Pretties!

Amelia's hair is so fine it looks like little feathers.  She loves to have 'pretties' in her hair, but almost nothing will hold.  This morning, per her request, ('prepees! prepees!') I put in a little pony on the top of her head and wrapped the holder around her wispies about 17 times. She is so pleased with it, although to me her 'do looks like a little pussy willow!

We like it!

As we woke up to the news of Senator Joe Biden's selection as the Vice Presidential nominee John and I were talking about how much we enjoyed the interaction we had with Senator Biden at the Jefferson Jackson Day Dinner in Iowa last November. These pictures were actually taken by Senator Biden's son Beau, and there is obviously a little bit of user error with our camera.

A short update on the girlie-cues...

Saturday Ava started dance classes after a two month hiatus.  In June she was wearing size 10 tap shoes and last week I bought her a new pair... size 12.  

Gratuitous cute baby shot - this is Amelia being tossed in the air by her dad at the concert Sunday night. 

Time Warp

When I was in college at the University of Minnesota I followed a local band, Tim Mahoney and the Meenies, (now just Tim Mahoney) pretty regularly.  Several weekends a month my friends and I would be at various Twin Cities live music venues enjoying the band.  

Tonight Tim played an outdoor concert at the Jordan Creek Towne Center...  It's been more than a decade since I finished college, I was enjoying the concert while it was actually light outside, I was drinking water instead of some crappy light beer and I felt like I landed smack dab in the middle of a time warp.  I could have never anticipated this life then, but I am full of gratitude for where I am today.

And so there I was watching my girls dancing right along with an odd mix of nostalgia and contentment thinking "I have to get a picture so I can blog this!"

We're very inspired by the Olympics

Since the  opening ceremonies the Olympics have been on nearly non-stop at our house.  It really is remarkable to watch these elite athletes compete and I am pleased to have the girls watching powerful, brave, athletic women on television. Maybe Dara Torres will be enough of an inspiration to get me back on track.

Last night we were watching the diving competition, which prompted Ava to show us how brave and strong she is...  Of course, not quite brave enough to dive into water, but certainly brave enough to leap off our deck!

Ready....

Set...

Go!

Go again!

And again!

Our strong girl...

Flying!

Her cheering section...

Bamming the Chicken

Ava has been cooking since she was a tiny baby, pulling up to the island to help John with whatever tasty dinner is in store for us since she could stand and walk on her own.  Tonight they made Chicken Scallopine with Sage and Fontina cheese for dinner.  

Here's Ava 'bamming the chicken...'

Measuring out the shredded fontina....

Sprinkling the herbs and cheese...

The end result!

Amelia can't wait!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............

Amelia isn't a great sleeper....  I realize our point of comparison is Ava, who says good night, rolls over and is sound asleep.  Herds of elephants couldn't wake her.  Even at five she is still taking an occasional nap with out complaint.

Amelia's sleep is interrupted much more easily.  She has quite a bit of separation anxiety that can make putting her down difficult.  Since she joined our family, her favorite place to sleep is firmly between John and me, in our bed.  Most nights and naptimes we continue to try to reinforce a routine, soothing herself to sleep, in her own bed. But a couple of times a week will find our Baby Boo in our bed or one of us trying various tricks to get her to settle down in her own bed.  

Like this....

Who's zoomin' who?

The Twirly Girls

It feels like Ava is growing, changing, blossoming by the moment.  Particularly this summer with all the outside time, the fresh fruits and vegetables and the start of Kindergarten Ava is sprinting headlong into whole new aspects of childhood with big feet, long legs and lots of opinions.

Ava has always been a social creature, but particularly this summer she has really embraced playing with her friends.   The picture below is from last Sunday - with her friends Olivia and Jessica.  These twirly girls played all morning, then spent most of the afternoon in Papa Ray and Grandma Jo's pool.  No doubt we will long for these days when winter settles in....

Whitfield and Eddy Summer Picnic

Thursday night was John's firm party, hosted this year at the Science Center of Iowa.  

Since Meghan also works at the firm, we were lucky to be joined by Meghan and her boyfriend TJ.

At the Science Center Ava practiced being a meteorologist in the weather simulator...

 

And dug for dinosaur bones in the archeologist display....

Amelia was sort of tired and crabby, but she really enjoyed the ice cream!