HHI - Part I

Ahhhh.....vacation. This is our life this week. It has been awesome. It is already Tuesday, and as usual the week is flying by fast. We left on a late flight on Saturday, and then we drove about five hours through the night to get to Hilton Head Island. Amazingly, the kids traveled fabulously. They had a great time on the plane, and then they slept in the car. We have of course been to the beach and pool a couple of different times. Laura is quite the swimmer this summer. She has a Dora life jacket, and it has given her a new sense of independence. She swims all over the pool all by herself. She even will talk to other kids and make friends. The first day, we watched her talk to a little girl and start playing catch with the little girl. She is our little social butterfly. Hannah loves swimming too, but she is not quite so independent - in the the water that is. Everywhere else she rules the roost. At the beach, Hannah was fearless of the water. I thought she would be timid with the waves rolling up to her and the salty water getting in her eyes and mouth. But she was not one bit afraid. She loved it!

We had Maddie's birthday party last night. The girls had a lady bug party. They each had little tee shirts that said Lady Bug Club and had their names on the back. We had cake and homemade ice cream. It was an enjoyable evening. On the deck that evening, Laura had on about ten glow bracelets. We were all sitting around talking, and Laura started to lead everyone in cheers. She would go around to each person and tell them what to say. Then she would go to the middle and tell everyone to yell together. Papa was being stubborn and would only yell Buckeyes cheers, so Laura was constantly saying, "No Papa" and correcting him. It was the cutest thing. At one point in the evening, we noticed that Maddie went upstairs. She told us that she just need a break. Hilarious! I think we are all a little too much for Maddie sometimes. It was an enjoyable evening.

This morning it's been raining a little, so the kids watched Rapunzel. Hannah has taken to carrying around little purses. She will often pick one of Laura's up and start filling it with some things. And then she will tell us "Bye Bye." She has developed quite the personality. She has made up to my dad and gotten comfortable here. She's napping at the moment.

To a relaxing rest of the week! Cheers!

The first picture is of the Laura and Maddie decorating Barbie dresses (something Maddie got for her birthday). And the second picture is Hannah cheezin'.

Hunter

First I have to tell you that Matt and I went to see Harry Potter Friday afternoon, and it was awesome! It was everything I hoped it would be. I am someone who likes movies that wrap everything up at the end, and they did a great job of that at the end of the movie. I have read the first two books. I think I will read the rest of the books, even though I know how it ends.

Ok. Now onto the kids. Ever since 4th of July, Laura has been very into hunting bugs, and now she also likes to hunt frogs. She has found several small ones in the last week. She has been letting them go at night. We tell her that if they stay in her box all night, they might die. Thankfully, she chooses to release them. She keeps the bug box beside her bed, and I would hate for her to wake up with a dead frog.

We hit the zoo Saturday morning. It was Kidfest there, so we were a little disappointed at first since there more kids there in the morning than usual. But it turned out to be really fun. There were all kinds of interactive activities. Laura stood right beside a flamingo (which she loves the flamingos.) And she got to touch a lizard and an armadillo. We finished the morning at the polar bears, my favorite exhibit. We have never went underneath the glass at that exhibit, and we did that this time. It was really cool. The bears were swimming a lot since it was so hot outside.

Matt pumped up the tires on our bikes and the bike trailer, and the girls and I went on a bike ride through the neighborhood. And we finished the night with the kids running through the hose in the yard. Hannah loves the hose. It's hilarious; she just keeps going back and forth through the water and laughing and cooing. Even when she seems freezing, she keeps going. The girls and daddy played golf in the yard too. I think the girls won that game. :)

Sunday Ellen and Ty came over for a cookout. We got the pool out for the girls. They had a great time. They splash and laugh and play together so well. Watching them is pure entertainment. I was attempting to get Laura with the hose, which she was running away from me, and instead I got Ellen all wet. Ha ha!! Then Matt scared her with a rubber snake. That was so funny. Hopefully they come back :) Matt and the kids and I went on another bike ride this evening. It was nice. Matt worked really hard this weekend. And our garage is clean. Hmmm....best husband award goes to Matt!

Hannah is very into giving raspberries on Matt's and my bellies. Lovely. She thinks it's hilarious though and laughs a deep laugh. So we certainly can't deny her, our sweet little thing. She also likes to be swaddled at night for bed and at nap time. So lately when she's playing, she will drag out a blanket and lay it out and try to wrap herself in it. Funny.

One more week till vacation. So excited. The top picture is Laura with the tooth fairy at the zoo at kidsfest. She had a mouthful of sugary bubble gum! The second picture is Hannah enjoying the water from the hose.

Independence Day

Or "Indedence Day," as Laura said. We had an awesome 4th of July weekend. Very spontaneously, we decided to head down to Red, White and Boom Friday night. We went to the Manley party, which did not disappoint. We had a blast! (No pun intended.) Our view of the fireworks was perfect. We essentially sat in the front row on the other side of vets and watched the show. Laura sat on Aunt Sandy's lap, and they talked about which colors were there favorites and what some of the looked like (fireflies, etc.) I was concerned that little Hannah would be scared of the loud booms, but she did just fine. She sat on my lap and watched without concern. It was a relaxing evening.

Saturday Matt golfed with his brothers, and the kids and I went on to Uncle Alyan's and Aunt Jaynie's for the day. Laura had a wonderful time all day. We started the day with Alan's homemade biscuits and gravy. So yummy. Laura helped him make the biscuits. Later that morning Laura also did one of her favorite activities at Uncle Alyan's - "walk" Joe Joe, his dog. I say, "walk" in quotes because it's closer to dragging. Poor Joe Joe. Laura drags him around and around their house. At one point, he just laid down and tried to stop her from walking him. But he lost the battle. He's such a good sport. Aunt Jaynie gave Laura a bug box that evening, and Laura caught about fifty lightening bugs. And she loved her bugs. She dragged them around all day the next day. She enjoyed time with her cousin, Chelsea, too. Chelsea dressed Laura up as a princess, and painted her fingernails and toenails - happy memories. We ended the evening with a yummy dinner at Pizza Crossing in Logan. (Best pizza in OH.)

Sunday we headed to Findlay to my Aunt Jane's house for the Prochaska family gathering. Matt played in the traditional Firecracker Five Hundred golf tournament. Laura played with my cousin, Molly, and we enjoyed good company and good food. Hannah pretty much stuck to me the whole time. I thought that she would loosen up, but I think there were just too many people.

We had a little bit of a rough week this week, mostly because we had a busy weekend, and it was just hard to readjust back to our schedule. Hannah and Laura struggled at school. And neither slept good this week. But we made it through. Thankfully.

We've been getting treated to little girl dance parties recently. There is some show on Nick, Jr, of which I'm not sure of the name. Anyway, it has a band that plays, and my girls love it! They just dance to their little hearts' content. Hannah will try to mimic anything that Laura is doing. So if Laura does a summer sault, Hannah will put her little head on the ground too. It's the cutest thing. We are going to have to video it the next time we get treated to a dance party.