Summer Fun

We had a fun summer reunion this week with friends at Rood Bridge Park! Here are the girls running in the grassy field with Gavin, Harrison, and Hazel.

Emily, Lauren, and Hazel taking a break on a park bench.

Gavin, Lauren, Hazel, and Emily smiling for the camera.

We met up with Hazel and Bronte a few days later for more playtime at a different park!  They loved riding on "the crazy dragon" ride.

Lauren and Emily tried out a gymnastics class this week and loved it! They will start going once a week in September.  

Swinging on the bars!  The girls have so much energy!

The girls are already becoming tech savvy.  Emily in particular loves to play with the IPhone and IPad.

One of her favorite games is the Dress Up Chica Game... this is one of her finished products that she saved on my phone.

A picnic party in the living room with all of their favorite stuffed animals!

Pedicure time!  The Rody's are nice to use as foot rests while the polish is drying.

2nd Annual Oregon Coast Trip

We had such a great time at the coast last year that we decided to make it a yearly family tradition!  This is the beach house we rented in the Road's End area of Lincoln City.

 The house had a small backyard and beautiful ocean views!

The evening sunsets were gorgeous!

The Oregon Coast Aquarium has so many interesting exhibits, including a Giant Pacific Octopus!

Checking out the interactive tide pool exhibit!  Lauren enjoyed touching the sea stars and anemones.  Emily preferred to just observe.

 Lauren looking at the sea nettles.

The Moon Jellyfish exhibit is amazing!

 Giant crabs!

 Lauren the scuba diver and Emily the sea horse!

Lauren (front) and Emily (back) sitting on a turtle in the outdoor play area.

Emily sitting on a dolphin holding the sea horse stuffed animal she picked out from the souvenir shop.

After the aquarium visit, it was time for lunch!  We ate take out pizza at a picnic area overlooking the ocean.

 Lauren flying a kite... it was REALLY windy!

Emily thought it was a bit too blustery but managed to fly her kite while sitting in a lounge chair.

Playing a card game with Daddy at the beach house.  

Emily (left) and Lauren (right) being silly at bedtime.  They got to sleep in a big bed together!

 Emily playing in the sand.

Lauren walking towards the ocean with Daddy.  She was so excited to find some sea shells!

 Lauren playing in the sand.

Emily walking towards the ocean with Daddy.  She found some sea shells too!

Emily relaxing at the beach house reading one of her current favorite books, Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes.

Emily at Regatta Park... it's one of our favorite parks!  The wooden play structure is HUGE.

Lauren going down the slide.  We had a great time on our trip and can't wait to go back again next year!

Oak's Amusement Park

This past weekend Justin's work group had their annual employee picnic at Oak's Amusement Park!  The girls had SO much fun trying out all the rides!  Here they are on a purple motorcycle... Emily in front and Lauren in back.

This ride was a favorite... who wouldn't like a brightly colored capsule with wings and fake guns?

Lauren loved the Frog Hopper!  She is sitting second from the left.  Emily sat in the center and grimaced during most of the ride but still said it was fun.

Driving cars!  A little boy got on at the last minute and out of all the available seats, he decided to sit right next to Emily!

 Riding the roller coaster!  The girls are sitting in the yellow section.

 Emily, Daddy, and Lauren riding the Tilt A Whirl!

 Lauren enjoying a fudgsicle at the end of a really fun day!

Another highlight from this past week was unexpectedly seeing cousins Kay and Kali at our favorite frozen yogurt shop!

Emily (left) and Lauren (right) enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the park!

Belated Birthday Celebration

We had a belated birthday celebration for the girls this weekend with our families!  Emily (left) and Lauren (right) were literally running around the house with excitement as everyone arrived.

The whole gang enjoying a pizza lunch!

Time to open presents!  Cousins Kay and Kali provided one on one assistance with the tricky ribbons.

This year's party theme was Go Diego Go.  We played a game of pin-the-badge-on-Diego's-vest and Kay and Kali tied for first place!

We also had a pull string Diego pinata... Emily pulled the first string.

 Lauren pulling a string.

When all the treats came flying out, there were screams of joy and everyone scrambled to fill their bags, except for Lauren.  She calmly picked up a single piece of chocolate, carefully unwrapped it, popped it in her mouth, smiled and said, "Mmmm!", and then handed me the wrapper.

The cake was chocolate with raspberry filling!

Lauren (left) and Emily (right) were so excited when everyone sang Happy Birthday to them!

Blowing out the candles!  It was a great day for the girls!

The girls also had their 3-year-old checkups this week.  Lauren (left) is 39 inches tall (88th percentile) and 30.8 pounds (51st percentile) and Emily (right) is 39.25 inches (91st percentile) and 32 pounds (63rd percentile).