Getting back into the swing of things



no, she wasn't in time out, not this time :)


Back at Gymnastics!

Well, we had a wonderful visit with having the cousins here, all the same it's kind of nice that things are quiet again. Julia has missed them and talks about Robert all the time and lights up when either of the boys are on the phone with her, but seems to understand that it was time for them to go back to their home. I'm glad it wasn't harder for her. She's used to people coming and going around here, but the boys stayed longer than anyone else has been able to and I was a little worried that it would be extra hard on her. Thank goodness that wasn't the case. Though I think she'd prefer to have them back today to play with. :)

Now we are just settling back into our routine of gymnastics once a week, lunches with Daddy when we can, and now gearing up for her 2nd birthday. I can hardly believe she is going to be 2 already! Doesn't seem possible and yet the date is coming up fast. I need to get her in for her shots and her 2 year appointment is already set up. I'm glad and grateful that she still likes to cuddle and am taking full advantage of that fact. She has already, as my one friend likes to describe the terrible two's, begun to declare her independence. More and more things have to be her idea or she has to at least try to do things herself first. Which is all to the good, I want her to think and do things for herself, but oh she has a stubborn streak too. We can generally come to an understanding though, so she's not nearly as stubborn as some I've seen. Actually most of the time, she's pretty good at reasoning with. So I guess I'll count my blessings there and pray it lasts! lol.

For more of Julia at Gymnastics or just being cute, go to Dropshots.

****Arbuckle Wilderness and Turner Falls***


Julia's new friend

Feeding the horses and other animals!


Turner Falls


Playing on the beach


Swimming in the pool at the foot of the falls.





For our last weekend with the boys, we threw everyone back in the car and ventured off to something new. We had heard about this place just last week from a friend of mine and I am so glad we did! The Arbuckle Wilderness was a drive through safari, where you could feed the animals, though for the most part we tried to toss the food away from the car some animals were more persistant than others. Julia adored the horses, of course, they are a new obsession for her so she was ecstatic to have one poke it's head in the car window! Riley had the most fun with the food, Robert, like me, was a bit more nervous (okay maybe even more than me) and did better tossing the food well away from the car! But still we all had fun.

After that, we went down the road just a couple of miles and hit Turner Falls Park, both of these places are in Oklahoma by the way, so the boys have added another state that they've been in to their list since leaving Maine. Turner Falls was incredible and by far a change of pace for us. It's the first time since leaving Maine that I've gotten into any stream, river or lake water and it was great! (that doesn't count the ocean that's completely different!) The water was actually clear, Julia loved walking into it, holding our hands of course and floated quite well with her water wings. She's very trusting of me and Daddy, and was repeating "I got you" as if to remind us that we indeed had her. This was also her first experience with beach sand, she wasn't quite sure what to think of how sticky it was but was quite curious about it all the same.

For more pictures (about 150 of them!) go to Dropshots. It was a long but really fun day. I just wish we had known more about the falls and how it was set up before going. We would have packed a lunch, spent more time there and taken some floats!! Good tip for next time.

The 4th of July and our young "Jedi" in training. We went out to fireworks (OF COURSE!) on the 4th, Julia's first experience with them, and had a great time. Meeting Ms. Melissa and of course Bradon and their family to hang out and see the fireworks.

As for our "Jedi" the boys have been very into Star Wars and even more so after our trip to the Museum with the Star Wars exhibit last weekend. So now they sport lightsabers and Julia has of course become fascinated. So they have started showing her how they work and giving her some basic training if you will. Either way she's happy and loving being the center of their attention. I've posted a few pictures here and more (plus videos) will be on Dropshots later. For some reason my Dropbox isn't working right now so they may not be there tonight, but some time in the next couple of days. :)

Another weekend with the cousins. Julia's sure going to miss them when they head home next week. The weather has hit "summer" here now, so that means Hot and Hotter, the boys are making good use of the pool. I'll have a few more pictures from the weekend and the 4th up later but for now, the kids went into a photo booth at the mall, not the best quality but still a good picture of the three of them. Check back later for more. :)

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

It's been a week here. Since the cousins are in for a visit (Robert and Riley) we decided to risk the weather this past weekend and headed to the Dallas area. We managed to fit quite a bit into the 3 days we spent there. The Childrens Museum of Science and History in Ft. Worth, Six Flags, and the Ft. Worth Zoo.

The boys had a great time riding roller coasters and whatever else they could find at Six Flags. Julia and I mostly took in the sites and even left them riding the Texas Giant while we went and found the parade route and caught that. We were almost back when my cell phone rang "where are you?" lol.. All in all, we were all pretty worn out by the time we got back to the hotel.

Julia is having a blast with her cousins here. Though she does pretty much call them both "Robert". She's definitely getting used to having them around. Riley even took her on a couple of rides at the park. Her vocabulary is growing more every day. And last week she started counting...by two's.. we would say 1, she would come back with 2..and so on all the way to 10! Now she can do the whole thing by herself when she wants to all the way to 11! I also caught her starting to sing the "ABC" song the other day, but as soon as she saw me watching she smiled and quit. Her little mind is certainly taking a lot in these days!

I've added some shots from this weekend, for more, as always, go to Dropshots. :)