Avie and Izzie

When cousin Avery was first born, the 9 month difference between her and Izzie was enough that they didn't interact much.  An infant and a walking toddler have little in common--and more often than not Izzie, though well-intentioned, was just a little too intense for baby Avery.  As baby Avery got older and could sit up and pay attention to the world around her, she really enjoyed watching Izzie and Caden play, but still kept her distance.  Slowly but surely, the developmental gap between the two girls has been narrowing, and they are starting to have a blast together.  Avery still doesn't talk much, but she can keep up with Isabel and all her activities just the same--she just grunts and yells while she does it.  This summer they have been in the same class at school, and it's been really fun to know they're having some alone time together every week.  And every day Tuesday and Thursday when I pick Izzie up, I get a full report of what "Avery Meyer" did that day (there are two Averys so Iz has to distinguish between them).  One day they walked to the Sunken Gardens and Izzie reported, "Avery Meyer fell and bumped her head and cried for her mommy and she wouldn't hold my hand and she got in the water and caught a fish."  Guessing 25% of that story was true...  But watch out -- I sense besties in the very near future!

(These girls are just convincing Caden more and more that it is time baby boy came.  He is ready for some more testosterone!  The five year gap may present some issues, but CW is really excited nonetheless.)

A sleepy morning at T's house

Lost in Fun

Frozen movie night

Big girls!

Our days of matching outfits might be dwindling--both are starting to have
opinions about what they wear--but we still love to do it!

And then sometimes they choose to match on their own!

Love Isabel's FILTHY face.  It is absolutely always a dirt magnet.  But I
love Avery's giggling face even more.  (Iz was reading her a bedtime story.)

They both look irritated, yes?

Double Trouble

Fun times with T!

Pajama day at school

Isabel and Mommy Take on Summer!

Isabel and I made a summer bucket list again this year.  I am always afraid the summer will pass us by and we won't have done some of the fun things I had in mind.  But somehow, if I put a list on the fridge, we seem to accomplish more of them.  Maybe it's because those days where we aren't sure what to do, we have a whole list of ideas to go to.

We had some oldies but goodies on there (zoo, finger paint, etc.) and Mommy came up with some new ones and found some cool things online, too.  We have about 50 tasks to complete (these "summer" tasks might trickle into September given our August delivery), but whether or not we get to them all we've had a blast trying!

Mommy's list said "Run through sprinkler"--never guessing
we'd have a PVC pipe sprinkler dream playground to try
out thanks to the Abbotts!

Family movie night--Pizza on the floor followed by Snow White.

PJs were a requirement.

Painting with ice cubes.  Easy peasy, and she loves it. 

Paint Yourself Silly.  A purple frog for her and a blue hedgehog for brother.

Date night with Daddy-- Picnic at the lake, playground, and
ice cream at Culver's.  This picture cracks me up because
he took it without seeing what she was doing, but when he
looked through them later realized it was maybe time for a
potty break!

Play in the rain.  But it stopped quickly so it turned
into a walk to find puddles and jump in them.

Turns out painting with homemade sidewalk paint is super fun!
She's asked to do this several times now.  Awesome squared.

Dry erase marker on a mirror.  Tons of fun when you're 2.

Plant a mini garden.  We had sunflowers, strawberries (that never grew),
basil, and clover.  

Not on the to do list, but going on a walk in only a sweatshirt
and sun hat definitely should be on the list for next year.

We've also collected rocks (she had me draw faces on them and named them after Mickey characters), gone to the Children's Museum, made paper hats and beaded bracelets, had lunch with grandparents, and so on.  We'll keep working on our list, so stay tuned for part 2!

She Swims...

...sort of.  Isabel took one session of swimming with Daddy, and then got bumped up to the big kid class for the next session.  The first couple of weeks with Daddy were sketchy, but she had the routine down by the end of it.  We were nervous for her to start the big kid class, but she was definitely ready for the next step.  In the few days leading up to her new class, we talked about how she was a big kid now (those words again--it's the theme of our summer!) and so she would get to sit on the steps with her class (two other 2-year-old boys), and listen to her teacher, and swim by herself, and wave at Mommy and Daddy from the pool.  She was all excited about it, but we were still nervous that she would freak out once the day came.  However, this little fishy surprised us all and did a great job--no fuss and no problem!  She is still working on those chipmunk cheeks, but is an expert back floater!


Session 1:  With Daddy (Uncle J and Avie were in the same class)

Showering off before hopping in!

Henry and his daddy and Avie and her daddy made good pool buddies
(Can you tell that mommies make better spectators than swimming coaches?)

Focused on the task at hand...

Showing off a little for Mommy

Can you tell she was getting a little too comfortable?  Climbing all over Daddy!

Practicing climbing out of the pool

 Session 2:  In the big kid class with Henry and another little boy...

Listening intently to instructions--we talked about how important
it was to listen to the teacher and do what she said to stay safe.

I wish this was a better picture...but she wears goggles in the big kid class!
 

Transporting to the other side of the pool.  My dad
says they look like opossums when they do this.

Practicing jumping in and heading for safety.  Notice Caden standing to the left.

A Weekend Getaway

We have been wanting to get up to the Omaha Zoo with Iz for awhile, but haven't made the trek yet.  We finally managed to find a date that worked, and it worked for Grammy and Popper and the Meyers, too.  We had so much fun--we haven't gotten away together since having kids (so 4+ years), and we had the best time relaxing and playing.  Our rooms were really close to each other, so the kids had a blast running around and "visiting" each other.

We drove up Friday afternoon, ate at Grisanti's, and then went swimming in the hotel pool (even Popper went swimming--woohoo!).  Grammy had come ultra prepared (surprise!) with snacks and toys for the kiddos.  They each got a Dora the Explorer stable as a fun new toy to have at the hotel.  

Somehow, even though they started elsewhere, everyone ended
up by Grammy and Popper by the time dinner was over.  Weird.  

Emily's hotboxes ready for bed in their shorts and t-shirts.
My Munchie in her long sleeves, pants, and pajama dress.  

We ate a hotel breakfast on Saturday morning, and then it was off to the zoo!  We got there about 9:30 and stayed until 3:00.  There is so much stuff to see there, but we had decided we would just see how long we made it and be happy with what we got.  The weather cooperated really nicely all morning--not too hot and the clouds were covering the sun--but warmed up by lunchtime.  We couldn't believe the kids made it as long as they did!

First stop -- the Aquarium!

The penguins

Daddy's favorite part

Iz LOVED the turtles.  We loved her
and Avie's matching rompers.  

 Then off to the safari animals.  Iz had said ahead of time 

that she was most excited about the giraffes (Daddy says 

she might be predisposed to that because of Jerry).  She 

did enjoy watching them quite a bit!

"What he doin'?"

Giraffes outside, too?  What a deal!

"Let's all get close."  Okay, Iz.  Only
6 more weeks until baby boy!  Yay!

"Let's go look at some more stuff in cages."

Mommy's favorite.  We could have stayed here all day talking to this guy.

1:00pm (this is her usual nap time)  After an emotional
outburst at Popper that she was embarrassed by, she
hid in the landscaping crying and said, "Just give me
some time, okay?"  But after a well-timed ice cream
cone recharge, we managed to make it a little longer.

The Jungle!

Starting to look a little sweaty, perhaps?

Chickadee thought she was hot stuff 

Every time we got to a tunnel (which was often in
the jungle), Iz and Caden would cup their hands
around their mouth and scream, "Tunnel!"

Can you tell how tired she is?  She cuddled her new giraffe on the ride back
to the hotel.  "Oh.  I'm a tired baby."  She named the giraffe "Bercy"...?

We let her sleep from 3:30 to 5:30, then got her up so she wasn't too messed up.  Grammy and the kids then put together a surprise birthday dinner for me--she's so good at coming up with fun things for them to do and letting them feel involved!

Sunday morning we had some breakfast, hit the pool, then stopped at the outlet malls before heading home.  All in all, a wonderful weekend trip!

Grammy's dream come true.  All her babies in one room with her, letting
her wait on them hand and foot.  (And in matching Frozen shirts that she
bought them awhile ago.)

Happy 4th of July, Folks!

Izzie-Bee was a huge fan of family and friends and food, sprinklers and chalk and sandboxes.  Mark her down as unimpressed by water balloon fights and loud fireworks.  But all in all, our 4th of July party was a success (once Izzie figured out that it actually wasn't a birthday party for her after all...).

The day before.  Made a banner and a picture at school.  She picked her picture
out of a pile of identical ones instantly.  I said, "We better check if it's yours!"
and the teacher said, "It is.  She insisted she didn't want any red."  Patriotic.

If this is the drama at 2, imagine when she's 16.

Skinny Minnie.  Where's my chubby baby?
(Oh, in my belly...)

Daddy and Brian Abbott's homemade sprinkler extravaganza

Our party guests before the 500 count water balloon fight.
Daddy goes big or goes home, to say the least.

Is this love?  Probably not.  Henry was crying for his mom and trying
to yank his arm away 5 seconds after this picture was taken.  

Izzie loved the flag decorations -- her and Grammy practiced the Pledge of Allegiance

Love.  This.  Picture.  These girls are a hoot.  Avery's surprised face can't be beat.

Is there anything boys love more than fireworks?  Look at Caden's pose!

Taking turns on the sucker with Popper and Aves

Realizing we haven't shown a picture of brother in awhile--he's under there!

Our attempt at a family pic.  30 minutes after bedtime should have happened,
already out of our patriotic gear, and snapped between bangs and cries at
the loud fireworks.  Hey, it will do, right?  At least we're all there.