Izzy the Explorer...

As the days of summer are rapidly diminishing (I know there are many more 90 degree days in our near future, but it's dark out when I leave the house in the morning...that's the tell tale sign it's coming to a close), we're trying to take advantage of the outdoors as much as possible. Izzy asked if we could go on a "boardwalk" tonight and I had my shoes on faster than you could shake a princess wand. We loaded the girls into the jogger and off we went. Only this time, we ventured off the boardwalk...

 ...and down into Cool Creek! We always walk over it but today I felt adventurous (and so did Mike with the jogger!). Today we went off the beaten path. And boy did we ever strike gold!

 The water wasn't deep but it was quite cool (pun intended). Izzy and I trekked up and down the rocky creek's bed and explored. Izzy splashed, jumped and even fell...and we loved every minute of it.

 The bridge behind Izzy is Main Street and it's just gorgeous down there. Who knew we lived so close to such a beautiful creek? I'm pretty sure we'll be visiting this a lot in the future.

 In case you were wondering, Bug did not care for the cold waters. Instead, daddy Mike carried her along the edge of the creek alongside Izzy and I playing. I realize it's not the best picture, but it tells the story just fine.

 Thinking next time we'll wear our Ke.ens instead of the C.rocs to gain more traction on all those rocks.

We'll be back down there for more. And soon. We have lots more adventures to seek in that creek!

Happy 2nd Birthday Delaney!

Laney Bug turned 2 last Saturday and she is ALL two. Fits. Hitting. Biting. But boy oh boy is she a snuggler! She'll tear you up but she will melt your heart. And she can hold her own when it comes to her big sister. Laney can tackle like a linebacker and giggle the entire time. Mike says one day she'll be the one sticking up for her big sister at school instead of the other way around. We have always said that Izzy is our delicate flower, whereas Laney is our rough-and-tumble. And how lucky that she is ours!

Thanks to our neighbors for letting us celebrate Bug with a cake, candles and a birthday song.

Dress-up is still the #1 activity to do in our house. If ever you should swing in, don't be surprised to see Mike or myself in costume. It's par for the course with 2 girls. And it's always, "Mommy help me with this Minnie dress," or "Mommy help me with these long gloves," or "Mommy can I have make-up for this costume?" It's never ending and a constant form of entertainment.

Izzy kept calling Laney on her birthday "Birthday Girl" all day long. It was so endearing.

Cousin Steve drove down for a day/night to go to the Co.lts / P.ackers game with Mike. Can you tell the girls adore him? He's the closest thing to an uncle they have...so even though he's Cousin Steve, we call him Uncle Steve. And have you seen him with kids? Melts. Your. Heart.

The girls sported their new tutu dresses from Roo...they loved them and are so cute!

With summer coming to an end, we've been trying to spend as much time as possible at the pool. Spent Friday and Sunday there and both girls are getting more brave in the water as the months pass.

Daddy Mike is always under the water, being pulled through the water or tossing the girls...it goes on and on. Daddy is fun in the pool!

This little almost 4 year old (let's call her Cheeks here) is jumping into the pool unassisted and going under water (without swallowing any water!). She asked if she could swim the entire length of the pool (it's a 50 meter lap pool) by herself. Um, ok sister. I recorded this 2 minute display of independence, as it was quite an accomplishment for her. As soon as she got to the other side I asked her if she wanted to take the floaties off. She said SURE! She and Mike practiced swimming without the floaties for a while and she was so excited. It truly was a monumental moment for her and I can't wait to see her continued progress. She's growing up so fast!

Bobo & Grandma came down on Sunday for a few hours to celebrate Buggy's birthday. And of course Bobo's truck couldn't sit in our driveway without the Littles climbing in for an adventure:

Last week was a busy concert week, as I saw Britney Spears with my girlfriends (judge away, I've been a fan since seeing her on the cover of Rolling Sto.ne magazine in 1998). She lip synced all but one song and her dancing was lackluster. But it was Brit Brit. Live. Ok, previously recorded, whatever. Enough said.

Mike and I also went to see Jimmy Buffett with some friends. I hadn't been in 3 years so my Fin to the Left was a little rusty, but I managed to dance the night away like I hadn't missed a year. So much fun. But I need a rester from concerts for a while, that's for sure!

Kim's Graduation 2011

Last weekend we packed up and headed to Chicago to celebrate my sister's graduation with her Bachelor's degree. Kim has been working full time, raising two kids full time and going to school for the past 6+ years. Needless to say, this was quite the accomplishment for Kim and we are all so proud of her!

 Mom flew in from Lake Tahoe and Aunt Gail & Uncle Thomas from Austin

 Kim's boyfriend, Carlos, hosted a party and 50 of Kim's friends and family celebrated on a beautiful day. Catered by one of my faves, Ro.satti's and Carlos even had a legit bartender set up at his house. Was a very special day and so much fun!

 Kim & Carlos

 Sisters

 Bottoms up!

 Do you think Izzalicious likes cake?

 Mom and Bug snuggling

 Kim was all about the shots...she was in rare form!

 Mikey and I

 Dad & Anna

 As the evening wound down, Mike and I tucked the girls into bed at Carlos' house and we took off to visit with my high school girls, Jen & Mary. We had the most fun, per our usual shenanigans. I'm pretty sure we have enough stories from this night to last us a LONG time. There are also some pretty incriminating photos from the evening as well...so it's pretty safe to say none of us will ever be able to run for office. Enough said. We always have a good time together and I'm so fortunate to have these girls in my life.

 Sunday morning we met for breakfast to celebrate Laney Bug's 2nd birthday and then we all headed home

Congratulations, Kim, we're so proud of all you have accomplished and are proud to call you family!

Saying Goodbye to our Summer Girl...

A good friend of mine (Court from the Mpls) grew up with what she called "Summer Girls" nannying for her. Her parents lined up said summer girl to take care of her and explore and seek new adventures. She became very close with her summer girl over the years and is still friends with her to this day. In fact, they are the best of friends. This is how I envision my girls growing up with their Summer Girl, Nanny Natalie (as they call her, Natty).

When my VP at work referred me to her friends' daughter as a summer nanny I called her within minutes of receiving her phone number. I heard this young lady was responsible, hard working and fun loving. I was able to meet and interview Natalie this past Spring and knew she immediately had the qualities we were looking for in a nanny; adventurous, enthusiastic (she was a cheerleader, girl after my own heart) and extremely responsible. I hired her within days. And then we waited for the summer to roll around.

The girls left school and began their summer with Natty. As the days and weeks went on, the activities and explorations were new and fun and the threesome we left at home each day fell into an amazing summer routine. Pools, parks, museum, zoo, fairs, feeding ducks, tie dying, the list goes on and on. Early on Natalie introduced the girls to her parents and the girls would rave about how much they loved Natty's mom and dad (Granny Panties and Mr. Dave respectfully). I was more than thrilled that Natalie had parents that loved my girls and welcomed them into their lives (office visits, lunch dates, garage saling, playing with Natty's childhood toys at their house). Felt like the girls had a new set of grandparents to love on them.

Over the course of the summer we could see new "Natty-isms" in our girls; they learned how to say "IU" with the coordinating arm movements, whenever they smell a dirty diaper they now say "PU Purdue!", they have many new facial expressions including the "attitude" face and they also can sing almost every song on the pop / top 40 radio stations. The three girls spent so much time together and fell so much in love that it seemed as if Natalie had been a part of our lives for much longer than 3 months. And we knew saying goodbye to her would be difficult.

 Attitude face (this is now as popular in our house as the excited face used to be):

 Another lunch date with Granny Panties (Miss Kay) & Mr. Dave. Love.

 Picking blueberries

Natalie's last week went out with a bang: a huge trip to the Fair with her mom, the girls' first manicure among all their normal shenanigans. Natty's last day she shared with us a 30 minute video of the 400-ish photos and many home videos she captured over the summer. I was laughing and crying...and so was Natalie. The video meant so much to me...and was so touching that she took the time every day to capture their moments. And then to turn those moments into an amazing montage for Mike and I to watch (and the girls to relive). The goodbye was bittersweet; we had an amazing time with her all summer but we know we'll see her again. Real soon. We plan to visit Natalie down at IU and we know she'll be back often to visit her parents. The goodbye was just a "see you later" in my opinion. We will miss her dearly, but the girls are excited to get back to their buddies at school and this is a big year for Natalie at school too (she turns 21 this year!!!). Good times ahead.

Thank you, Natalie, for a summer better than we all could have imagined. Thank you for loving our girls and welcoming them into your own family. You far surpassed our expectations and we were so fortunate to have found you! Best of luck at IU and we'll see you sooooon! xoxo