Audrey's first bike ride

Our little girl is growing up.  She sleeps in a big girl bed without a rail, she pees in a big girl toilet, and now she's riding a big girl bike. 

She can't wait to be three.  She loves her big sister and hopes that as soon as she turns three, she will get to do all the things Kristen does. 

But for now, she is excited about this new milestone.  And so are we.

Audrey's first post

i like going to church

i love my sister.

i love my mommy.

i love my daddy.

Hot Air Balloon Sighting (Kristen's 2nd posting)

i caw a bloon on the wea toow chrch ( I saw a balloon on the way to church.)   It was soooo huge and it was so colorful.  Audrey liked following the balloon in Daddy's car. 

we liked watching the balloon deflate.

It landed in a field.  Six people were in the balloon.  I counted them as they got out of the basket.

Audrey dictating ( I liked watching the balloon follow us to church.)  

Farmer's Market

Both girls enjoy going to the farmers’ market.

They like to take their own bags and picked out veggies to put in them.

                             We love tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

                  We also buy watermelon, which is a HUGE hit, especially with Audrey

Baby Janie

The girls' favorite boys (Ian and Ethan Reimer) just had a sister !!!

                   So of course we had to go visit her right away !

                 She is a precious baby and the whole family is in love. 

Boating

On a Saturday morning in late August, Daddy & Mommy took us on a boat ride at the local lake. Do we look like we're ready?

Here we are, cruisin around the lake. My sister Kristen is over there relaxin, but me - I'm over here paddling away! (am I paddling in the right direction, Daddy??)

Chill time for Mommy. It's been a long, hard week and it's hot out here!

What does this rope do?

I think I'm paddling in the right direction now, Daddy. Am I holding the paddle the right way?

It's so hot, that dog didn't want to stay in his owner's boat the whole time!

This was a fun day at the lake, Mom and Dad. Can we come back (when it's not so hot)?

Branson 2011

Kristen loves drawing pictures so we were not surprised when she had a mural of artwork on the balcony of our Branson resort within ten minutes of our arrival. 

                       and what Kristen does, Audrey does as well. 

After a few minutes of that, the girls were ready for the pool. 

They were so anxious to jump in and get wet, that they began blowing up their own floaties. 

So of course, we indulged them and took them to the pool. 

And that is where we spent most of our vacation.

Swimming, floating, splashing and playing.

"Ah, now THIS is what I call a vacation.  Mommy, could you bring me some cold lemonade?"

(that's a sun-shielding hand, not a salute)

The next day we headed over to the fish hatchery.  The girls loved feeding the fish and watching them jump up to get the food.

It was crazy hot at the fishery in August, so we went back to the resort and jumped  into the pool as fast as we could!

Hoist me up, Daddy!

Wait for it...

                                                         Wait for it........ (giggling sorta slows the process...)

                                                          Almost got it..... (giggling is mostly under control now)

                                                                        TA-DAH!!

We love cable TV...not so much that we are willing to pay for it in our own home where it will suck up too much of our time.... but we love it in Branson. We watch Dora, Shark Week and, of course, the Cardinals.

The girls are incredible cheerleaders, clapping, jumping, screaming and dancing when the Cardinals score a run.

Every year Phil likes to go to the Strip and visit a new breakfast buffet. This time, Kristen got pretty creative with her choice of biscuit "spread"

Then we drove around looking at the sights. 

But it was hot and getting hotter outside and those rocks were a little hard to walk on. Sooo....BACK TO THE POOL!

The next morning we headed over to the lake to feed the fish, and maybe try to catch one.

 The fish didn't feel like biting, sooo...BACK TO THE POOL!

 Nana and Grandma arrived towards the end of our week at Branson.  Can you take a wild guess as to where we went with them??

and they babysat for us, too.  Thank you.  Phil and I loved our evening out.

On our last day, we went to the Dixie Stampede.  The girls loved the show !!!