parked.  Hopefully she is always riding up front in police cars and not in the back!

On the actual 4th of July, we went back to NE Iowa.  Audrey and Kate tried out the swimming pool in Elkader, and then we grilled out for supper.  After Kate went to bed, we tiptoed out to some local fireworks, and Audrey seem enthralled by them.  We weren't too close that the loud noises frightened her, but she did have a perfect view.  She didn't get to bed until after 11:00 that night, but it was worth it.  She did announce a few times that her favorite ones were the "purple ones".

Here are the girls in their red, white, and blue!

The Wave

Kate has big news that she couldn't wait for her seven-month post to share.  She waves!  She waves at people, stuffed animals, mirrors, walls, cats, etc.  We love the way she gets her little wrist twisting when she waves.  She may be eyeing Prince George as a potential husband because she definitely has that princess wave down!

Another Milestone

It always feels like Audrey is growing up too quickly.  Being with her every day this summer has helped, but our time is going much faster than I would like.  Another milestone happened today as she was given her first haircut!  The ends needed to be trimmed, and we are keeping our fingers crossed it will help a little with the tangles.  Audrey's biggest concern before the haircut was, "Will it hurt when she cuts my hair?" She did an incredible job and sat fairly still throughout the entire process.  It helped that our hair stylist, Tiffany, was great with her.  She talked her through everything and even had toys for her to play with during the cut.  

Finally, the best news was that it didn't have an effect on her curls.  Tiffany thinks the curl is embedded in her roots, so it's going to take a lot more than a trim to take away those curls.  It was a great relief because Audrey was all ready to get a perm!!!

Audrey really seemed to love getting her hair washed this way.  I told her this is always my favorite part!

This is blurry, but it's a sweet picture.

Stroller Rides

Almost every day this summer, we have been able to squeeze in a stroller ride around town, as it is one of Audrey's favorite things to do!  Even on the rainy days, we try to sneak out during brief dry times.  This past weekend we were stuck in the garage during a passing thunderstorm (not the one with terrible straight-line winds!), and Audrey decided to give her babies a ride around the garage.  See if you can notice anything special about one of the babies in the stroller! :)

Okay, if Mom and Dad are really going to let this happen, I need to be prepared for this crazy driver.