Bowling

On Sunday, some friends invited us to go bowling with their family.  Audrey had gone last summer on vacation and loved it, so we were excited to give it another try.  This bowling alley had bumpers for the gutters and a small ramp to send the ball down.  Both Kate and Audrey had a blast!  Kate was especially fun to watch because she would clap and dance when she got a pin down.  It was a fun way to spend part of our afternoon, and we ended the night with a picnic at a park.  What a perfect summer Sunday evening!

Pictures were just taken with my phone, so they are not fantastic!  I should have been more prepared for the bowling photo shoot opportunity.

Father's Day Outing

On Sunday we traveled to Dubuque for a fun day trip to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.  It was the perfect way to spend Father's Day!  Audrey and Kate loved seeing the different aquatic creatures, and the adults especially loved the Titanic exhibit.  It's wonderful to have such a neat opportunity so close to us.  I'm sure we'll be back again!

Audrey got to steer a boat and was quite a crazy driver.  Hopefully this is not a preview of what is to come in 13 years!

Man, it's nice to capture that smile with a camera!  She's growing up so quickly.

What a cute turtle!

Kate loved riding the bike with Uncle Justin!  She can almost reach the pedals. :)

Bike Queen

After hesitating initially, Audrey has quickly grown in confidence on her Hello Kitty bike!  She covers up her mound of curls with a helmet and zooms around.  On Friday she rode from our house to the convenience store in town and back again, while Kate rode in a stroller.  There was a brief point where she wanted me to push the empty bike and both girls in the double stroller, but she rallied and made it home on her own.  If you're ever in town and see a curly-haired blur go by, you'll know it's Audrey on her bike!

Strawberries

Despite rainy weather and fears of muddy fields, we took a short trip up near Independence this past weekend for the girls to experience picking strawberries.  Jeremy had a plan in place for what we would do with our muddy shoes, but luckily, the fields were lined with cornstalks and were not that muddy.

We had a rocky start to the experience, as both girls were a little apprehensive about the tractor ride we took to the field.  Once in the field, Audrey was very proud to hold the little bucket and excited to see how quickly she could get it filled up.  She did end the hour with a full bucket; however, she probably only picked about ten in her bucket herself.  She was too busy socializing!  Once Kate warmed up to the idea, she became quite the little picker!  She most often was picking red, ripe strawberries and kept saying, "Dada!" when she needed to put one in.

We ended the night with some yummy pizza at Bill's, and Jeremy even admitted he had fun on the way home!  It was a success!  Now we have quite a few strawberries to eat...

Matching Ladies

One day a few weeks ago, the girls wore nearly matching outfits to daycare.  They each wore old t-shirts that were worn by my sisters and me when we would cheer on our dad during softball games.  It was fun to see the girls in the shirts and was a flashback to old pictures I have seen!  It was just hard to get Kate to turn around for a picture, so we had to get Audrey to pretend she was looking at something behind the fridge.  It worked!  After Audrey moved away, Kate continued to look there, thinking she would see something neat back there. :)

This is such a classic Audrey look!

Deck Picnic

Audrey has been asking repeatedly for us to eat outside, on the deck.  Sunday night's meal was one that was easier to transport, so we gave it a shot.  For about five minutes, it worked beautifully.  Kate sat and ate her food like we hoped she would.  Shortly after the pictures were taken, all fell apart.  Our little linebacker stomped her way around the deck and ended up sitting in her high chair on the deck.  We miraculously made it without any major spills, although the ants under the deck probably enjoyed a fancier meal than they usually do!  We'll try again soon! :)

Field Day

During our last full week of school, the elementary students participated in Field Day.  When I mentioned to Audrey that morning that we were going to do it, she got it in her head that she was going to go too.  Audrey probably bothered Dana for the first two hours until it was time to go.  I had a miniature lady helping me throughout our field events, and then she tried out a few events herself.  These pictures were taken by a parent and turned out really well!

Kate cheered everyone on from the comfort of her stroller.

A miniature hurdle, just the right size for Audrey!

Audrey and her good friend Makayla from daycare.