We took advantage of a photography class needing models to get some free photos of the girls taken. Time will tell if the mix of busy kids and photographers in training can produce some good photos. The quality of the photos will not dampen what was a really fun evening of just spending time together.

Amazingly, we got there early, so the girls and I walked down to the excursion train to check it out. On the way down the sidewalk, we found lots of things to look at and discuss. Emily kept telling me how much she was enjoying our nature walk and thanking me for taking her on the nature walk. It was cute. We found etched stone with river names that Emily loved pointing out all the individual letters she knew.

Julia loved the swing by the fountains. She would walk back to them every time I got her out of it. Emily on the other hand figured out that she could take her shoes off and run around getting her toes wet in the fountains. There was a lot of happy giggles! We were just silly, let off steam from the days frustrations, and enjoyed each other’s company.

The humble photos that I have are just snapshots that I took while we were at play.

Emily was pushing Julia’s swing from the front. It is more fun when you can see the face of the one you are pushing.

Emily has not been interested in taking naps lately. Today there was a lot of noise coming from her room. When I went in to check on what it was, this is what I found. I took her creation as a sign that she was unwilling to take a nap. At least I got a good laugh out of it.

I’m not sure who the baby is in our house, but I know who the silly girl is! Before I went for my camera, Julia was attempting to push the pram.

Emily has been pretty creative lately in what she thinks she has permission to do on her own. One of the things she has been quite liberal with is helping herself to food on the counter. By food, I mean candy and marshmallows. This morning our little hobbit decided she needed her ‘First Breakfast’ and got a variety of candy down to eat. As soon as I came out to check on her, she started rationalizing why it was OK that she got it down. She was “So Hungry!” and was sure that her going potty would have earned herself the candy. On the couch she had a bag of Hershey Kisses, package of gummy worms, and a mostly eaten Kit-Kat bar. I did give a good laugh at the sight. I started to get things cleaned up and then I found the pile of Kiss wrappers. I wonder if she will have any room left in her tummy for her ‘Second Breakfast’?

We shared a fun morning of play among the tulips at Crescent Bend with our play-friends. The gardens are so much fun to enjoy with fountains and pretty flowers. Julia was pretty shy about leaving her mother’s arms, so we enjoyed a lot of watching Emily and the others play. The longer we were there the more Julia was willing to go on her own, but never far from her Mommy.

Emily enjoyed all of her freedom. There were scrapped legs that required a little attention and a photograph to heal. Also there were fountains to stick hands into. At one point Elena and Emily were carrying small amounts of water in their hands to water the tulips. Everyone chased bubbles, walked on flower bed edges pretending they are balance beams, smelled tulips, played under an umbrella, and had a lot of fun. Aiden did get his foot into the fountain at one point soaking his shoe and sock.

We ate a picnic lunch before we left the grounds and as usual the other kid’s food looked more interesting than what their own mama brought. This is such a funny, but consistent practice between the kids. After lunch the bigger kids ran, played with small rocks, rolled down a hill in the grass, and jumped off of one big rock. They were sad to go home and the weather and temperature had just been perfect. I hope we can have more days like that!