Olivia got this tent for her birthday. We have had about 3 of these kinds of little tents and they get wrecked and ruined so easily, I was not expecting this one to last long. I bought it at Michael's clearance for $3.99! I should have bought two for when this one goes! The girls always have so much fun with these things.
The first night, Olivia was away with Grandma Gwenn for her birthday date and Izzy was away at basketball camp, and so Lily and Chloe wanted something special for them too. So, they decided to do a little campout in the basement and sleep in the tent after watching movies in it. They fit perfectly!
We have about 3 or 4 of these scary looking spiders constantly building webs around our house. We found out they are Orb spiders, completely harmless, just gross looking with their horns on their backs. One was once hanging right from the door handle on the door we use the most to get in and out of. The girls freaked out and so Ben came and saved the day and killed it.
Here is the homemade strawberry lemonade cake we had for my 32nd birthday...Yumm!
Izzy went away to Rocky Mountain House to go to a basketball camp with her cousins. They have been doing this for years, but you have to be 9 years old to go. This year there was a small number going, just 4 cousins, as opposed to the usual 10. Izzy had a blast having a sleepover every night with her fave cousins, going swimming, going to the movies to see Planes, going shopping at the Farmer's Market, and of course, playing basketball. Sara, Ben's sister who lives there and hosts all the kids, called me the last night and said Izzy actually threw up that night. We think she must have had heat stroke which she is very prone to, and that mixed with a week of fun and staying up late, and getting lots of exercise probably made her body really tired. We sure missed having Izzy around. It was a joyous reunion seeing her again.
Here is the whole crew:
Lunch in the hall:
Izzy showing us her new skillz:
There is a salon in Rocky that charges considerably less to get your ears pierced than anywhere in Edmonton (yay for small towns). We promised the girls, who have been begging and begging to get their ears pierced that after we picked up Izzy we would go and get them done. Poor Chloe, just couldn't bring herself to do it. As soon as the lady got even a little close, she would cover her ears and just start crying. She tried a few times, each time saying she was now ready, but each time giving the same reaction. We assured her we would get her ears done later, when she is good and ready. She was so relieved to wait.
Olivia was the most eager and willing! She climbed up onto that chair with no hesitation and sat there good as gold and let the lady do her work and as soon as she got it done she proudly proclaimed, "That didn't hurt one bit!"
Lily did not enjoy it one bit. Really cried and grimaced the whole time for her first ear. I wasn't sure she was going to let the lady let her do her second ear, but she pushed through and let the lady do it.
Izzy was strong and steady which was the complete opposite of how she was a year ago when we tried. She watched all her sisters go first, ahead of her, and decided, I can do this. She has been wanting to get it done forever.
Lily went first, kind of freaked out, which is why I think Chloe had a hard time. Then Olivia. Then Chloe tried but couldn't. Then Izzy. Izzy got diamond studs, Lily got gold ball studs, and Olivia got silver ball studs. They all love having them done! They do such a good job of reminding ME to clean them which is great. I'm a little worried about Chloe feeling left out, or bad about herself for not getting it done. I've assured her and talked to her about how everyone gets them at their own time, when theyre ready. She is ok with everything I think. She knows that whenever she is ready she can tell us and we will go get them done. I told her I would wait to get mine redone until after she does, so she won't be the only girl in the house with no earrings.
Here is Olivia Canada Day 2013:
Our beach had an Urban Campout with a movie! We got to watch The Croods and then sleep at the beach! SOOOO fun! And I didn't freeze! It was the absolute perfect weather for it.
Gearing up for a movie on the sand:
Our summer has been a good one. This was taken while on a break from a bike ride:
We've enjoyed splash parks. This one is at Jackie Parker park, but we have also gone to Ellerslie Spray park a lot too.
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| Hot and humid that day |
Another thing we have done so much of this summer are BIKE RIDES. We are really getting to know our neighbourhood very well. This was a day that we rode to Millwoods Towncenter and back. We were so tired the next day from that! Biking up the hill that crosses the Henday was hard work!
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| I was pulling Olivia in the trailer |
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| Familiar sight for me this summer |
Izzy helped me make scrambled eggs the other night. That girl can cook! She is a big help.
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| More bike rides, exploring |
Ben went away to Young Men's camp these past three days. I took the girls to do many fun things while they were gone, including Pirate Day today at the beach (see other post.) This day I took them for a bike ride down Ellerslie Road to an ice cream stand to get yummy ice cream! They were troopers and loved it! Then we made homemade mini pizzas for dinner.
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| Taking a break |
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| Izzy chose cookie dough, Lily cotton candy, Olivia bubblegum, Chloe birthday cake, and me...New York Cherry Cheescake. |
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| Random photo from the summer.....We HEART watermelon!!!! |
And here we are today.....back to school! Getting ready for it! It is so much work. Lots of fun for the kids. They love to organize their crayons, and scissors, and felts, and get new clothes! Lily keeps telling me that her new clothes are what she is the most excited for! I remember it always being very exciting too.
