Summer!

Well, its been awhile.  After I claimed that I would be better at updating the blog...I then proceeded to wait two months to do it again!  Lots of little things have happened, but nothing of too much importance.  I thought that since catching up on all the little things would take longer than I think anyone would care to read,  I'd leave most of this one to the photos.  The one thing that I have been good about this past month is keeping the camera handy...not all of the pictures came out well, to be sure (we are still struggling, desperately, with getting both girls looking - let alone smiling - at the camera at the same time), but at least it is documented.  So, without further ado, take a look at our summer so far!

We thought we'd start a new family tradition this year - the first day of summer break we headed for Palisades Park (a local, large park with hiking trails along side the river here) for some hiking (thankfully the girls love hiking!) and a picnic lunch.

 The only picture I could find of me where I didn't look like a house.  I've decided that I don't wear pregnancy particularly well, at least in photographs.

 Attempting to "skip" rocks in the river.  Evaline would always throw from where she's standing in the above photo, only rarely did the rock actually make it in.  On the other hand - Cora seems to be a natural athlete, throwing the rocks far and with excellent form.

I decided to invest about $7 in a kiddie pool for some hot summer days - which, although it is only June 23rd, we've had plenty.  Evaline is the one who always wants to set it up (a 15 - 20 minute process when you take into account the filling up, sunscreen, changing clothes, etc) and spends about 5 minutes in.

 Look at the air in that jump!!

For Father's day the girls made Ian a "cake".  This is one of my favorite desserts from when I was a kid, and one that they can do with very little help from me, which just makes them feel good about doing something by themselves.  Here's the recipe:

Layer graham crackers on a serving plate.  Spread with a thin layer of applesauce.  If the applesauce is unsweetened, sprinkle on some cinnamon and sugar.  Layer on some bananas sliced about a quarter of an inch thick.  Repeat until it is the size you want, or until you run out of some ingredient, ending on a layer of graham crackers.  Frost with Cool Whip.  

For this one, we used three whole graham crackers for each g.c. layer, and a total of 5 bananas.  I think we probably would have used 4 bananas if I had been doing the cutting...but I let the girls do it.  

This project reminded me of why I'm not a preschool teacher.  It was very difficult for me to "let go" and just let them do it.  But...I restrained myself from perfection and let them do it mostly by themselves, and they had a wonderful time - so proud of their creation!

 Since "Blogger" (my blog host) updated their settings, I can't figure out how to fix a picture if it comes in wrong... If anyone reading this also uses Blogger and knows how to change this please let me know!! I have several photos below where this is the case...but I'm going to leave all of them anyway.  

The girls insisted on helping paint the new baby's room.  Yes, it is a girl.  And yes, we did paint the room blue. (Turquiose Mist, to be exact).

Dance class started last Wednesday!

I think I've mentioned it before, but this spring we planted a 4x12 foot raised bed garden.  And so far it has been pretty successful!  Here we are shelling fresh peas for dinner one night last week!

This is the first real parade that we've been to since the girls were about 7 months old.  We've just always had some scheduling conflict.  In the words of one of the girls (don't remember which) "I've never seen so much candy before!"

Tonight we head to fireworks for the first time, too!  I accidentally spilled the beans to the girls, so I'm sure won't hear the end of it from the minute they wake up from their nap until we get there!