Love my Cousins

We spent a fun Saturday evening with cousins Mrs. Cris, Mr. Josh, Carter and Kennedy.  All the kids get along really well.  We will certainly miss hanging out with them.  

Kaitlyn and Carter with the skunk tail ball.  

Kenney, Carter, Madelyn and Kaitlyn enjoying some pizza.  

Yummy!

My pizza flies into my mouth and down to my belly!

Cuties!

Carter and Kennedy just got this pool, so the kids persuaded the daddy's to go for a swim.  

Madelyn loved the water gun.  

Kaitlyn likes shooting the water gun, but not getting shot with it.  

Everyone is trying to make a whirlpool in the pool.  

Kaitlyn and Carter loved the whirlpool!

Mrs. Cris and Mr. Josh shared some awesome tomatoes, banana peppers and corn with us.  Here Mr. Josh is helping Kaitlyn and Carter pick a few ears of corn.  

Neighborhood Friend Dinner

We had some good friends from our neighborhood over for dinner in July.  For dessert, Kaitlyn and I decided to make our first dirt cake.  We bought a special bucket - only to be used for food, not sand and real dirt.  This was a great activity for Kaitlyn as she could do a lot of the work.  

The dirt cake started with a layer of 'dirt' (crushed oreo's) with gummy worms followed by a layer of the 'mud' (pudding, cool whip, milk, etc.) and repeated.  

 Kaitlyn loved making the worms stick out of the top of the cake.  

She finished it off with some dirt on top.  

Kaitlyn and Olivia enjoying some dirt cake

 Graham really liked the dirt cake (next to Laura and Bob)!

 Young at heart - Mr. Pat and Mrs. Karen enjoyed it too!

 Kaitlyn said we have to make this again.  

 Madelyn trying to carefully eat her worm.  

This is good mommy and Kaitlyn!

Kaitlyn and Olivia at the evening's end.  

Madelyn's First String of Words

What can I say - LOVE IT!!

Madelyn's 2nd Birthday!

Madelyn celebrated her second birthday over the weekend.  We did not throw an official party, but a small contingent of family (Pa Mark, Ms. Mary Ann, Uncle Tim, Gamma Linda and Pa Clinton) and friends (Miss Crystal and her niece Hannah and Mr. Pat and Mrs. Karen) dropped in for a hot dog dinner (Madelyn's favorite), cake (St. Louis dobosh cake decorated with an Elmo face) and ice cream, and presents.  I created a video of all the fun from our pictures as displayed below. 



Madelyn spent her actual birthday eating daddy's yummy eggs for breakfast, playing outside, swimming at the pool, going to the Disney store for a fun plate, opening gifts and eating her two favorite things - hot dogs and icing.  The girls also spent the weekend visiting the zoo, playing in the yard, playing in water, blowing bubbles and enjoying all of Madelyn's new toys. 

On Friday, we went to a fun English gastropub where the girls split tomato soup and grilled cheese.  Instead of getting the soup all over her shirt, Madelyn opted to remove it and throw it on the floor.  Since she's only two, it was quite entertaining!     

On Saturday, we had Kaitlyn's preschool graduation (see previous blog) and Pa Mark's birthday celebration.  Since we finished off the dosbosh cake prior to his small fiesta, we had a simple chocolate cake with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream icing. We definitely got our fill of cake these last few days.  In addition to cake, we made sushi to share with everyone.  Deliciousness all around!!

For those of you not here, we hope to see you later this summer in our current location or in our new one!!

Kaitlyn's Preschool Graduation

Kaitlyn attended her preschool graduation this weekend.  She practiced singing all the songs prior to the ceremony.  The night before graduation, she belted one out in the car.  It made daddy and me smile.  We're so happy she's come out of her shy shell and made some really nice friends. 

Watermelon Juice

 On a particularly warm day, Kaitlyn and I decided to make watermelon juice.  

Ingredients:

Approximately 4 cups cubed watermelon (we used a melon baller to scoop it out)

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water

1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 to 2 teaspoons lime juice

Kaitlyn used the melon baller to cut the watermelon.  Daddy snuck in and helped by cutting up some cubes for us too.  .  

Place the watermelon, smaller amount of water in blender and puree.  Once pureed, add maple syrup and lime juice.  Blend for 10-20 seconds.  Viola!  The watermelon juice is ready!

 

 Kaitlyn enjoyed some fresh watermelon with her juice. 

A refreshing drink on a hot day.  

Baking with Daddy

Daddy has been a champion in May!  For whatever reason, mommy has been under the weather quite a bit, so daddy gladly found fun activities to do with the girls (zoo, parks, shooting water guns, cooking, coloring, etc.).  Below shows the girls helping daddy make chocolate chip cookies.  

Mommy could not help but sneak downstairs to find out the reason for all the laughing, giggling, and squealing.  The girls certainly enjoyed sneaking chocolate chips, tasting the sugar and butter mixture, and best of all, eat the delicious cookie dough.  

Daddy cutting up the chocolate bar for 'chips.'  

 

Daddy shaping the dough so he can divide it into individual freezer safe cookies. 

Kaitlyn and Madelyn sampling the delicious dough.  Madelyn wonders why Kaitlyn gets the bigger spoon.  

Afterwards, Kaitlyn and I sat and drank some hot tea together.  I love my little sous chefs!