Happy Memorial Day weekend!

We've had such a lovely Memorial Day weekend. We have no plans, nowhere pressing to be, just hanging around and doing whatever comes to mind. Mira learned to ride her new big bike this weekend! Took all of two minutes before she was tooling around the neighborhood. She's gotten a few scrapes, but takes it like a champ and gets right back on her bike. We're fortunate that there are sidewalks in our neighborhood, which takes a bit of worry away for me!
The local outdoor pool opened up, so we went there on Saturday for awhile. It was a little chilly, even though the pool is heated, so we spent half the time at the connected indoor pool. Amelia surprised me by actually swimming underwater! She can go a few feet at a time. I'm impressed! She just started lessons in February and has been skittish until the last three weeks. All that extra time in the pool is paying off!

Amelia begged me to pull out the bounce house today. The girls surprised me by bouncing in it for 2 hours today! It really made the set-up and take-down worth my while. And I got some great reading time on the front porch in. It's my favorite place to be in the summer. Chris and I had sushi and wine on the porch for dinner last night while the girls played in the yard. My idea of heaven.
And Chris got to golf today! He said he did pretty good for his first time out this season. When he got home, I put him to work planting our new dogwood bushes and a holly bush.
The yard is really coming together. Last week, we had some more rock delivered and put rock on the newly planted pussy willow bed. We are hoping these survive this very wet area! The evergreeen trees we had there didn't survivive . . . twice! Chris is tired of replanting this area, as you can imagine. These pussy willows should do the trick.
The lilacs in full bloom. The scent is heavenly!
My sweet little girl:
And Mira got a major haircut! We went to the salon yesterday just for a trim, but Mira decided she really wanted short hair, so here is her new style:
She really loves it! (And I think she looks precious, and suddenly grown up!)
I hope you all are having a great weekend as well! Not sure what's happening tomorrow. It's supposed to rain, so might head to the pool or the Maple Grove Maze for awhile. Cheeseburgers, corn on the cob, and my mom's strawberry pie for dinner. Ahhh, summer has begun!

Wellness checks

Mira and Amelia both had their wellness checks today. They are doing great! Mira weighed in at 58 pounds and 50 inches tall. She's still in the 75-90% for height and weight, as she's been all her life.

Amelia weighs 36 pounds and is 40.5 inches. She's still in the 50-75%. The doctor said they look great and are very healthy girls, growing just as they should.

Mira had to unexpectedly get one shot. And poor Amelia needed four shots! I took them to the park afterward and then out for ice cream. Ice cream always makes it better!

Happy 7th birthday, Mira!

Mira's 7th birthday was yesterday! She had a wonderful day! She opened her present from Amelia in the morning, put on a play at school for the parents, I ate lunch with her at school, she chose Solo's Pizza for dinner, then tooled around on her bike when we got home (she's getting good!). Lastly, we had cupcakes for dessert. It was a very full day!

Happy 7th birthday, Mira! We love you so much!

First grade, first play

Mira's class put on a musical today and the parents were invited to attend. It was "The Three Nanny Goats Gruff." It was so cute! Every child in the class had a part and they all sang for us. Mira had the part of a butterfly and did a wonderful job! She told me she was trying to get one of the lead parts: a goat. I'm surprised she wanted to have a lead part, but think that she would have done a wonderful job there too. I told her to be the best butterfly she could be . . . and she was!

Mira and her friend Alexa, waiting for the play to start:
Performing!
So proud of herself:
And it's also Mira's birthday today! Happy 7th birthday, sweetie!

Mira gets her ears pierced!

Mira first asked to get her ears pierced six months ago. I said it was fine and asked when she wanted to do it. She kept saying she wasn't ready today, but that tomorrow she would be ready. But tomorrow never came.

So I was surprised when yesterday she asked earnestly if she could get her ears pierced. I asked Mira why she wanted to get her ears pierced now. She said lots of her friends at school had their ears pierced and she wanted to as well. I asked if she was sure, and she said yes. She received a gift card to Claire's for her birthday from our day care provider, so we drove to Claire's tonight and Mira went through with it!

She was very nervous, and they had to do one ear at a time, instead of two people doing both ears simultaneously, but she did so great! Just a few tears, then a huge smile on her face! She kept saying, "I can't believe I have my ears pierced!"

She picked the November birthstone (she kept calling it a birthmark!) because she liked the yellow in the stone. Her new earrings look beautiful on her.
Our little girl is 7 years old tomorrow and growing up so fast! We'll be having Solo's Pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. At school, I'll be going to Mira's play, "The 3 Nanny Goats Gruff." Mira will play a butterfly. Should be a busy day!

Mira rides a bike

Chris and I bought Mira a new bike for her birthday. She tried to learn to ride it this week, but it proved a little challenging, so we taught her to ride her old bike until she was comfortable. Two days later, she is zooming all over the neighborhood! She's so proud of herself (and that is so fun for us to see!). Once she's very comfortable on the smaller bike, we'll put her on the larger bike that is more suited to her size. I'm sure it will be very soon.
Great job, Mira!

Mira's 6 year photo book!

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Amelia's 3 year photo book

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Birthday Bash 2011!

Yesterday was Mira and Amelia's annual family birthday party. We had immediate family over and celebrated until the cows came home! It was raining, so my outdoor bounce house party turned into an indoor party. The girls were so excited to see their cousins and, of course, open their presents! I took advantage of my time at home and channeled my inner Betty Crocker to make homemade cakes this year. (Props to my cousin Sarah, who made a butterfly cake for her daughter GeorgiaRae. I totally stole her idea!) It was a fun challenge, and saved about $30!
Mira and Amelia both loved their presents! Lots of fun things, like crafts to do over the summer, new suitcases for their overnight stays with grandparents, hula hoops and outdoor games, swimsuit cover-ups and beach towels, new skirts and outfits, and Target gift cards (which we promptly spent this morning!). It was a very fun day for all of us. Thanks to all of you who could make it!

Just a few of their many presents:
Lots of kids joined us! It even stopped raining for awhile so they could be outside:
Dear, sweet family:
We had some surprise visitors from Florida join us!
Chris and I bought Mira a new bike for her birthday. We gave it to her a few days early to try to teach her to ride it. She loves the bike!
Amelia posing near the power boxes.
Thanks to everyone who came! It was an especially fun day!

Field trip to the zoo

Now that I have more time on my hands, I volunteered to accompany Mira's first grade class to the Minnesota Zoo this past Thursday! It was a lovely day to visit the zoo: calm, cloudy, 70 degrees. Really nice!

Mira with her classmates Mariah and Damaria (and the monkeys!):
Damaria, Alexa, and Mira with the fish:
Mariah, Mira, Claire, and Damaria in a cave!
In front of the Lorax. They had a bunch of bronz statues of Dr. Suess characters at the zoo to find:
Sea otter!
Mira in a dinosaur head!
Mira trying to touch sting ray and shark in a tank. This was her favorite part of the trip!
Flying with the Grinch:
It was a fun, but very quick afternoon. We arrived at the zoo at 10:45 and needed to be back on the bus by 2:15. Unfortunately, because of the zoo remodel, many exhibits were closed, like the bat cave, snake area, brown bear exhibit, and the dolphins chose not to swim where we could see them. So we didn't get to see a lot of the zoo. We'll have to head back when the penguin exhibit is open and check them out!

Happy Mother's Day!

A very happy Mother's Day wish to all you moms out there! We've had a wonderful day so far. I woke up to cards from Chris and the girls, received not one, but TWO hanging baskets to brighten my front porch, got an iTunes gift card (yay!), and was taken out for brunch. Later the girls and I are going to see Pinkalicious at the Stages Theater in Hopkins, then will meet Chris out for ice cream. What a lovely day!

Amelia blows out her candles!

And some final photos of Amelia blowing out her candles. We bought some cupcakes and had a birthday dinner on our porch. It was a lovely night outside!

The birthday girl!