County Fair Time!!

Our county is having its fair this week. Addy is a Clover Kid for 4 H and we had a lot of fun getting 4 exhibits ready for the fair. Clover Kids earn a participation ribbon and comment card for each of their entries. Cally is anxiously waiting for her turn to earn a ribbon or two! Addy's favorite 4 H entry was an entomology id shadow box. It was just what Addy has been planning to make so she was super excited to see it. Cally was most excited to see the cupcakes and cookies many kids entered. ;)

Tadpole hunting, take 1!

Addy took this shot. Yes, Cally is in the Ergo. I can not bear to part with it and she still likes to catch a ride here and there. :)

Addy wanted to go tadpole hunting. We looked at a map and went to the closes body of water for our first search. We found lots of hot sand, overgrown trails and flood-impacted areas. We did find one area where we could get to the water to look for tadpoles, but we were not the first to get there. We elected to  let the family fishing continue in peace. We had a nice time, we brought in our supplies and snacks and left before any meltdowns occurred so overall, a success! 

A Fluffy pillow for Addy!

Color Run!

David and I took part in the Color Run when it came to our little city. We had a great time, it was definitely a fun run with no pressure to run well! It was crazy hot but manageable, too bad there was very little water on the course and the finish area. I met up with some 'mommy-friends' who I haven't seen since our move. It was great to catch up especially because we wore matching shirts and tutus. Miranda and Cole were fantastic to watch the girls ( I mean trucks! ;)) so David and I could enjoy the morning with out worrying about the girls in the heat. I have more pics, but they are on David's phone but I plan to add them soon. :)

Enjoying summer before it slips by!

Six!!

Addy turned six last week (I know, I am so, so, slow at blogging this summer...)! Yippee!! We had a fabulous time celebrating! Addy was able to open birthday presents with a lot of family, maybe not on her exact birthday, but it was still a wonderful time with everyone. So far, being six has meant that Addy no longer has to hold hands with an adult when in parking lots and that she gets to make many, many edicts. David and I are not convinced by any of her edicts (especially the no-hands one!)but Addy is not one to give up lightly.  

Cally's favorite obsessions....

Cally is obsessed with cuddling with Fluffy (when Addy is distracted) and playing/learning on Starfall.com.

Fluffy's first vet visit!

Fluffy did great! Addy did great as a proud kitty mommy!

Addy wants to add a picture of her and Fluffy to our vet's patient picture wall.

I love this picture! Addy and Oliver look so cute with their matching expressions. :)

A home for Fluffy...

Addy has been begging for a kitten since she could and I routinely put her off by saying that she could have one when she was 5. As she got closer to 5, I got nervous and told her that one of our cats would have to die first before she could get a kitten. Addy accepted that pretty well but we always got quite the weird looks when Addy explained that to other people. For the last four months or so Addy has started cleaning the cat litter boxes, feeding and grooming the cats. So when she asked for a kitten for her 6th birthday I actually paused and told her I would ask her daddy. Well, I guess Daddy's response is obvious! I love the picture above, Addy was like a proud new mom showing off her newborn baby. Cally and I were the annoying relatives taking a million photos.

Cally kept asking,' where is my kitten?' The kittens were buy one get one free, but I was certainly not taking the humane society up on that 'deal'! Addy was the typical new mom again, Cally was not holding her little baby properly...

Fluffy is totally happy being held and cuddled by Addy. Addy could not be happier.

Fluffy claimed this pillow pet as hers!

Daddy was allowed a few minuted to adore Fluffy. I don't know that Addy let him hold Fluffy though...

We can just sneak in...

The girls and I went to the zoo this afternoon and while I checked to make sure I had our zoo pass in my wallet (not a big deal if I didn't because I can just use my driver's license) Addy told me we could just sneak in if I didn't have it. What!? Where would she learn that? I hope it wasn't at zoo camp this summer! We had a great time at the zoo, it wasn't too crowded or too hot. We even saw a zoo keeper wandering around with his butterfly net and screened 'box' to put them in. He looked like he stole a page from Addy's 'how to catch a butterfly' book. Addy was almost too busy trying to find caterpillars to take home to notice him... Cally had a good time as well. She loves feeding the peacocks. She was pretty brave and put her face way too close the peacock's sharp beak!

Friends....

This picture is from early June but things haven't changed since then. Addy and her friend have spent hours playing together this summer. Their friendship is really sweet because they play so nicely together.

Fourth of July fun!

We had a lovely time enjoying the fourth of July with friends and neighbors. I didn't get any pictures before we went out for a few fireworks, but we had a great time at dinner too! Cally isn't in too many pictures because she was on my lap for most of the festivities. She wasn't really scared, just up way too late. The next morning I had to wake her up at 9 am so we could get to the gym at a decent hour!

Cally, Cally and more Cally!

Downloading photos is always a surprise. This last time I had 52 screen shots of Addy's dance recital video to delete. (By the way, purchasing the dance recital video was the best money I have spent ALL summer. Who knew?) This is certainly not the first time Cally has taken a series of self-portraits but this set definitely makes me wonder if Cally has a secret Facebook account. These photos look like she was trying to get  a good profile picture! ;) 

Pioneer Village, Minden, Ne

Here are a few of the pictures from our trip to the Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska. We made a weekend trip to meet up with a wonderful friend and her beautiful children and to visit with Grandma. We all had a fantastic visit and it was made even better for exploring a pretty neat museum. The idea behind the Pioneer Village is to capture how quickly our world changed with technology and such and preserve as much of the 'old' stuff as possible. The girls' favorite exhibit was the old school house. It was pretty cool and packed with stuff to explore. I was surprised to even find a set of sight words! My favorite was the exhibit of old trucks. I think David enjoyed all the old cars and trucks. 

Rain!

Out of nowhere, rain took over the evening! It started super heavy and finished to a light sprinkle in under 20 minutes. Poor David was out mowing and wasn't able to finish, but my flowers did not mind a bit. Addy and Cally didn't mind a bit, they were out running and splashing as soon as I saw there was no lightning.