Go Ahead...

and ask how hot it is by us.  SO HOT that our patio table spontaneously shattered!  No one was around and we found no evidence of any stray baseballs from the neighbors, so the only thing we can think of is the mid-day, triple-digit heat!

Go ahead and ask again how excited we are to not only see our family in one week, but to also escape to the coast with them for a long getaway.  SO EXCITED!!  Weather forecasts look to be highs in the 60's along the coastline.  BRING IT ON!

The "Thank You for the Presents!" Post

With the big birthday outing yesterday, today we enjoyed a quiet day at home opening gifts, playing with the new toys and eating birthday cake.  On behalf of Delia, I want to thank everyone who sent presents.  She got lots of toys that burn energy or are good for outdoor play-- PERFECT for Delia!

Auntie Heather sent a big, fun sprinkler and this Strawberry Shortcake doll (yes, it smells the way you remember it smelling).  Since the doll has stylable hair and applicable make-up and is really the only girlie present we saw today, Ella is completely obsessed with it!  I think "Strawberry Cake" is even sleeping in Ella's bed tonight after spending the whole day at her beauty salon and in her arms!  

Anna gave Delia a talking badminton set.   A toy that cheers for you when you hit things with it-- obviously tons of fun!

Delia got her own personalized superhero cape from Ella, the dress-up queen.  Ella was so excited to share this present with her sister.  In this picture, you can see Delia is excited to receive it.

I made Delia an ABC book on Snapfish with pictures from her first 3 years of life ("A is for Auntie" or "L is for Lily").

Grandma and Grandpa always give the perfect thing.  The girls have hardly stopped jumping on this little trampoline all day.  Now my couches and beds and pillows can finally have some peace!  As we were telling Delia the story of her birth and what she was like as a baby, I was recalling how she needed to be bounced in my arms to keep from crying.   This love of bouncing never left her!

Dave had the great idea of giving Delia a mini-fish tank, since she loves animals and a stop in the pet store always makes her day.  After opening the pieces this morning, Delia got to pick out the actual fish she wanted from the store this afternoon. Our family is now plus one-- a fancy, blue, betta fish named Anna.

I asked Delia what she wanted to do on her birthday and she replied, "Go to the [town] park."  I told her she should think bigger, maybe a place we could drive to.  She said, "Okay, go to Target."  Along these same lines, I asked what kind of cake she wanted.  "Chocolate, chocolate!" was her answer.  Trying to dig deeper, I told her I could decorate her cake however she wanted.  "A green circle" was all she kept saying she wanted on it.  I used my artistic cake-decorating license to interpret this idea into a color and shape cake.  What a goofball!

One more birthday treat to mention-- the free dinner and serenade and sundae and sombrero at Chevy's.  I think Delia felt pretty special yesterday and today.

Delia's Birthday Outing

Since no party or family visitors were in the plans for Delia's 3rd birthday, we made it special with a family outing.  Yesterday we spent the day at a fantastic water park.  It was Dave's first day home after a long service trip and the time together was so fun!  Also, by going yesterday, we could get Delia in for free, as she was technically still 2! (Laugh at or be impressed with my thrift-- it's your choice!  It was a significant savings!)

How could the girls not love this "park in a pool"?  Raging Waters was a perfect find because it catered to younger kids.  The splash pools and attractions for little ones outnumbered the big slides.  Though, there were some cool big slides, Dave did a few on his own and we even got Ella on the ones that rode a double tube.  Our favorites were the Great White Shark and Barracuda Blaster.

Delia was a hoot to watch in the waterfall pool.  She would race in and out of the waterfalls and must have thrown herself down these little wall slides about 150 times!

There were 3 different splash playgrounds.  At Waterworks the kids could turn on different spouts and sprays.

At the pirate ship they could climb cargo nets while dodging people shooting water and random buckets of water spilling over.  This one was actually the scariest of all because it was unpredictable and made strange pirate sounds.

While Delia cracked us up with her manic glee, Ella made us smile with her insistence on being independent.  She was adamant that she carry the tube, wait in line and go down this Slide Creek Falls water slide all by herself!

One crazy part of the day was how nice and cool we felt throughout it!  The breezes combined with being wet all day had Ella really shivering.  She had to take sun breaks to warm up and turn her lips back to a normal color.  To not be completely melting on a mid-July outdoor day was actually a treat! 

Besides all the playgrounds and water slides, two other things we kept going back to were the Lazy River and Wave Pool.  The girls just loved riding the currents and bobbing around in both.

Thank you, Delia, for having a summer birthday!  In celebrating her 3 years, we made some great memories together as a family!

Dear Delia,

To use your own words, yes, you've "feisty-ed" us with your boundless energy, strong will and mischief.  Yet, you've also totally charmed us with your affection, silliness, constant singing and passion for life.  There is no one else in the world like you, Delia.  And no other person could so perfectly complete our family.  You provide us with laughs and reminders of your love every day.  We know God will use you for great things and we love you!

Happy 3rd birthday, Big Girl!

A Little Help from My Friends

This week Dave has been gone on a mission trip to Kentucky with the youth group.  We missed him, of course, but had a fine time without him!  With Mt. Hermon and camping and VBS, this is actually our first week of summer to just be home and we've had the perfect combination of taking it easy and still enjoying small outings.  Three friends, Jetta, Amy and RaeAnn, were wonderful in opening their homes and sharing their company to help the days go by!

We spent Wednesday afternoon and evening with Jetta, who also lent her husband to Kentucky this week.  You never know what you're going to get at Jetta's house.  This time is was baby bunnies that Phil had rescued from the pasture and a GIANT dirt mountain!

Friday morning was a playdate with Amy, Jonathan and Grace at the fountain park.  We spent 3 lovely hours running in the spray, rolling down the hill, climbing the playground equipment and chowing down on burritos and quesadillas at our favorite taqueria.  These daily outings are designed to keep the kids busy and make the days go by quickly, but it's possible that I am having the most fun with my girlfriends!

Saturday brought a morning at RaeAnn's house.  She and her kids have a love for critters, so they literally have their own backyard petting zoo!  In the enclosure we found chicken eggs, petted bunnies, scared the pot belly pig and fed goats.  Then we shared some apples with the horses and donkeys in the pasture.

Their family also just built a spectacular new pool and it didn't take too much coaxing to get us in for a swim.   RaeAnn's twin girls were having a slumber party, so it was a pool packed with cool high schoolers.  Ella and Delia were lovin' the attention and Ella even scored some free swim lessons!  She was actually putting her head under while paddling and kicking from one end of the hot tub to the other without her life jacket! 

No husband? No problem!  We are well taken care of when Dave is gone!

Anticipation

We planted our simple summer garden late this year.  Baby peaches, zucchinis, cucumbers and tomatoes are just starting to announce their presence.  Right about the time we get our family visitors in 2 weeks, we should be ready to enjoy the bounty!  We're so excited for garden-fresh fruit and veggies AND Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Kyle!!

Ladylike...Not so Ladylike

These pictures were taken in the same day and I just thought the contrast was kind of funny.

Here the girls are having a tea party, complete with my Grandma's china and fancy new dress up gowns from Mikaela. 

And here they are covered head to toe in sticky watermelon juice and trying to spit seeds at Mommy!

Typical Delia

Yesterday she was strutting around, posing and practicing different smiles.  But, this morning, when it was time to have Delia's 3 year old pictures taken, she was uncooperative and grumpy.  These 16 pictures didn't come without a big battle (bless those JCP photographers!).  While I was frustrated in the portrait studio that she was in one of her moods, I'm at peace with the pictures we got of her.  There are about 3 naturally happy ones and the rest will live on as proof of Delia's feisty personality at almost-age-3! :)

4 Ingredients for a Fabulous 4th

1.  FRIENDS.  We jumped at the invitation to celebrate the holiday with Dorina and her family.

2.  FIREWORKS.  Right away, we all piled into their car for a drive up to Shaver Lake, where we ate our picnic dinner on the beach and watched the kids imaginatively play for the 3 hours it took to get dark.  The fireworks show over the lake was pretty cool and everyone was brave!

3.  POOL.  After a late night at the lake, we carried the sleeping kids to bed, made it to church this morning and then spent the rest of the day splashing around in the pool.

 

4.  BBQ.  We love Dorina for many reasons, her cooking skills are a big one! :)  Our country's birthday inspired quite a menu out of my friend: grilled mushrooms and corn on the cob, Mediterranean chicken, salad, bread, pilaf, watermelon and, of course, a patriotic dessert that the girls could help decorate.

Putting these 4 things together gave us a dandy 4th of July.  Words can't even describe how much we'll miss our very good friends as they sell their home and prepare for a year of ministry in Haiti.

VBS

In case you are wondering if we snuck away for another week, the answer is no.  We've all been completely wrapped up in our church's Vacation Bible School this week.  We are doing the High Seas Expedition program.  Once again, I am leading the Bible stories, Ella is a member of the kindergarten crew, Delia busts out of the nursery as much as her helpers allow to sing (on stage!), make crafts and eat snacks and Dave has been an informal, but invaluable, assistant to me-- helping transform my classroom each day and even coming in to tell a story in character once.  He also created a slideshow with the week's pictures.

VBS is extremely rewarding, but extremely exhausting.  Especially as we all have been feeling under the weather.  Lots of naps, lots of zinc lozenges and lots of housework neglect are helping us survive!  Preparing and presenting the lessons (which are like 20 minute monologues this year) is work and, a lot of times, out of my comfort zone, but I'm encouraged every day when Ella comes home and straightaway reenacts the story she's heard.  She builds a jail, handcuffs herself and is Peter.  She is Paul and she is shipwrecked.  She lays out her mat, puts on her sad face and begs for money like the crippled man outside the temple gate.

We have no doubt God is at work.  But, we won't mind resuming life as normal after tomorrow. :)