Kera's 1st Movie Theater Movie

On Sunday, June 23rd we all, for the first time as a family, ventured out to the movie theater. What did we choose for our first family movie?

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY!

Abby is a pro at going to the movies but, with this being Kera's first time, we didn't know what to expect. Kera watches movies at home but she inevitably wanders around the house at some point during the movie.

To my delight Kera, for the most part, did very well.

So, what do I mean by, "for the most part"? Well...we chose a very nice seat in the theater, in the middle of the theater in the middle of a row. In the time before movie's commercials and previews (25-30min!?!) Kera had to go to the bathroom 4 times. Unfortunately, we had to pass another family every time we got up. On the 4th bathroom break I told Jim that were not coming back...I needed to take Kera to an aisle seat.

Once Kera and I were settled into our new seats she did great (even with a few more bathroom breaks)..she made it through the whole movie without too much fussing or noise.

Toward the end of the movie Abby had to run to the restroom too so, by the end of the movie we were all back to sitting together.

I would call this first family movie experience a success!

Happy Father's Day Papa!

On the Saturday of Father's day weekend we set out to go to a local farmer's market but instead, we found ourselves at an antique mall's yard sale. Jim and I found many things that we would love to take home but our Vegas house is not suited for our antique style.  Surprisingly, the girls also liked looking at the old fun things.

After the antique shop we headed to downtown Ellicott City for lunch at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company. We have been there a number of times and we have yet to be disappointed.

On Father's day the girls were very excited to give their Papa their gifts...Abby made a few things at school and we also did a few projects at home. One of the projects we did at home was a mad-lib which are always classic.

Abby's:

My Dad's name is: Jim
He is 22 years old.
He is 4 feet 0 inches tall
He weighs 36 pounds.
His favorite TV show is: Hockey
His favorite food is: pepperoni
His favorite drink is: lemonade
His favorite thing to do is: tickle me
He likes to wear: pants and a shirt or jeans or a t-shirt
My Dad is REALLY good at: making dinner
I like it best when my Dad: tickles me
My favorite thing to do with my Dad is: play with him...tickle him and he tickles me back
When my Dad goes to work he: gets money

Kera's:

My Dad's name is: Papa
He is 3 years old.
He is _ feet _ inches tall...He is tall.
He weighs __ pounds. I don't know
His favorite TV show is: movies
His favorite food is: jelly
His favorite drink is: juice and water and beer
His favorite thing to do is: play at the playground
He likes to wear: shorts
My Dad is REALLY good at: being a lion
I like it best when my Dad: gives hugs
My favorite thing to do with my Dad is: color
When my Dad goes to work he: plays with his friends

I think if you combine the two of their answers they understand Jim pretty well!

The rest of Father's day we relaxed, which was very much needed. We went to the gym, hung around the house, grilled, and had a family movie night...Papa loves snuggling with his girls watching movies!

Jim thank you VERY much for being our girl's Papa!

Last Day of School

On Thursday, June 13th Abby had her last day of school. I can't believe that she already has her first year of school under her belt. Here is a picture of Abby from her first day of school...

...and last...

 

...it is amazing how much she has grown!

 

It is also fun to see how much Kera has grown this school year...from baby...

 

...to big girl.

 

 

 To celebrate the fun day the girls got a special treat before school...

 

DONUTS!



After school Kera and I joined Abby for an end of the year picnic at her school. The weather was not the best so the picnic was inside but, fun was still had by all.

Abby with her friends Giada and Madeline

mmmmmmm pizza!

Abby and her friend Brandon

Abby's best friend Madeline

We are so happy that Abby had a good experience her first year of school. We hope that this years experience sets her up for many more years of loving to learn.

Abby with her teacher Miss Shelby

Abby with her teacher Miss Arielle

Recital Weekend, part 2

On Sunday, June 8th Pepe, Burrs, Jim, the girls and I all loaded into cars and drove to Winchester, VA to visit our old family friends Tom and Jody.

We had visited Tom and Jody the last time both of my parents were in town and we had so much fun that we had to make a return visit but his time, we brought Jim a long for the ride. Tom and Jody live on a beautiful piece of property which totallys 15 acres. One of the biggest highlights for the girls is seeing their horse George. Abby loves to feed George and to brush his fur. Kera was a bit ore tentative but, by the end of the day she was sad to say goodbye to her friend, George.

After a nice lunch it was time for a bit of fishing. Everyone had fun, including Jim...we even caught a few! JIm was having so much fun that it was him I had to tell..."this is your last cast".

A new friend moved into Tom and Jody's since our last visit, Heidi. The girls loved her and she was great with the girls!

Heidi is the fuzzy one in the middle.

We had a great day with great company, humand and animal!

Monday was unfortunately rainy so, we headed to the mall. Pepe and I had a few errands so we decided to make an outing out of it. Lucky for the girls, our local mall has a carousel and a nice play area.

The girls LOVE carousels!

Burrs had been waiting her entire visit to make cookies with the girls and finally on Monday afternoon she had the opportunity.

My parents left bright and early on Tuesday. It was a quick but eventful visit.

Note about Abby's injury...Abby's collar bone has not slowed her down one bit! We are happy that she does not seem to be in much pain but we are continually asking her to slow down and watch out. We hope we can get her healed before she hurts herself again.

Happy Birthday Maya!

On Saturday, June 8th Maya had her 2nd birthday. Happy birthday Maya! We can't wait to see you in September!

Recital Weekend, part 1

My parents arrived in town on Thursday night to see Abby's big dance recital. There was only one problem, we didn't know if Abby was going to have a dance recital because of her broken collar bone.

On Wednesday we had planned on going to the pool but, unfortunately the weather was not in our favor. So, instead, we did a lot of visiting and Pepe helped us to make a brand new toy...a marble race track.

This amazingly kept the girls entertained for quite a while. As, I kept saying..."the best $5 I have spent in a long time".

Friday was also supposed to be Abby's recital dress rehearsal. I had emailed Abby's dance teacher to tell her about Abby's injury and she told me that we would be able to get Abby involved in one way or another, the only trick was getting her there. Abby was very set on not going. The doctor at the ER  told her that she could not dance and she was really holding onto that. I told her that we at least had to go and say goodbye to her teacher and dance friends since the recital marked the end of dance for the season. She finally agreed to go but she told me that she was going to say goodbye and then leave but, I had a feeling that if I could just get her there then she would be fine and want to be involved. I knew I was making headway when she let me do her hair and make-up before we left.

We had a bit of a mishap on the way to the dress rehearsal...I went to the wrong theater. After a frantic call to my parents we figured out where to go. We were a bit tardy but, we made it. Once we got there I was able convince here to get into her outfit and sit in the audience with her class.

The next step was to get her on stage. When it was her classes turn she became very scared. I was not supposed to go back stage with her (only one mom per group and I was not the designated mom) but, I broke the rules. When we were back stage she was still convinced that she would not be able to do it so I started to do some of the dance moves with her and, what do you know, she was able to do it. By the time it was her turn to walk out on stage she was a bit more confidant.

She ended up doing a GREAT job. I was amazingly proud of her for trying and over coming her fears! When it was time for her second dance she didn't need me to go back stage with her!

Here are her dress rehearsal performances...

On Saturday she was ready for her actual recital! We got to the theater early and got dressed...

Abby with Giselle and Vita

We waited anxiously in the audience...

...I don't know if you can see but Kera was dressed in her dance clothes too...

Abby did an amazing job and made us all very proud, what a trooper! She very much earned the flowers and the trophy!!

After the recital we headed out for a nice lunch together. What a great morning!

It's Broken!?!

On Wednesday night, just after 11pm, Jim and I were watching hockey and we heard a loud thud upstairs. We ran upstairs and found that Abby had fallen out of her bed! She, of course was crying, but not a lot and I assumed that she had just scared herself but, after Jim did a few tests on her (trying to get her to raise her arm) we realized, she was in quite a bit of pain.

We decided that a trip to the emergency room was needed.  After being at the hospital for a few hours we learned that she had broken her collar bone! Which, according to the doctor, means no dance recital! DEVASTATING! Not only is our poor girl in pain but, she has been looking forward to her dance recital for months!

Apparently, the collarbone does not fully harden until the age of 20 so, breaking it is fairly common especially with kids. For collar bones they do not cast it instead, they put the arm in a sling and ace bandage the upper body to stabilize. She will need to be in the sling for a month...A MONTH! Did I mention that she hurt her right shoulder...her writing hand.

Jim and Abby finally got home from the hospital around 2:30am. We let her sleep with us that night and then, the next, day Jim promptly ran out to the store to buy her some brand new bed rails.

The next day Abby was of course, tired, uncomfortable, and in a bit of pain. She was also quite embarrassed to be seen in her bandages so, what did we do...add embellishes to it, of course. Feathers and flowers make anything look better!

Our poor girl. All we can hope for is a speedy recovery!

Slime

Yesturday we made slime. Yes, SLIME! It was a fun, messy, sticky time. Abby was a bit more into it than Kera was but, still, a slimmy fun time was had by all...

Sprinkler!

We had quite a few hot days in a row so, what's better than an afternoon of running through the sprinkler! I think this might have been Abby and Kera's first experience with a sprinkler and, needless to say, they had a blast!