Summer Vacation Recap--Weeks 1 and 2

It's summer vacation here at the Smith household, and it's gotten off to a busy but wonderful start!  My last day of class with students was Friday, May 25 (Brandon's was two days prior).  That weekend, we celebrated Myah and Maysen's 5th birthday with a friend party on Saturday and a family party on Sunday.  I/We chose a luau theme complete with lei's and hula skirts.  There was also a face painter! 

The Three Muskateers

Myah

Maysen

Party Friends with Princess lucinda

Who's birthday was it anyway??

The girls got some wonderful gifts.  Among my favorites from their friends were personalized aprons and animal-themed kitchen utensils as well as Flexees and a Bloco building set. If you have a 5-year old to buy for in the near future, consider these as gifts.  We have had so much fun with them already!  From family members, the girls got a lot of clothes, which they love--they are such fashionistas!  They also got new bean bags and some new board games (Super Why ABC Letter Game and Sequence for Kids).  Since Memorial Day, here's what we've been up to

Monday, May 28--our first visit to the "Big Bucket" (Furman Aquatic Center) for the 2012 season.
Tuesday, May 29-Thursday, May 31--Kari's teacher workshop day/TQ planning days at school so all three girls went to their care facilities.  Myah and Maysen's actual birthday on Thursday so we celebrated with dinner at Hickory Park.
Friday, June 1--The summer reading program at the Ames Public Library begins so we went to pick up our logs for that.  Kari, Myah and Maysen get their summer haircuts,and Kari heads to Des Moines for Dam to Dam race.
Saturday, June 2--5:00am, Kari loads bus downtown Des Moines to head to the Saylorville Dam for Dam to Dam 2012 and finishes with a time of 2:20:22, which was 10 minutes faster than originally anticipated, AND I ran the whole thing, which was my ultimate goal!  Myah and Maysen attend friend, Bailey's, birthday party at The Playground for Kids in Ankeny.
Sunday, June 3--Recovery day for Kari.  Took the kids to Daley Park near our house.
Monday, June 4--Myah and Maysen 'passed' their 5-year well-child appointment.  No shots were needed, Maysen's hearing check came out perfectly (finally!), and Mylie's hemoglobin was up where it needed to be at 11.9 (after being low at her one-year appointment and then still a month later).  We celebrated with a trip to Target and then to the "Big Bucket" that afternoon.
Tuesday, June 5--Third trip of the summer to the "Big Bucket" and then Myah and Maysen started swimming lessons that evening as well.
Wednesday, June 6--Spent the morning running errands including dropping off physical and immunization records to M&M's elementary school--can't believe Kindergarten (that K word!) will start before we even know it.  The girls chose going to the park instead of to the pool, which was kind of nice.  Mylie couldn't get enough of those slides!!  I attended a Vacation Bible School meeting that evening--the girls are looking forward to that in a few weeks!
Thursday, June 7--K, M1, M2 and M3 went to the library for the StarLab (planetarium) experience. While Mylie napped, K, M1 and M2 went to Culvers for ice cream to meet up with Kari's PEO Star Group.  M1 and M2 had swimming lessons in the evening.

This may not be important to many of you, but several family members like to know what we are up to, and one of the main purposes of this blog is to be a diary of sorts.  We hope you are all enjoying of your summer (we certainly seem to be making the most of every minute of ours!).

The Thing About Parks....

Last Saturday, we made our first trip to the park of the summer (it is summer, right??)....oh, wait, Brandon just told me it's only spring, that I'm on Spring Break....not Summer Break.....huge bummer! 

The thing about parks is this....
You can't go on rainy days (enough said).
You can't go the day after it's rained....there are puddles at the bottom of the slides and in the rocks by the swings.
You can't go in the winter because everything is buried under the snow.
You can't go in the heat of summer because your poor kids burn their little bottoms and legs on the equipment.
So....there are really only a few days in a year that are really perfect for the park.  They tend to be in March, April, May, and October.
My girls really do love going the park.  Their favorite part is the swings, which totally defeats the purpose of going because I like to take my kids to the park to tire them out, but they absolutely LOVE the activity that makes Brandon and I do all the work...huh, go figure!
Last year, Mylie was too little to go to the park.  She loved every minute of it on Saturday.....have a look for yourself.

Lovin' the slide

Do we dare introduce her to the swings??

As long as the sisters are willing to push her :)

Good Teamwork, girls!

Maysen can do it all by herself this year!!

Wearing out daddy...underdogs take a lot of work

Hope we continue to have nice days like this!

She's One!

Mylie Bear turned one today.  Where did the year go?  This first year was way faster than Myah and Maysen's first year.....no one warned me about that!

We celebrated Mylie's birthday last weekend on Saturday, March 3.  Ironically, I had planned to have her party the weekend before her birthday because my sister was due to have her baby on March 12.  We thought it was going to be less likely for her to have her baby that weekend than the weekend that would be after Mylie's birthday.  As chance would have it, Rooney Jane arrived on Friday, March 2.  We missed having Uncle Ric and Aunt Kiki at the party, but we are so excited to have a new little girl cousin.  She looks a lot like Mylie....almost like twins born a year apart.

The party's theme was Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."  My friend Jennifer's mother-in-law, Cindi, made these adorable cake pops.  I put them on a cake with green frosting to look like a caterpillar crawling through the grass....I think they turned out pretty cute!

Birthday Girl!!

Mylie started with a piece of cake.

Of course she had to test one of the cake pops, too!

Time to get cleaned up.

 She got a lot of wonderful presents.  Her main "toy" present was the Fisher Price ZooTalkers Zoo from Grandma and Grandpa Smith.  Myah and Maysen gave her all of the animals to go with it!

Outfit #2 (after the bath) for opening presents

 

Neighbor friend, William, playing with the Zoo

She also got her very own chair (or Throne) just like her sisters have.  She thinks she's pretty big stuff when she sits in it!

Mylie's favorite part of the whole party was the balloons.....who can blame her?!?! 

Here are a few stats from the past year:

First smile: 5 1/2 weeks
First time rolling over: 4 months 1 week (July 14, 2011)
First time sitting up: 6 months (September 10, 2011)
First Tooth appeared: 6 1/2 months (September 22, 2011--mommy's birthday)
First time crawling: 8 1/2 months (November 13, 2011)
First time clapping: 9 months
First time standing: 9 months (December 17, 2011)
First time walking: 12 months (about a week before your first birthday)

She takes up to 6 steps at a time and does best when she thinks no one is paying attention to her.  Once we make a big deal about it, she drops to the floor to crawl.  She's a little stinker like that!  She also has this very cheesy grin/smile that I hope to share with you soon!

Mylie,
I love you so very much.  My eyes fill with tears as I think about how quickly you are growing up.  Your smile lights up our household from the minute you wake up in the morning until the second you go to sleep at night.  My heart holds so much love for you and your sisters, and I am so happy about the way the three of you love each other.  They want to teach you and help you grow, and the way you look at them lets me know that you think the world of them and you want to be just like them.  I want you to know that you are capable of doing anything you set your heart to.  I will be there for you as your strive for your dreams and I will be there when you might stumble or fall along the way.  There are no words for how much I love you.....and that love is unconditional.  I am so proud to call you mine.
Love,
Mommy

Collectors and A (soon to be) Walker

You may or may not know that B is an avid Basketball Card collector.  He has an entire room in the basement specifically for this hobby.  It needs some TLC to get organized again, but it's there.  He had been talking to the girls about how there is a WNBA--girls professional basketball-- and they were intrigued.  When you grow up as a coach's daughter, it's hard not to get sucked in!  For Valentine's Day, Brandon ordered them a box of WNBA playing cards.  They had a hayday opening up the packs to see what cards they got.  Luckily there was a brand that is kind to people with twins--there are two autographed cards in the box as well as two game-worn jersey cards--one of each of the girls.  Brandon even gave each of them a binder with sheet protectors to keep their cards in.  They take pretty good care of their loot, however, the lucky dogs that they are got the #1 Rookie Card possible (Candace Parker) that values at $100+ so Brandon is taking good care of that one!  Not too bad for a $25 box.

 

The first birthday of my baby is sneaking up on us!  In just 2 1/2 weeks, she'll be one.  AND I think she'll be walking by then also!  Last week, she started pushing around the chairs in our kitchen--the same way my other girls learned to walk.  She's becoming quite the pro.  She'll stand firmly without holding on to anything--then she panics and sits right down.  We'll be working with her, but I know she'll take off one of these days very soon.

 

 

11 months

Mylie VS Alfredo

Alfredo VS Mylie

No worries, mom....nothing a bath can't take care of!

yeah, I'm big!

Squeaky clean

Ready for bed

This girl is going to be 11 months this week!

Daddy Love

Do you know how to spot a good daddy?
Just look for one of these:

Yep!  A Hello Kitty band-aid (or Dora, Princess, Tinkerbell, etc would do just fine also!).  5 years ago, Brandon wouldn't have been caught dead wearing a pretty pink band-aid on his boo-boo, but yesterday, he put one on (choosing it from the drawer on his own).  He says it makes him think about the girls every time he looks at his hand....pretty sweet, huh!

What does the husband/daddy in your life do to make him pretty great??

Girls only...

Reason #8107 it's great to be a mother of girls....dance parties in the kitchen without boys around thinking you've absolutely lost it!  If you get motion sick, you may not want to watch it (though it is short)....mom had to bust a move, too :)  Tip: pause the music in the playlist at the bottom of the page before viewing the video in order to get the full effect.