Adventures in Babysitting

abysitting my 5 month old niece was not really the adventure.... my girls loving her to pieces was the exciting part. She was cute & sweet and the girls couldn't leave her alone. We had to keep reminding them to not be space invaders. Skye was such a good sport! She is a cutie & it was fun to have her over. What's one more girl, right?

This picture cracks me up! First thing in the morning...PJs & crazy hair. They are all over her (& Mark)

Reese was having SO much fun with baby Skye

Pictures post getting ready... hair is done & matching clothes =)

Success at Zoo Boise

Our little zoo here is just that- little. BUT we now have a very cool butterfly exhibit which was well worth the trip. Luckily our girls have nothing to compare our zoo with- they thinks it's great =) Here are some of our adventures (yes i did bring my camera AND take pictures!)

The Blue Morpho-picture does not do it justice. So pretty & HUGE!

The girls thought the anteater was creepy... kind of is

Kinda looking like a future cheerleader?

Very serious- notice the 10 and 2

Debut of the new bangs-had to do it. They were driving me CRAZY!

Everyone needs a turn driving the safari jeep

Not pictured are the majority of animals we saw and me =) BUT there is evidence the girls had a fun time at the zoo!

One fish, two fish, three fish

It's official! We are the proud new owners of 3 goldfish. Let me introduce you to-
Gilly, Lolly & Dorothy (for all you Elmo fans). Thanks to the library's summer reading program and the girls' reading success, they earned a coupon for a free goldfish. The girls were super excited (mostly Paige who has asked about getting her goldfish daily since last week). So far, so good. We are about 4 hours into it & I'm happy to report they are still alive =)

Happy Father's Day

I love this picture!

 Mark is forever being loved by our girls... they literally fight over who gets to sit next to him. I on the other hand have the entire couch to myself. Nobody fights for the seat next to Mom. Oh well... I'm always excited to see Mark when he comes home too. They all wanted to be by him while they watched a show.
He is such an awesome dad. I love to see him interact with the girls & to see their faces light up when he walks through the door. He's the best! Love ya Babe
I remember my Dad coming home from work & wanting his attention. We would unlace his work boots & thought that was pretty cool.
So thankful to have an amazing Dad who has become an amazing grandpa.(I'm so bummed because I can't find any recent pictures of him that I've taken. I'm terrible at remembering to use my camera that I usually have with me. I'll try to get one posted soon). He's the best Dad and I love him!

Claire is 4!

The birthday girl!

My attempt at getting a picture of all the girls together

Claire's big day fell on Memorial Day this year, so we go to spend a fun day together as a family to help her celebrate. Always nice to have Mark home ALL day =) There's a place out here called Bounce that the girls love- inflatables that they can jump & slide on. The older girls really love it, Reese is not so sure... it's pretty noisy & that makes her a little hesitant to try anything. The girls cracked me up with the jousting stuff... aka the teeter totter. Claire LOVED wearing the safety helmet!

                                                   

Claire in motion... as usual!

We went home for much needed naps. They were up early & tired from Bounce.  We hung out that night with just our family... everyone was busy or out of town for the weekend. We ate cupcakes & opened presents to complete the day. Claire is so fun to watch opening presents. She always loves everything- even clothes! Big sister Paige was none too thrilled at all the NEW stuff Claire got & wanted to share, trade, borrow, steal, etc. There was some serious malay post presents. Poor Paige, it's hard when you're the oldest and not everything is about you ; )

(Not pictured is the super cute package contents from my parents. I had my Mom on skype so she could watch her open but didn't take any pictures except her holding the box- not the cool things inside)

After Bounce we all went to lunch at Red Robins (that's what the girls call it) for a later lunch. Hindsight, perhaps not a good idea post physical activity to drink milk chocolate & load up on grilled cheese w/ fries. Can you say "it's my party & I'll puke if I want to"? Yep... it was a recipe for disaster. Claire was thoroughly enjoying the refillable chocolate milk too quickly & then all of a sudden, she didn't look so good. Mark could see it in her eyes before I could, but it was too late to make it to the bathroom where it would go totally un-noticed. Mark (in his quick thinking) grabbed a lined basket just in time. We did need a second basket & then were able to make it to the bathroom for clean up. She felt great after that & the birthday girl was once again all smiles. Mark did toss the baskets in the men's room, so no worries if your eating at Red Robins in the area =)

Before too much chocolate milk...

                                                    

                                   Grammy met us for lunch! Thanks Grammy =) 

Claire's favorites at 4

Food -strawberries (or anything chocolate)

Color- pink

Toy- My little ponies

Show- Little Eisnteins

Likes to- Helping Mommy with the laundry (her words & she truly does love do that), going to Monkey Bizness or Bounce

Doesn't like- peas and onions

Claire is a sweetie & so much fun. She is full of energy & has been since the womb (honestly).  Although she is a feisty little thing & can be the most trying of her sisters sometimes, we absoutlely LOVE her to pieces!

Happy Birthday Clairey Bear!

Sunday Fun

We had a large dry spot in the grass in our backyard from where the trampoline has been since last year. We bought a sprinkler to try to get the dry spot a little greener & the girls couldn't stay away from the water. "We'll just get our hands wet"  then "we just want to get our feet wet" and after several attempts of us telling them to stay out of the water, they couldn't stand it any longer. Clothes & all they were frolicking in the sprinkler & having a total blast.   We let them put on swimsuits & then the water wasn't quite as fun anymore. 

Love this picture too!

Still dry & testing the water

Love this picture!

Super soaked

Time to post!

I've got TONS of pictures to post & will be posting soon... so stay tuned! Updated side pics... they were only a year old. Finally signed up for Facebook & will try to post pics there too. Life is good & happy the sun is FINALLY out (mostly). The girls keep asking why it's raining when it's supposed to be summer & continually ask when we can go to the pool. "When it gets hot enough" to which they respond... "that's what you always say". At least I'm consistent =)

St Patty's Pancakes

Pancakes are no stranger in our house, BUT green shamrock pancakes? Happy St Patrick's Day to us! We had all the girls ready in green early enough to enjoy breakfast (and pictures).

 

Paige's shirt is pink w/ GREEN stripes. We couldn't find any cute just green shirts & we happened to have a super cute bow that matched! 

We had green scrambled eggs & green milk too, but didn't stop to take pictures. I'd reached my weekly/monthly allotted photos..hehe

We had green tortilla roll ups for lunch with green grapes. For dinner, we something else that was green (can't remember it was so memorable) AND mint ice cream for dessert.