The Salon

Sydney & Hayley were due for haircuts this week.

As Hayley was getting her trim, I looked over to see this sight...

Upside down magazine, no less. But she was just flipping through those pages looking at all of the LONG hair styles. I jokingly asked her WHICH long hairstyle she wanted done with HER long hair.

Then it was time. Time for a little trim. You're wondering WHAT POSSIBLY we could trim on Addy's follicley (is that a word) challenged head?

Well, her piggy tails were starting to get a little fuzzy in the back. And there was ONE hair on the top of her head a little too long.

It does seem like as soon as we do the first little fuzzy haircut that the girls' hair has seemed to start growing like crazy. Wishful thinking in this case too.

A Knot of Toads

Did you know a group of toads is called a knot? Well, we have a KNOT of toads by our house. Wholy KNOT! (I count 40, 40 tiny toads. Mwahahahahaha!)

And yesterday, the neighbor kids came over and brought a Knot of toads from by their houses too. So we had a Knot of Knots.

I guess toads are a good thing to have around. They can eat thousands of insects (so with 40 toads in our yard, that's 40,000 fewer insects!!! (They can eat up to 3 times their weight in insects and slugs EVERY day! Bring on those toads!)

Some people recommend putting in toad houses. But these toads seem to enjoy living under our step on our patio. (Note to self, this fall find out how to move that thing to clean under it. I'm sure there is some toad droppings to clean out).

The toads especially like to climb around Jeremy's new rock wall in the back of the yard too.

Small Town Days

It was the BIG celebration in the little hometown of the man of the house last weekend. We happened to be in town for another BIG celebration (Happy belated Birthday, Aunt Joan & Good luck in the BIG city!)


The girls had a blast at the parade!
Can you see those whispy piggy tails on Addy? Her mullet just keeps on growing in the back. SOME day I'll HAVE to take her in for a haircut. But the piggies are just TOO cute!


Sydney & Hayley had a blast collecting candy from the parade. If there is a shortage on tootsie rolls around the country this week, I think they were all at this parade!

Somehow Hayley got ahold of a water balloon. That is her papa sitting in the front of the golf cart. Completely unaware that Hayley's balloon has his name written all over it. (She chickened out before throwing it though.)

This adorable little pony cart was in the parade. We chased it down on the golf cart so Hayley could have a ride. The pony didn't quite want to stop, so this boy had to stop it so Hayley could get on. She thought it was pretty cool!

Art Gallery

The girls are really enjoying drawing this summer. When we were in New York Nana bought them each an "Ugly Doll." Have you seen these things? They really are ugly, but cute too.
Here are what they actually look like:
Plunko



Ugly Worm





And here are the girls' drawings they made for Nana as a thank you:
Attempt #1 By Sydney

Hayley's Drawing of Plunko. Except he is green instead of orange.


I think this Ugly Worm is looking for LOVE!!!

And check out Plunko in his HOT bikini!!! Is that a pool of TAR he is swimming in?

Happy 4th of July

We had our second annual (we can call it annual now that we've had two) 4th of July party. And of course I was so busy running around that this is the only picture I was able to get. We had about 40 people at our house and Jeremy's fireworks display was awesome. We've been asked to choreograph it to music next year (Thanks a lot Missy- you know it will happen now. Jeremy can't be outdone!)

This view will never get old

Vacation Picture Overload

Well, here is a picture overload (and this is just a fraction of the pictures) of our trip to Mohonk. You can check out their website at http://www.mohonk.com/.

We left bright and early, we had to leave for the airport at 4:45. But the girls were wide awake and SO excited!

No trip to Mohonk is complete without a Gazebo Challenge!
Right after lunch Nana and Papa got Sydney & Hayley out on the courts for some tennis.

Addy and I went on a walk to Copes Lookout. About 2 minutes into the walk and Addy was asleep. So I sat to rest a while and admire the view that goes on forever!
The next day Sydney was out playing tennis with Nana and Papa again when the tennis pro offered to give Sydney a 30 minute lesson. She did GREAT! He said there were thing she was able to learn quickly that some of his college players can't even catch on to.

>While Sydney was taking her lesson, I took Hayley down to the beach. I think this might have been her first time ON a beach (besides when she was little in Oregon).

Addy enjoyed the beach too. She wasn't sure about the sand at first, but then made herself at home.
Hayley and Nana went for a paddle boat ride!
Addy was ready to throw her shoes IN the lake.
The girls pause for a quick picture on a staircase in the hotel. If you have 3 or more kids you understand how rare it is to get a picture of ALL 3 looking at the camera and smiling. I think it is because they were all so happy to be on vacation!

Nana and the girls play a little shuffle board.
Sydney caught 24 newts on the beach during our stay.

Hayley even got brave enough to hold them.

Hayley is always eager to play photoshoot!

Hayley won the award for the best dessert during the trip. This was an angelfood cupcake with blueberries, whipped cream and a white and milk chocolate straw!

Here are Hayley and Nana sitting under a "Summerhouse" on a rock on the lake on our way to a campfire.
Sydney and Hayley at the campfire!
Nana was standing on the other side of the fire. The heat made a rippled shadow on us. Kind of cool!

On Saturday and Sunday Sydney & Hayley got to go to Kid's Club. The did crafts, Hayley went on a paddle boat ride, and Sydney went on a hike to the lilly pond.

While the big girls were at kids club, Addy got some alone time. Nana and I did a "wherever Addy wants to go" walk. We just followed behind her. She thought that was VERY cool!
When it was time for a nap, Nana and I took Addy for another LONG walk, up to Eagle Cliff. You can see the storm clouds in the distance.
This a view of the mountain house and lake and how it fits in relation to the scenery all around. Simply beautiful!
This is Skytop. A cool lighthouse at the top of one of the cliffs at Mohonk. We didn't hike to the top of it this trip as it is mostly uphill and not much fun with a stroller to push.

We ended the trip with lunch at the Granery! A great way to wrap up a wonderful vacation!

Thank you Nana and Papa for a great trip! We all had so much fun and have lots of great memories (and pictures!)