Sweet Summertime!

I love having Fridays off work and the girls love their Fridays with mommy!

We like to do arts and crafts - the messier the better!

Sydney and Maddie love sand art.

Tia sat in the back doing a craft of her own.

Sydney ONLY used blue.

On REALLY hot days, we sneak off for some afternoon ice cream.

Maddie likes to review her flash cards with sight words.

Funny story. I pulled out these flash cards from a kindergarten prep packet I bought. I picked out some easier words (me, we, I, a) and put the longer words aside. Maddie goes, "What are you doing with that pile?" I said, "Which pile?" And she pointed and goes, "That one. With 'jump' and 'little' in it. So, I stood corrected. Maddie's preschool teachers have done a phenomenal job getting her prepared for kindergarten! She knew a huge chunk of the sight words already, so we are working on learning some others now.

We also find random fun things to do around the house. The girls like to play sleepover and house in the mudroom cubbies. They find as many pillows and blankets as possible and go in, shut the pocket doors and turn on flashlights.

I was able to get a picture, but Sydney was mad I was in the room so she covered up. HA!

Speaking of my little Sydney, I think she missed our Wednesdays together. She likes to snuggle with me a lot. And, not smile when I want her to. :)

Dane and Quinn came in town and we had lunch together!

Then, we went to see Finding Dory.

This was Sydney's first movie and I was terrified because she is my mover and my shaker. But, she did AMAZING. She loved it and has been asking to go see another movie. 

Usually one day on the weekend, Maddie and I head to Kroger while Sydney naps at home. We always find the kid cart and Maddie puts all of the good stuff in hers. 

She loves helping me run errands!

In big family news, daddy got a new car! The Suburban had some bad juju (it had been in like 5 accidents - only one major, but still) and was just a little too big for Chris. I loved it but I didn't drive it so I was overruled. But, his new car isn't too shabby. And the girls are LOVING the DVD player.

Chris's First Triathlon!

Well, Chris dove (literally!) into the world of triathlons this past week.

He finished a sprint triathlon and had a great time!

This was a great race for spectators because we were able to stay in the same spot and see him several times on the bike and run.

Here are the girls with their hands out waiting on daddy to pass. They got lots of high fives!

My friend Lauren's husband Brett ran the race as well so we met up!

Me and my girls.

Our triathlon husband/daddy!!

Looking pretty good after an Ohio River (eeeeeee) swim, a bike ride and a run! 

We were all worn out after that so we came home and had some popsicles on the patio.

And some snuggles!

The other night Chris and I got the girls out of the bath and into their jimmies. We sent them upstairs and told them we'd be right behind. Well...a few minutes later they came out laughing hysterically. 

Elsa and Anna sisters!

Bringing tia home!

A couple of months ago my mom asked if I would drive home from Florida with my sister. Mercedes has been working at Disney World the last year and just completed her management internship at Disney Springs.

I had some extra airline miles so decided last minute to bring my oldest sidekick. 

We got to the airport and it was very crowded so we literally ended up getting to the gate when we were boarding. So we only had a few minutes to grab a nutritious supper.

Or not.

After we landed, we headed to the Polynesian resort for some of our favorite Disney food. And, a nice family gave Madeline a chocolate surprise.

We gave Maddie the option of bed or monorail riding.

Duh.

We stayed with tia in her apartment. We pushed her beds together and all three slept on two twins. I "slept" next to Maddie in that teeny tiny green space you see between her and the window. 

Thursday we explored the new and improved Disney Springs. Lots of fun new shops but Maddie was only interested in a few things, mainly the Lego store!

And, of course we had to ride the train.

And the carousel.

It was H-O-T so we spent some of the afternoon at the pool!

Tia took us to have liquid nitrogen ice cream! YUM!

We were in bed early because we had a mission Friday - to ride the new Soarin'! We got to the park 30 minutes before it opened and realized we weren't the only people with this plan.

It was BANANAS. But we got to ride it and it was great! 

We also had a special treat in that Anna and Elsa's Sommerhaus was secretly open! We walked right in to meet the princesses!

No trip to Disney would be complete without a ride on the Transit Authority.

Dumbo!

Y'all. It was so hot. More ice cream!

One of Maddie's must-do's: go as fast as possible on the teacups!

That night we loaded up the car. I walked out and saw this. I was very confused as to where my body was supposed to fit.

So was Maddie. When I told her I was squeezing in next to her she made this face at me.

But we did it! We made it home safely with all of tia's stuff. What a fun little girls trip!

Sydney got to spend quality time with daddy and all of her grandparents.  

And her cousins!

We are excited to have tia home with us now!