Bathing beauties.

Today we met Gina and Jada at Shirley's pool. The girls were ADORABLE together, like always. We had a great time swimming and snacking and sharing chairs, lol. They pushed each other around in the float, poured water on each other, and both almost drowned. The girls love each other and cried when they had to get in separate cars to go home. We are so lucky Zawadi has made such a great friend and hope it is a lifelong friendship.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Bull City Gymnastics.

Gina and I decided to take the girls to gymnastics this summer at Bull City Gymnastics. Classes are on Saturday mornings at 9:00, which is perfect because it's right before nap time so their schedules don't get messed up. Last Saturday was our first class and we were lucky that Clyde was off and could come. Who knew it would take 3 adults to control two little girls, lol?

The class started with some warm-up, carpet work and a song. The girls tried their best to do star jumps and pencil jumps and seal stretches, but it was a bit of a rocky start. I was thinking, "This will be our first and LAST Saturday," until the woman told us we would be moving on to circuits. There were balance beams, rope swings, foam pits, trampolines, and parallel bars, among other things and the girls had a BLAST! Their favorite was this long bouncy track that they could run and jump on. We got the cutest videos of them running and laughing and screaming and calling each other's names. We are looking forward to this Saturday and hoping that Alan will join us since Clyde has to work.

Pool date.

Thank goodness for Shirley's pool! We took our apartment pool for granted last summer and were really disappointed to learn there were no plans of putting a pool in our neighborhood. We don't want to spend the money to join a pool in the area, and the sprinkler just doesn't cut it when it's almost 100 outside. Luckily Shirley has this FABULOUS pool that is completely worth the 30 minute drive. One Friday we met Kristy, Logan, and Cassandra for a swim date. The kids had a great time and Kristy and I got some much needed color :-) We ended the day with ice cream at Dairy Queen and we are hoping to make this a Friday ritual.

Who needs a gardener?

A sprinkler and a teapot.

Cousin Logi.

Zawadi is so lucky to have two cousins so close to her age - Sophia and Logan. One weekend not too long ago they all got together at Auntie Shirley's house to have dinner and play and go for ice cream. Apparently Logan got upset about something and threw himself down to the ground, just like Zawadi has been known to do. Luckily, rather than join him or leave him, the caring motherly side of her came out as she tried everything to pull him back to his feet. We are looking forward to spending lots of time with Logan and baby Sophia this summer.

More to love about Boston.

Zawadi sat on every one of the ducks in the park. She went down the row and climbed on each one. She has just learned about ducks and tells you that they say "kack kack."

After playing with all the fake ducks, Zawadi spotted the real ducks and wanted to catch them. She got pretty close a few times, but was unable to climb on any of these guys. Frustrated, she grabbed the hand of another little girl in the park to help her on her duck hunt.

She was certain if she ran fast another and tried hard enough, she would catch one. I admire her determination.


The next day Jess suggested a tour of Fenway Park, which was awesome. We got to go in places we would never normally go and sit in seats we could never afford. We also learned so many cool facts about the park. Clyde bought his first Red Sox tshirt and Zawadi loved watching the men blowing the grass dry, or "mowing" to her. All in all, we had an amazing trip to Boston and are so thankful to Jess and Mike for having us. I miss them lots and hope they come to visit us this summer.

Boston, here we come!

Zawadi must have known just how much fun she was going to have in Boston. Here she is on our way to Jess and Mike's with her dried fruit snacks dumped and smeared all over her, happy as a clam. After spending so many hours in the car together throughout this trip we decided a messy but happy baby was better than a clean and screaming one.

Our first stop was the Children's Museum, which Zawadi loved. She played in the bubble room, drove pretend cars, hugged birdies, and had an all around great time. She was exhausted and climbed back in her stroller and napped until our next destination.

Family fun plus a horsie!

We went to a cookout with my dad's side of the family and it was great to catch up with everyone and see some people I haven't seen in ten years. Zawadi had a blast playing with her cousins, especially Derek who taught her everything from how to blow bubbles to how to play lacrosse. I miss being around family, it was a great time.

About two months before our trip, our neighbors had given us this giant stuffed horse that their daughter has outgrown. It stands taller than Zawadi and when you push it's ears it neighs and makes a trotting sound. It also came with one of those old school horses that is a the head on a stick. At first Zawadi was scared to death but soon fell in love with her "horsie." We were thrilled to be able to show her a live horse at my aunt and uncle's house. She was apprehensive at first, and would never touch the horse with her hands, but finally gained enough courage to brush his nose.

Flower heaven! We heart Vermont.

One of Zawadi's latest obsessions is with flowers, of "fowlers" as she calls them. We pick flowers, we draw flowers, we count flowers, we smell flowers, we find flowers on our clothes.....you get the gist. Needless to say, she was in heaven in Vermont when we found dandelions EVERYWHERE we went. This was at Village Snack Bar where we went to have a creamie. Clyde has yet to appreciate good soft-serve ice cream. Believe it or not, Zawadi was more interested in the dandelions than her vanilla cone with rainbow sprinkles....all the more for me! :-)

Road Trip.

My great-grandfather passed away so the 3 of us headed to Vermont for the funeral and to spend some time with family and friends. This was Zawadi's first long rong trip besides our visit to Columbia, so we decided to drive through the night. We left around 7:00 pm, drove for an hour, stopped at a rest area to eat our dinner and play, and then she was sound asleep. Our hope was that she would sleep most of the way and she did just that.

We arrived in Vernon, VT at about 6:00am. Clyde has never been to VT before, so I was very excited for him to be there with me. We drove through and I gave Clyde a quick tour of my old neighborhood and the town itself (which, if you know Vernon, took us all of 10 minutes). Then we headed to Brattleboro and stopped at Friendly's to eat breakfast. Zawadi was very happy to be out of the car, but I like to believe part of her smile came from being in Vermont :-)