More summer fun...

 Aunt Debby was able to come and visit us for a week this summer. We spent the entire week hanging out with the Leppin clan and having lots of fun.

We visited Medieval Times and Isabel dressed the part. While she loved the "princess in training" program before the show-- she cried when the first knight was eliminated. Apparently it was a little too realistic for my sensitive girl. The waiter assured her that it was just pretend and then she enjoyed the rest of the performance.



Lucy was suspicious (of course) at first, but then was happy to sit on her dad's lap for hours watching the performance. Neither of my girls ate the chicken with their bare hands but the rest of us enjoyed the food!

 We had a cookout one afternoon and enjoyed the weather-- it was RIDICULOUSLY hot the whole time Deb was here. I blame her for bringing that Arkansas air with her. 

Here they are just trying to stay cool

Enjoying presents from Aunt Debby. The girls were SUPER spoiled the whole week by both of their aunts and grandparents.

Lucy with her new "Mickey". Minnie Mouse is her favorite right now... even though she insists on calling her Mickey.

 

We had dinner with Uncle Aaron and Sheila

 

and we had lots of time for snuggling

and sitting on Aunt Deb's lap

 We are so happy we got to see her and will have to make a trip to see both her and Aunt Belinda and Uncle Bill soon too.

 

 

In July we also celebrated Zack's birthday-- the BIG 3-0! We had a fiesta out at the "Shire" and enjoyed yummy tacos, cold beer, and very unpredictable weather. A good time was had by all!

My little dollies are ready to PARTAY

Beautiful little sister! She threw such a great party with lots of attention to detail

Cute couple! Welcome to your 30's Zack... Don't worry, you will always be younger than me :)

oh... and this gorgeous deck? Yeah. Zack built it by himself. This picture doesn't even do it justice. There is a wooden table that seats ten and another sitting area. Love it!

Trouble comes in threes! These cousins are inseparable

Uh oh! Baby gone wild!

and suddenly it was raining, and hailing, and 60 mph winds! The storm blew in so quickly and we lost power!

Nothing that a few more drinks won't fix. Ha! Fun party Kerruish family!

 





 

Everything Isabel

And a little update on Isabel Grace since I wrote one about Lucy a few posts back...

 

Such a big girl! Gone is the toddler and in her place is a sweet, loving, polite, inquisitive little lady. Isabel learned a lot this year in 3-year-old preschool. She knows her letters, sounds, can count, and can write her name and some other words. She had a lot of fun with her friends and classmates and is looking forward to another year in preschool this fall. 

 

(This was her homework poster for "Student of the Day" at preschool- she had to present to her class :)

 

She still LOVES to have books read aloud to her and some of her favorites include Fancy Nancy, Barbie, Amelia Bedelia, Junie B. Jones, Berenstein Bears and her Bible. Sometimes she even "reads" her books to her little sister. It is cute because she has pretty much memorized all of the words but she likes to pretend to be reading them to Lu.

 

Speaking of her little sis... look at the this adorable picture from last Christmas. Doesn't this picture just say it all?! Isabel looks like she is "too cool" for her baby sis. Actually, Isabel is AWESOME with Lucy and loves to take care of her and play with her. She is very patient but sometimes she gets a little bossy (where does she get it?). I am sure that Lucy will fight back when she gets older but for now she is just happy to have all of Bel's attention.

 

What a sweetie! Isabel LOVES dressing up, doing art projects, playing kitchen, dressing her dolls, and especially playing with her Barbies. It is funny because I LOVED playing Barbies too when I was a kid. My cousin Shannon and I were famous for our ten + hour marathon Barbie games. Now I can only play with her for 15 or 30 minutes at a time tops.  Isabel loves to be the princess Barbie and have someone else be the "bad guy/villian". (Guess who gets stuck playing the bad guy every time?)

For Isabel's fourth birthday we had a party at an indoor swimming pool. This was her first "big girl" birthday and she invited some friends from school as well as other pals. She really loves Ariel from the Little Mermaid and so that was our theme.

Isabel LOVES her family and is very snuggly and sweet. (Can't I freeze her at age 4 forever?!)

I love to see they way she interacts with Lucy and it is my prayer that they always stay close and will remain the best of friends like Mandy and I are.

 

I really want to try to avoid being a crazy, overscheduled mom so I try to limit Bel's participation to one organized activity at a time- so I think this year we will continue swim lessons and then either maybe try soccer again in the fall or dance in the spring. She seems to love dance-- but I think dad will keep hoping for soccer.

I am so proud of this little girl for so many reasons. She is our heart and we feel lucky that we get to watch her growing up and becoming such a wonderful person. We love you Belly Boo!



July.... just flying by!

So July is when summer REALLY begins! We have had a great time so far this month -- lots of adventures and time with family and friends. Here are some picture highlights...

This one is technically from the end of June but was a very fun day nonetheless. I did the Dirty Girl Mud Run with my friends Christine and Colleen -- aka "The Lou Crew" named for Emmy Lou Colleen's daughter who has Rett Syndrome http://www.rettsyndrome.org  . I have had other friends do this race in the past and it looked like a lot of fun so we signed up and went for it. It is 5k but it more of an obstacle course (through mud of course) than an actual run. We were proud of ourselves though because we jogged the whole thing and made good time.  Check out some of our AFTER photos...

 

Yes.. you will notice that I am the muddiest one. I think it was the last obstacle that did me in. A giant water slide that dumps you in a pool of mud. Of course I screamed the entire way down and ended up with a MOUTH full of mud. Ha ha-- good times!

 

 So much RAIN this summer --- (good for the flowers but lots of indoor play dates have been necessary) Here is Isabel with her best buddies Jordan and Alanna. Princess tea party all morning "darlings!"

Good thing "Jor" has a little sister for Lucy to play with because as much as she tries-- she can't keep up with the big girls yet.

Ahhhh.. finally a sunny day. It was time for Bel's first lemonade stand! The neighbors were having a garage sale so we though we would try to piggyback off of their business.

 Business was SLOW at first but that might be because we started before 9 am (someone was awake and ready to go very early). Luckily for us we had some friends, neighbors and family members stop by. With some extra donations we were able to raise over $40 for Open Door Haiti- the organization my friend Julie and her husband Fan Fan work for. http://opendoorhaiti.com/

Ya Ya and Pa Pa

"Grandma Diane" and cousin Payton

 

Lucy woke up from her nap and was ready to assist.

Chuck E Cheese with the girlies. This place is as CRAZY as I remembered it being when I was a kid. Lu was terrified of Chuck E the Mouse... (he is a little creepy) and she said "bye bye" every time she saw him. Bel and Pay were in heaven.

Pool time-- the girls are getting much better about water. They love swimming in the big pool now and Isabel practices with her kick board and life vest.

You know what I LOVE about eating outdoors during the summer? You don't have to

clean up the mess. Thank you birdies and squirrels.

Happy Fourth! Off to the South Elgin parade and for once it was an AWESOME day. Clear skies and not too hot.

Look at my man. Isn't he cute?

These girls were ready for some CANDY

Parade time!

Lu didn't remember the parade last year since she slept in a stroller. She wasn't sure about the sirens at first (always suspicious) but then she got into it!

A hundred photos but none with them all looking. Cousin cuties :)

The family came back to our house that evening for a little fire and sleepover.

Payton and Isabel were beyond excited to be up sooo late -- in their PJs-- and playing outside.

Past ten o' clock and still awake--- watching some Little Einsteins and loving life!

 

Lunch at Grandma and Grandpa Leppin's house

Snuggles with Grandpa

 

.. and a visit and pedicure from Uncle Katie! Bel loves being girly girl with Katie.

 

It wouldn't be summer without a trip to Santa's Village with the girls.

Payton and Isabel loved ALL of the rides so much. Bel even got me to ride a (little) rollercoaster.