Superheroes

A few weeks ago we went to Superhero day at the Flying Squirrels game.  So we had to make Payton and Reagan superheroes, there aren't too many that they know of, but Reagan knows who Super Why is and Payton just wanted to be a princess, so we turned Payton into Princess P who has spelling power and Reagan was Super Why who has Reading power.  Neither costume lasted long because it was so very hot outside, but it was a lot of fun making them and they had fun wearing them while they lasted.  They also got a Nutzy the Flying Squirrel superhero cape, which will come in handy because Payton has liked using trash bags as capes, so now she has a real one!

Botanical Garden

I love the botanical garden.  If I didn't work I would have a membership, I can't go as often as I would like. It's so relaxing and always so pretty in all the seasons.  It was also a lot of fun to go and see beautiful green grass, and colorful flowers when I have nothing that is green anymore from the many 100+degree days and little rain we've had this summer.  This time the water play was open and the girls had a good time playing in the pop jets.  Reagan liked it a lot more than Payton, she got tired of the other kids sitting on the jets so the water wouldn't come out or getting in her way.  And she said she was cold, now Monday was in the mid-90s rather than the mid-100s but still, is she crazy?!
It was fun to see Reagan excited about something and do her own thing.

The butterflies aren't coming to the conservatory this year, but we saw a lot of them in the garden.

I love the bright colors they always plant along the walkway to the conservatory

Payton took this of me in the treehouse, not too bad!

They got surprised by the pop jets when the turned on!

Payton sitting right in the middle

Reagan trying to wipe her eyes!

She loved standing right in the middle and sticking her hands in the water spraying up

Sweeping out the little house in the village.

I Heart Faces - Purple

I love this picture of my youngest with the drool rolling down her chin and the wild crazy curls and the purple wall of her bedroom behind her.

Head over to I Heart Faces to see more purple entries. 

Silliness

This isn't the best picture, but I love how it shows their silliness.  They were having the best time coloring with their feet up on the table and rolling back on the bed laughing and pounding their feet on the table...all while completely decked out in the fanciest of dress-ups!

"I lick you Mommy"

Payton had swim lessons tonight and they let Reagan get in the kids pool to splash around.  So it was fun to play just with Reagan for 45 min. in the water, but I didn't see anything Payton did tonight except she did voluntarily go completely under the water.  It was a pretty big 1 foot deep kids pool, whenever other kids got in it Reagan would say "Boy splash Reagan's pool"  she totally thought it was all hers and no one else should be in it!

While she was singing to me tonight, she wouldn't let me sing to her...she stops mid-song and says "I lick you Mommy" and proceeds to lick me right on my chest.  Way too funny that girl!

Toes

Payton is taking her first swimming lessons this week and is loving it!  There is a little boy in her class who screams and cries and just does not want to get in the pool. Tonight his Mom sat on the edge to get him to sit on the steps, Payton was sitting right next to her and really studying her.  Afterwards we get in the car and she says "Mommy, sometimes girls have toes that look like mens"  I said "They do?"  She said "Yes, the lady that was sitting beside me, her toes had hair on them like men's do, like Daddy's" Haha.  I had wondered what she was thinking watching that lady so intently, I never thought it would be that!

Reagan's Birthday Dinner

Finally here are the pics from Reagan's birthday dinner.  I love that this is becoming our birthday tradition, it's so fun to go exactly on the day and have milkshakes, onion rings, fries and hamburgers.  And I love the picture on the bench outside.

And the ones of them sucking down their milkshake!

Here she is trying on her new "high shoes" she opened when we got back from dinner.

Still unbelieveable our Reaganmeister is 2!

Camp Out!

I never thought I would be so thankful for 2 zone heat and air conditioning!  The upstairs air is not working, last night it worked it's way up to 91! Too hot to sleep upstairs, so we had a camp out downstairs.  Payton was so excited! She got to stay up late and watch tv (even though it was LeBron James' announcement). 
Reagan fell asleep around 9:30 in her pack-n-play in the dining room.

Payton laid out the blankets and we all slept on the living room floor.

We're definitely going to have to do this again sometime, she was completely giddy with excitement!

Green Beans!

I love fresh green beans. Just the smell of snapping them takes me back to when I was little helping to snap mountains of beans over newspaper.  My friend Sonny who has a big beautiful garden that I love to watch grow shared some with me, Payton and Reagan both helped snap the beans tonight.  Reagan did more than Payton, she said her hands got tired. Reagan just snapped away. 

Bedtime Rendezvous

Another night where neither of them sleep when they are supposed to.  However tonight, Payton was very sweet and went to help her sister out.  She gave her back her yi-yo when she threw it out and apparently gave her some books to read.

So this is how we found Reagan when we went to check on her.  So cute how Payton goes in her room after she's supposed to be asleep and takes care of her sister.  And hey..at least she didn't pull the curtain down again!

This is how we find Payton almost every night.  She goes to sleep under the covers and ends up like this

...on top of a completely made bed.  She's lovin the Ariel pajamas from Auntie Lori!

Sleep? What's that?

Last night we put Payton and Reagan to sleep at 8:00. They both were so tired from the weekend.  Reagan however wanted no parts of sleep.  She cried and cried when I laid her down, didn't want a story, didn't want a song, didn't want to be rocked.  Tung went in and she finally got quiet and laid down.  She kept talking to herself, then started yelling Daddy, Mommy!  Tung went up to check on her and she had pulled the curtain down off the window.  The bracket holding the curtain rod up was bent and the screw pulled out of the trim.  She says to me.  Mommy, broken.  I said I know, you broke it.  She said No, Daddy broken.  Um. not quite!  I laid her down and said Reagan needs to go to sleep.  She said Yeah, Reagan sleep.  Finally around 10 she was out.
Thanks to Payton showing her earlier in the day she could reach the curtain and play hide and seek behind it...guess Reagan doesn't know her own strength!

4th of July parade

This morning we decorated the wagon to go to the 4th of July parade in Ashland.  We had a lot of fun with the streamers and balloons, but quickly discovered balloons on a hot day pop when they touch anything!  They wore the flag dresses Grammie made and we had tootsie rolls to throw out and Reagan ate more than I could count while riding.  We made a Lady Liberty torch, but she decided she didn't want to take it to the parade. Walking in the parade was fun seeing everyone but I think Payton has decided it's more fun to watch the parade to have the possibility of catching some candy from others rather than being one to throw it out.  But Grandma bought her a snowcone at the end so she was happy.

Riding to the start of the parade, this is the poster Payton made and a lady even complimented her on her awesome poster and the fireworks she drew.  She was pretty proud.

Turning the corner, it's an all foot parade so the route isn't very long.  We passed Tung and his Mom near the beginning, they moved and saw them again right as we hit halfway, then they moved and we saw them again near the end.  They also put the bikes behind the lawnchair brigade, which is my favorite thing, however when you're walking behind them and have to keep stopping for them to do their routine, it's not good. Especially when it's 95 degrees and the sweat is running in your eyes!

This is the lawnchair brigade, they pop them out, sit down, stand up, fold up the chairs, hold them up in the air like a sword arch and all kinds of crazy stuff. Definitely the funniest part.

Reagan got tired of riding near the end so I carried her, when we saw Grandma she took her, but then she wanted to come back and have me carry her again.  She's eating a lollipop the girls next to us were throwing.