Swimming & Backyardigans

I just noticed that the Backyardigan & bedtime story pictures aren't working so I'll repost them & here are some swimming pictures from around the 4th of July!

Oh yeah! And here's the zoo picture when we went to see Flutterby. Fun on a caterpillar.

Preschool Graduation among other things...

Waaaaaa...my little babies have graduated from Nursery School!!! I know, it's part of life but they really are growing into little girls, not toddlers or preschoolers anymore. They were really cute at graduation. They had the kids sing songs & receive diplomas. Then we had a nice little reception & Chef Garry zipped back to work and the girls and I came home & played outside.

We went to the beach a few days later with Amy, too, & had a blast. Huge waves! Sofia loved it! Ava was a bit more hesitant, but began to enjoy it as she got more comfortable.

Before we went to see the Backyardigans, Ava drew a picture of what she thought the show might look like. She is an amazing artist, if I do say so myself! I love the way she drew the audience facing the stage. I also love the way the legs of each Backyardigan appear to be dancing!

Your Backyard Friends . . .

Last week Chef Garry took a Friday night off & we went to see The Backyardigans (see the picture Ava drew in the post above)! The girls were ridiculously excited & Nonni made them the coolest shirts. Sofia is wearing Austin (the Kangaroo) and Ava is wearing Pablo (the Penguin). We had a great time & it was really nice to see how much they loved this live stage show. (I'm not so sure they liked the lady who took the picture of all of us below, though...)

Sofia was still dancing after the show...

Sofia & Ava love to spend time with their big brother & stories just before bed is no exception. They have a great time together and they are really lucky to have such an awesome big brother who will always play with them & look out for them.

Long time coming...

Well, we're finally back online! Truth be told, we've been online for about a month, but I'm only just now getting to update. Chef is working all the time & softball season has begun so home is just a place to rest his head for now. But not to worry because he will soon be taking a vacation -- long time coming.

Ava, Sofia & I have been pretty busy since last post & pictures. Below is April. I will post May and June very soon (maybe later today, even...)! They are playing very well together right now so I'm taking fully advantage of that. They really do play well together about 93% of the time, which is a pretty good percentage. But they like it when I join in on the imaginary fun, so I rarely get free moments beyond cleaning...

Here's what we were up to in April:

We went bowling

We walked Bella to the beach several times (Bella is off sniffing something somewhere...lots of good smells at the beach you know)

We took pictures of favorite shirts so that we can retire them...

We danced in the rain

We played with friends Sarah & Zack

and Ava & Sofia took swimming lessons.

May & June to come...

Trouble posting...

I'm having posting issues so I'm shocked that this post might actually work. It keeps saying something about cookies (mmmm...cookies...) and hasn't been letting me sign in or post.
So, we're doing fine - just busy as usual - and as soon as I find a little more time to deal with this I'll post more pictures.

Quick update:
Ava & Sofia are taking swimming lessons & loving every minute of it! They'll also be graduating from preschool in one month.
Xavier just got back from a trip to Florida & is happy to be finishing up his freshman year in high school.
Garry's going down to New Jersey to help re-open a restaurant for the company and I've just finished teaching my last class for the season.
We're good, we're healthy . . . and just a little tired :o)

The latest and the greatest! They're just too cute for words. They still insist on choosing their own clothes...which usually work out...but I've got to hide Ava's 18-24 month "just peachy" shirt! As you can see it's a bit small on her!

I also need to buy them new corduroys for next year!! Holy holey knees, Batman!!

The latest...

My apologies for not updating in a long, long time...Here are some of the most recent pics :o)

Not much is new, which sometimes is a good thing. Sofia & Ava are just very fun and normal 4 1/2 year olds. They love going to preschool & we are also working on speech & articulation with a different teacher and that is actually going pretty well. They have some kind of "twin twang" going on and it's very cute, but it makes it difficult to understand them sometimes. The sound we're working on now is saying "clown" instead of "claayyowwn" or "ow" instead of "aaayyowch." The next thing we'll work on is saying "f" instead of "epp." Fun fun fun!

Cloppers...

Fun inside the tent...

Fun at the beach with Bella and on the swings...

New dining room corner...

Fun at Hammonassett...

Fun coloring Easter eggs with Ethan...

And that's all folks!