We love summer!

Our summer is turning into a great one! 

Last night we let the kids stay up late. We roasted marshmallows in our firepit then walked over to the tennis court to let Macy and our neighbor Parker ride their bikes. Ja rode his skateboard. Ja threw tennis balls all over the court and the kids rode their bikes around picking them up. It was the perfect idea. Parker took a break once and Macy rode by saying, "I don't need a break. I have so much energy!" Then we put cones out in the street in front of our house and let the kids ride around. Two more neighbor kids joined in. One wants to learn how to skateboard so Ja gave him a lesson. Ja had the smart idea to use toliet paper to make a finish line for the kids to ride through. That helped get the kids to stop (after riding through it at least 3 times each). That was the perfect summer night activity. And it's 8:35 am the next morning and both girls are still asleep which is great!

Macy requests to go swimming everyday. We go almost everyday since it's right outside our backyard. It's like having our own pool without the responsibility of taking care of a pool. Because we go so often Macy is turning into my little fish. She loves to swim underwater now. Even Anna is progressing in the water. She loves to copy her big sister and plug her nose before putting her face in the water. 

Last week Macy attended a summer day camp at her new preschool. They learned about a new country each day and did crafts and made food. Macy loved it. When I told her she had 5 days of camp her eyes grew big and she was so excited. Everyday she would tell me how many more day camps she had. It went from 9-1 Monday through Friday. It was nice to have her entertained in the morning because she would come home exhausted. She slept well last week!

Anna is saying more and more words. She copies a lot of what we say. Just yesterday she told me she was thirsty. I couldn't quite make it out but when she reached for her water I realized what she said. In the pool yesterday Ja was taking her around and she told him to go "this way." That is new. 

She also loves to draw. She will walk around the house with a paper and a pen taking notes. She will do this for a long time too. It's very cute to watch. A couple Saturdays ago she went through 3 pieces of paper. She has started to color on things other than paper so I have to watch her. I have remind her that we only draw on paper. Yesterday she accidentally wrote on the table. She looked up at me and pointed to her paper and said, "paper, paper." She knows to only write on paper now :)

We made ice cream and I thought it was adorable how the girls sat and watched it churn. It only lasted a minute but they were excited. Macy wanted party ice cream so we added sprinkles to it. 

A family in our ward took us out in their boat on mountain island lake. I had expressed interest and they gave us the invitation so I jumped on the offer. We only got out on the water for a few minutes when it looked like a storm was coming so we went back to their house to eat our sack dinner. The storm ended up being nothing so we went back out. The girls both loved being in the boat. Macy even went tubing! At one point her legs were flying up in the air and I thought she would fall out but her strong little hand kept holding on. As soon as she got out she requested to go again. I was so proud of her bravery!

Anna started saying boat on this trip. I hope we can go again!

The girls and I made muffins to take on the boat. I thought my muffin buddies were so cute. They loved licking the spatula. 

 

It's so great having a big kitchen so both girls can help and we still have counter space to make the muffins!

Our friends, the Anderson's, came over to swim and eat dinner on a Monday night. The sister missionaries in their ward put together a Facebook group for FHE. They posted video clips for the songs and ones we watced for a lesson. We then talked about the videos. The kids loved it. They say very still on the couch and listened and watched the whole thing. I thought it was great because the work of finding coordinating songs and videos was done for us. The kids love watching things on the computer anyways. 

Macy has been taking swim lessons at Little Otter swim school. Anna wants to be like Macy and wear her bathing suit even though she can't get in the water. She is a very patient observer. 

Our next big adventure is going to California for 3 weeks! We are loving our summer!!

Macy's Drawings

One Sunday Macy noticed that our neighbors don't go to church. She asked why everyone else doesn't go to church too. I told her they haven't found the right one to go to yet. She apparently thought about this because the next day she told me we could teach our neighbors about Jesus. "We could go to their house and teach them!"

She drew two pictures to take with her while she teaches:

This is Jesus getting baptized. She drew the water, Jesus, John the Baptist, and the little face in the water is the Holy Ghost. She wrote the word baptism too. The green clouds finish up the sky.

 On the back side of the paper she drew Jesus dying on the cross.

These are other pictures she had in her sketch book. I thought they were good so I couldn't throw them away without taking a picture first. 

We practiced her numbers and letters one day while we played school. I would name a number or letter and she would write it.

I love her rainbows. I think they are creative and beautiful. 

My favorite part of the day

Lately Macy wants to read books together on our bed. I love listening to her "read." I'm amazed that she has so many books memorized. I also love Anna's little feet sticking out from under the book. 

In other news, Macy is getting more comfortable in the pool. Today she completely submerged her body underwater. This is a big deal since she has hated getting her face wet. She also didn't like water in her ears. She didn't mind those things at all today. She plugged her nose and went under, for 10 seconds at a time. She was so proud of herself. I was shocked and very proud too. She's only had one swim lesson this summer but it's paying off. That and we go to the pool almost every day. 

We got Ja a firepit for Fathers day yesterday. 

And after spending two hours today at the DMV I now have a North Carolina drivers liscense. The girls actually did a great job waiting, for the most part. There was a thrift store a few stores down which saved us. Anna did get her fingers stuck in the door jam though. I got really worried because they got swollen fast but they didn't break. She cried for a long time so I'm sure it hurt pretty bad. 

Macy and Mommy weekend

Ja took Anna to Iowa with him to attend Darin's graduation. Macy and I seized the opportunity to go to Carowinds, the local amusement park. I'm glad we didn't have Anna because the day would have been impossible with both girls. Anna can't go on most the rides and Macy wanted me to be on them with her so we would've been stuck. They also have a water park there which Macy loved. We ended up running into Macy's new "best friend", Emily, and her family. Emily is 12 but Macy loves her.

Macy really wanted to get her face painted. I couldn't refuse her because she had been so good all day and we were having so much fun. She was very happy with the results and later said it was the prettiest face painting she has ever got. She loved the addition of glitter at the end.

We were invited to go to the lake with Emily's family Saturday night. Ja and Anna were supposed to be there with us but their flight was cancelled so they didn't get in until 9:30 that night :(

Although we missed Ja and Anna (at least I did), we still had a great time. Their neighborhood has access to the lake with a fire pit, and covered picnic tables. There is also canoe storage. It was a great night full of swimming in the warm lake water and roasting hotdogs over the fire. Macy and Emily played together the whole time. 

It was a beautiful night.

Macy loved being one of the big kids that night. She followed Emily around like a shadow. Emily is very kind to Macy and played with her all night.

  

Macy saved her money

We had another great experience with Macy doing chores and saving her money for something she wanted. A month ago we saw a silver sequenced heart shaped purse at Payless. She of course wanted to buy it so I told her to save her money and she could. Having something in mind she wants to buy sure makes doing chores easier. All I have to do is remind her of the item and she will rush to do the chore. 

Tonight we took a trip to the mall to buy the purse. Luckily it was still there and to make things even better it was but one get one free. Macy was so thrilled to pick out the purse. She proudly wore it out of the store. 

Later at the mall we went to play at the play area. A lady told me she watched Macy pick out her purse and she noticed Macy's eyes lit up with excitement while she picked up the purse. I was really touched that another mom noticed how excited Macy was. It brought tears to my eyes. I'm very proud of Macy for saving her money!

3rd Annual Busch Gardens Trip

We went to Busch Gardens the weekend after memorial weekend this year. I was hoping for warmer weather so we could enjoy Water Country. That and we had only moved a few weeks before so I wasn't ready to go on another trip the weekend before memorial day weekend. It turned out our timing was great- still no crowds and great weather!

We drove up to McLean on Wednesday because Ja had a conference he wanted to attend on Thursday. The girls and I hung out with Marky in the morning then saw "old" friends (Claire and Izzy) for lunch at Cafe Rio. I had been craving Cafe Rio ever since we left Virginia. Macy had a blast with her friends. She still cries at night sometimes because she misses her friends :(

After Cafe Rio we stopped next door at the Pet store. The girls loved playing in the dog beds.

Macy loves her friends to much!

We drove down to Williamsburg Thursday afternoon and hit no traffic on the 95! Miracle! We met up with the Arrington's at a bounce house place they found. It was a warehouse type building full of different types of bounce houses and blow up obstacle courses. The kids LOVED it. Macy begged to go back the entire weekend. We probably could have spent an entire day here. Maybe we should make it part of our weekend tradition.

Busch Gardens was great again. We really love that amusement park. It's beautiful, clean, and the food is actually delicious and real food. Both girls loved riding the rides and we had no melt downs this year. Other than it drizzling for the morning time it turned out to be a great day weather-wise.

Macy went on the Grover roller coaster all by herself. Well, Grant was with her. She had her hands in the air the whole time. 

Anna had a really weird face while riding the Whirly Worm. I thought she was going to throw up but it ended up being a I'm-a-little-scared-and-I-don't-know-what's-going-on face.

Macy surprisingly did Elmo's Spire by herself too!

The girls loved riding together!

I don't have any pictures at Water Country. We were having way too much fun! The weather was perfect. Hot, sunny, 85 degrees. The kids loved the water rides. Even Anna could go on a few big kid rides. She didn't like them but she still went on them. In previous years we only spent a few hours at Water Country because it was so cold but we spent the entire day this year. Macy loved the raft rides and was asking to go again to the water park as soon as we got home. 

We had another successful weekend at Busch Gardens! Hopefully we can keep this tradition going. It's fun being traveling buddies with the Arrington's!

Everything has changed!

Not only are we in a house but we are in North Carolina! Almost every aspect of our lives has changed in the past week. 

We have space! We don't have to be in one room to play anymore! Ja has his own office with a door! (Anna misses seeing Ja whenever she wants because sometimes she knocks on his door just to say hi. I have to pry her out of Ja's arms in the morning.) Our house is so big that Macy gets tired of walking around it looking for things. Our guest room is completely empty, the dining room only has an electric keyboard, and the formal living room has a TV but no couches. We are loving all this space!

We have a yard! It is amazingly wonderful to simply open the back door and let the girls play outside. Our big patio is perfect for riding bikes, chalk drawing, and washing the bikes and concrete. The front yard had better grass right now so we have picnics out there. The girls love to play in the car that sits on the driveway. 

With our yard space we planted a small garden. Today we planted carrots, zucchini, and hopefully pumpkins soon. In our front yard we planted zinnia seeds. 

We have a garage! It's great to have all the outdoor things outside. It's great to open a door and walk straight into our car. No leaving the apartment and 10 minutes later getting to our car. When we get home from somewhere the girls can run right into the house. I can also easily load groceries into the house! I love it. 

We have a big kitchen! We don't have to bump into each other anymore while cooking. The kitchen is also open to the rest of the floor so I'm not tucked into a dark corner anymore while preparing dinner. I can be doing the dishes and watch the girls play in the backyard. It's a dream come true. 

Macy and Anna have their own rooms! I thought they would miss each other since they would play in the crib each morning but they seem to be all right. Anna can finally get the sleep she needs. She sleeps in longer than Macy so it's great she isn't being woken up. Probably the best thing of all is Macy has been taking naps since we've been here! She is much less cranky in the afternoon and evenings now. I love it!

The scenery is completely different than McLean. Huntersville is still in the rural category as far as I'm concerned. We drive down country roads lined with trees and the occasional house. There are many subdivisions around so I'm sure this area with grow in time but for now it's country! I love having the wide open fields. This town is also much different than how I grew up. Macy and Anna will have a different view on life than I did growing up. When we visit California they will wonder where all the trees went and why there are so many people. To get to a grocery store there is only one light. We are only 10 minutes away from 3 grocery stores and to get to two of them there is only one light. I love it. 

Both Ja and I walk around the house and say, "I love our house!" multiple times a day. I love everything about it and I love that it's ours! There is so much natural light coming through all the windows it makes for a very cheerful place and it makes me so happy to be here!