Happy Golden Birthday, Sammi!

Sammi turned 2 on the 2nd. Happy Birthday, Sam!
Here she is on the morning of her birthday. More birthday pics to come. Mommy & Daddy forgot to bring a camera to her birthday party- ahhh!

Zoo

Last week, we decided to put our zoo pass to use (it had been a while) and go check out some animals. It was a beautiful afternoon. Perfect day to go to the zoo!

Checking out the African savanna-
Look really, really close in between the girls' heads- there's a giraffe-

I'm a meerkat!

As always, the penguins were one of our favorite stops-

Since we had our "fancy" camera with us, we stopped at the rose garden on our way out. We had to make a quick get-away from the garden...the girls decided that it was fun to grab handfuls of petals and throw them in the air. Pretty sure picking of the roses is not OK.

Who's that big girl??

Last week, on Monday and Tuesday afternoon after nap, Sammi got out some of Alexis' undies and insisted on wearing them and using the potty. On Wednesday, she wanted to wear undies all day...and now she's pretty much potty trained! She did it all on her own- amazing! We've had a couple of accidents (with poop-yuck) but so far, so good. Great job, Sam!

Showing off her undies-

Good thing Mommy doesn't use lipstick. Lip gloss made quite a mess. Looking good!

Fun out back

This summer, we have come up with a few fun things to do in our backyard.

Bouncing Sammi on the trampoline is a good one-

We finally got more sand for the sandbox (and relocated the sandbox- it was way too close to the back door last summer so sand ended up piled up at the door). Alexis is adding Maui sand to the sand box. Jumping on the trampoline is even more fun when you turn on the sprinklers!

Sammi & Alexis love getting sprayed with the hose as their pool is filling up. Its way more fun than just letting the hose sit at the bottom of the pool.

Mommy & Daddy go to Maui

A few weeks ago Mommy & Daddy took off to Maui without the girls- celebrating 5 years of marriage a little early. It was great! So relaxing!!! The girls stayed with Grandma Gayle & Papa Scott, Aunt Cara & Uncle Joel, Grandma Jeannette, and Grandma Kris & Papa Bob. They did great and had a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone!
They are having a hard time now that we are back...they freak out if we leave (well mostly if Mom leaves). Hopefully this anxiety about us leaving will die down soon.

Happy 4th of July

OK, so we are way far behind on this & somehow we got out of order...the 2nd session of swim lessons started after the 4th of July weekend. Oh well.

Alexis & Mommy went to Great-Grandma "Pete's" house for lunch on the 4th. Sammi & Daddy stayed home and took a nap. We knew we would be up late & without a nap Sammi would have been way too tired.

Doing Pop-Its-

We celebrated Steve's birthday that day. Happy Birthday, Uncle Steve!
That evening, we headed to Aunt Kathy's and Uncle Matt's for a huge 4th of July party. Sparklers were our favorite part! Well, until Sammi burnt her finger on one. We were down by the water when it happened and Alexis took off up to the house. She went and found Kathy (even though Papa Bob & Grandma Kris were right there) and told her that Sammi was on fire and that she needed some ice- thank goodness no one freaked out when they heard this news. What a great big sister, looking out for Sammi like that! Everyone around the lake were setting off fire works. What a show!

Glow sticks-