First swim of the season

We pulled out Mira and Amelia's pool today and filled that up. Despite the cold water, it didn't stop Mira from splashing around in it. A few neighbor kids came over and enjoyed the morning at our house too! It was a wonderful Sunday.

Amelia, on the other hand, opted to clean the deck!


And I cleaned out my front flower bed this weekend, pulled some old bushes, and replaced them with a couple new bushes and some geraniums, plus new red mulch. Looks really nice!


And Mira got some spending money for losing her tooth. Apparently $5.00 is NOT the going rate, so I think the tooth fairy might have to reconsider her payout for lost teeth.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Mira lost a tooth!

With a loose tooth for a few weeks, we knew the day Mira wiggled it out was coming soon. Tonight, we were enjoying a dinner at Noodles when Mira announced her tooth had just come out! She was excited to have made it through an important rite of childhood. It's a little soon for us, since it means she's growing so fast!

We took Mira and Amelia to Chuck E. Cheese tonight to play the games and ride the rides (as part of Mira's birthday celebration). She and Amelia had a blast, all for just $5.00!

Mira whacked many a mole:

Another party and a loose tooth

Mira had another birthday party today at daycare. She got some pizza and cupcakes, and a present! Here are a couple photos from daycare today. The party kid gets a bouquet of balloons and the birthday flag hung outside.

This is Isaac. He's going to marry Mira, I guess. Hello, Son-in-law!

Mira has had a loose tooth for a few weeks now. It's getting much looser lately. It's her top center tooth on the left. We don't think it got loose on its own and that Mira might have bumped it somehow, so we are waiting for it to come out. Hello, Tooth Fairy!

Happy birthday, Mira!

Happy, happy birthday to Mira today! I can't believe my baby is 5 years old already. She's such a wonderful little girl and I can't get enough of her. Love her stories, love her sass, love her hugs. I love you so much, Mira. Happy day!

Mira enjoyed cupcakes at her grandma's today, and MORE cupcakes when she got home. She chose McDonald's for her birthday dinner, so we headed over there to eat Happy Meals. Then Mira had her last gymnastics class of the season. It was a busy evening!

Here's Mira blowing out the candles on her five mini-cupcakes.



Here are a couple of gymnastics photos too! She did such a great job!

New trees, new pool

Chris worked hard this weekend (with a little help from me and a neighbor) to plant our new evergreen trees. He put 13 new trees in along the fence line, and they look so nice! We are looking forward to when they grow together and give us a little privacy on that side. I love the color of the mulch.

And Mira had a blast this afternoon in her new pool. She bought it with the birthday money she got. Amelia didn't want to go near it yet, so we'll keep trying!

Amelia making her usual getaway:

Mira and Chris:

Another perfect day!

We have had the most beautiful weather this Memorial Day weekend. Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same. We are getting spoiled with this perfect weather. Today we went to Chris's dad's house in the later afternoon for dinner and a pontoon boat ride. Thanks for having us over, Randy and Terrie! Here are some photos of the day:

Mira showing off her new life jacket!



Amelia loved "driving" the pontoon with Poppa Randy:


Mira and Randy on the pontoon:


My girls on the boat (don't worry, we are still docked, so they don't have their life jackets on yet):


Chris on the pontoon:


Amelia in the convertible:

Mira in the convertible:

On the tree swing:

Sharing a moment with Poppa Randy:

Funny story:
Someone brought mini-cupcakes to the party and Mira had 3 right away. I told her she couldn't have any more, and then caught her with one later, and with another one after that! So 5 mini-cupcakes later, I told Mira she absolutely couldn't have any more that day. Later in the car on the way home, Mira said, "Mom, I just wanted you to know that I ate all those cupcakes because I was doing a taste test to see which one I liked the best." Smart girl. I could tell she had been working on an excuse in her mind. I asked her which one she liked best from her taste test and Mira said, "All of them!"

Hope you all have a fun and safe Memorial Day tomorrow!

Memorial Weekend Cookout with the Neighbors

Chris and I invited a few of neighbors over tonight for a kick-off-the-summer cookout. We had so much fun with them, as we do many evenings. It's a great neighborhood with lots of families with younger kids. We're really fortunate to live here among such wonderful people. All the kids were great tonight, playing in the bounce house or just running around in the yard, while the adults enjoyed conversation on the deck. Thanks for coming, everyone! We had lots of fun!

How many kids can you get into a bounce house? Lots!

Amelia and Jane:


Zach and Kelly:



Jamie, Kami, Michelle, Addy:

Nick, Chris, Ryan:

The kids had a great time together:

Amelia:

Mira:


Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

Pure joy!

When was the last time you felt joy like this?


Or frolicked like this?

Or pranced like this?


When was the last time you enjoyed the moment?

Wonderful May Sunday

What a beautiful day! We had such a lovely day today. Relaxing breakfast, a couple of errands, lunch out, a little shopping. When we got home this afternoon, Chris and I took out the bounce house we bought this spring for the first time and set it up. It drew a few neighbors over, and the adults sat around and talked for a couple hours while the kids played. It's a great way to tire kids out and contain them at the same time! It was a wonderful afternoon. Here are a few photos of the girls enjoying their new toy:

Mira is showing me her gymnastics skills:



I can't believe how old Amelia looks in this one:

Amelia trying out the hippity-hop:

We hope you all had a wonderful Sunday too! Should be a beautiful day tomorrow!