Before you were conceived I wanted you,

Before you were born I loved you, Before you were here an hour I would die for

you.This is the miracle of life.






Monday, September 26, 2011

4 1/2 Years Old- "Half"y Birthday!!!

The girls turned 4 1/2 today. They are most excited about moving to the yellow room at church. They spent the day going to school and watching the Glenpool Homecoming Parade.

Previous half birthday posts:
6 months
1 1/2 years old
2 1/2 years old
3 1/2 years old

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Seaside, FL Day Four

My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied.

~Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Speckled Band
On the ship headed out to the East Jetties for snorkeling. The girls watched out the side as our guide tormented the other boats and jet skiers by spraying them with a water gun as they passed us.
Emily and Daddy were snorkeling buddies. Emily rode on his back as he snorkeled around the cove. She refused to put on her mask because it was too tight, but would compromise and occasionally press the mask against her face to cause just enough suction to keep the water out as she looked under the water.
Abigail was in the water briefly; just long enough to see a very large crab scamper by. After seeing this, she got scared and wanted to just sit on the boat and munch on her snacks.
After a swim in the pool back at the condo, we meandered back to the Central Square in Seaside and had dinner at Pickles. They have outside seating with misters to keep us cool while we eat. It is also a great time to people watch.


The girls posing by a mermaid statue. Emily is still convinced there are real mermaids out there in the ocean.
We ended our evening back at the girls' favorite place, Duckies. Abigail could not wait to get her hands on a cat like Emily has. She named hers Copper Moonlight. Emily chose small cat and dog figures and named them Sat the Cat and Fog the Dog.


Swimming

I have yet to tell the exciting news of the girls learning to swim. They just took off at the beginning of the summer and have been little fish ever since. Abigail loves to stay under water and wear her goggles. She can swim the length of both Nana's and Momo's pool, coming up only to spew water and catch one quick breath before going back under. Emily likes to keep her head above the water and doggie paddle. They are both getting pretty good about going deep under the water.


These videos were taken at the pool at our condo in Florida.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Seaside, FL Day Three

AAARRRGGGHHH! AhoyMe Hearties! Aye Aye! Heave Ho! Landlubber! Scalleywag! Shiver Me Timbers!Thar She Blows! Walk the Plank! Yo Ho Ho!

Tonight we visited the Pirate Ship, Sea Dragon. Emily and Abigail were very excited to board a real pirate ship and meet "nice pirates".
Emily looking through her telescope at the people and ships passing.
The crew climbing the masts to be introduced. This quickly caught the girls attention.
Before the fun activities began, two of the pirates gave instructions. Neither girl was real sure of how to take these unfamiliar characters at first.
The trip began with a water gun fight. The girls mostly shot each other, but found it a little exciting that they could shoot other kids, as well as, adults without getting into trouble.
Abigail, in true pirate fashion, with her eye patch, and telescope.
Emily getting her face painted.
Abigail getting her face painted.
Abigail and Emily showing off their new face paintings (both dolphins) and their pirate hats.
Daddy and Emily sword fighting on the deck of the pirate ship.
Daddy and Emily in the midst of their fight. They don't appear to be too fierce of enemies.
Emily fighting one of the pirates. I think he was distracted by the pretty lights from her Twinkle Toe shoes. He stopped the fight to make a comment on them.Mommy took over the fight once Daddy got tired.
Abigail did not want to sword fight at first, but then she got into it once she realized she could hit Daddy.
The pirates showing the children the treasure map and trying to determine the exact location of the treasure.

After looking at the map, the children had to look out into the water to locate the orange buoy with the big black 'X' on it. One of the pirates threw out a hook to capture the rope and then, all the children worked together to pull the treasure chest out of the ocean.
Each child was allowed to get three items from the treasure chest. Here they all had to hold up three fingers. Notice Emily holding her three by putting down her ring finger and her thumb; not the typical thumb and pinky.
The pirates seemed to take forever getting the chest unlocked and showing the children what was inside.

Finally, the children were able to gather their loot from the treasure chest they had worked so hard on locating and pulling into the ship.
The evening ended with a Pirate Party which, of course, include the limbo. Both girls just ducked underneath until they saw what the older kids were doing. Then, Emily began laying backwards as she walked under it.
Both girls refused to participate in the Chicken Dance. I guess they thought it was silly??
The pirates lead the children around a conga line playing the tambourine and dancing.
The very last "treasure" the pirates gave was a skull and cross bones tattoo. Bones, the Pirate worked on putting Emily's on. Abigail refused it.
They girls also got to fire the "Kid Cannon" which consisted of soft Nerf cannon balls that were shot by hitting the cannon with a hammer. Abigail was a little frightened by the idea at first because she thought it was going to be loud like the big cannons they shot off earlier in the trip. She could not stand the loud boom and would cover her ears tightly. She also got worried every time the captain said anything about the pirate "Cannon Ball Sue". She just heard the words "cannon ball" and assumed they were about to fire it off again.

Emily and Mommy's matching tattoos. Check out those guns!


Our ship; Sea Dragon

Monday, August 1, 2011

Seaside, FL Day Two

It was another beautiful day at the beach this morning. We played, swam, built sand castles, and tried something new; body surfing. The water was amazing and the sand beautiful and white.
Emily showing off her new mermaid. We gave the girls $20.00 to spend last night when we went into the shopping area. Abigail spent all of hers at the first store we went to. She bought an airplane, a saxophone, and a fish; all red. Emily bought a stuffed cat there, too, but wanted to see what the other stores had to offer. She was very picky about spending her money and ending up going back to the original store and spent the rest of her money on this mermaid. We were surprised at how much she considered her purchases and Abi spent it freely. Based on their personalities, we would have guessed the roles would have been reversed.

Abigail tried to use this little shovel to fill in the holes as Daddy dug them. She made trip after trip getting a couple of ounces at a time and usually missed as she threw it toward the hole. I'm not sure why she chooses to use the shovel when we have numerous buckets.

Emily helping Daddy dig.

After our daily nap, we tried swimming at the pool, but were soon met with a thick wall of black clouds bringing a small thunderstorm. We went inside to wait it out and then headed back out to the beach to walk while we waiting for the storms to head further southwest of us.
It was cloudy and cool as we walked down the beach. It was low tide and made for some great discoveries.
It was also a bit windy out.



We just couldn't help ourselves. We had to stray into the warm waters a little.


Emily chasing seagulls. She really believes she is going to catch them.

In search...
Abigail found the "perfect seashell" and wanted to share it with Emily.



Abigail loves her red fish she bought at a shop, Duckies, downtown last night. She has been taking it everywhere with her, even to bed.