How sweet is this? The girls were playing with their bears and posing for a photo together.

Things have been changing this week at our house. Emily moved into her big girl bed, which at this point is her crib transitioned to a day bed. Emily helped Robby to transfer it over and enjoyed some playtime under the bed. Her first nap was not much of a nap, but it did give Robby an hour and half break from her being under foot. Her first night had the drama of her rolling out of the bed once. We were ready for that possibilty with a bank of pillows to pad her fall. She was upset from the fall, but wasn’t hurt. She managed to stay in her bed the second night just fine. I will miss the freedom of knowing she is in a safe place while I am doing chores, but she can’t stay in the crib forever.

Julia is changing every day. She intereacts with the world so much more. You can read such delight and desire on her face. If you are holding something that she wants she tries her hardest to get it. Things in Emily’s hands are really intersting. She will move across the floor to get to what she wants or just to be near Emily. Today, I was watching her floor movement and can report that she is officially crawling. She had been rolling and pulling herself places with her forarms, but today I saw the knee bend and foot kick that propells her forward. She is so delighted with herself. When I was watching her, she crawled about a foot then turned on her side to me and waved at me. It was like she was saying, “Hi Mommy, see my new trick.”

Emily really enjoyed her flotation devices when swimming!

Today, we ran some errands in the car and Emily got to eat several snacks while we traveled. The first snack was a bag of pretzels. I watched in the rear view mirror as she figured out that the salty crumbly remains of the bottom of the bag were quite yummy. She would dig her finger into the pool of crumbs and them put them in her mouth. She did it over and over with joy. Later, when I got the bag out for the trash I found that she had eaten all of the crumbs.

Later, we got a popcorn snack for the trip home. Luckily, I split the bag with her because part way through her portion she poured all of the popcorn out of the bag onto her lap. Again, I got the front row view of the whole event throughthe rear view mirror. I don’t know if she started it on purpose, but I know she finished pouring it out on purpose. She just looked at the pile for a little while. Then she picked up a few and alternately put them back in the bag and ate them. It was pretty slow going and she became upset at the mess she made. I pulled over and helped her clean it up when I had an opportunity. I’m hoping she learned that pouring it out was fun, but sitting in it for a little while wasn’t fun.

While in Miami, we went to watch the sun go down over Miami from Biscayne Bay. We played in the sand and Emily got in the water for a few minutes. Emily’s legs were sensitive to the saltwater that evening so she wasn’t interested in staying for long. But after a quick wash in the restroom she was ready to explore the beach.

This beach didn’t have tons of great sea shells, but it did have enough that Emily had success in finding them herself. We gave her a cup to put them in as she collected them. She enjoyed her treasures. Luckily for us, she didn’t want to keep all of them. She allowed her collection to be cut down to three to take with us.

Julia enjoyed her second trip to the beach. Her first trip a couple of months ago was mostly spent wrapped up in a blanket because of a cool breeze. Summer doesn’t have very many cool breezes to worry about. She loved just sitting on the blanket trying to grab the sand. As soon as she had sand in her hands she would try to eat it. She didn’t understand why I didn’t like that game.

It’s great to have Grandparents who live at cool destinations like by the beach. Thanks for taking us out to see the ocean!

Julia is a huge mama’s girl. Her mom is very thankful that during this trip Julia was happy to spend more time than usual away from her mom. Grandma got lots of Julia time!

Grandma took Emily down to get her legs wet. The bay side beach got deep pretty quick for someone who is only three feet tall. Emily enjoyed just walking down the bike/walking path that followed the beach. I think she would have kept going if I hadn’t made her turn and come back. Perhaps she really enjoyed the absolute freedom I was giving her – we walked where she wanted to and at her pace.

I was privileged to introduce Emily to her first ice cream truck while we were out at the beach. What a cool concept for a kid – big truck that plays music and also gives out ice cream! I got a chocolate soft serve cone for us to share. I loved the mustache and beard that was left after the cone was gone. Classic!

While in Miami, Grandma took the girls and I to the Miami Seaquarium. Despite the hot day we enjoyed looking at the fish and mammals exhibits.

Each girl had sunscreen and hats to protect them from the sun, but nothing but the water misters could do anything about the heat. We let Emily play in every water mister that we walked by.

Julia took a ride for most of the day under her sunshade.

We watched several animal shows and feedings. The most fun was the whale and dolphin show. The show actually kept Emily’s attention more than I expected. We were sitting in the dry seats although it appears that we were plenty wet from the heat and misters.

The jumping was amazing, but it was also fun to watch the large white bird that hung out by the coolers of fish that the trainers were feeding the animals for rewards. Every once in a while the bird would snag himself a fish from the open cooler.

The Seaquarium has a beautiful view of downtown Miami.

The manatees were a lot of fun to watch swim and come up for oxygen. They had two manatees that were mated and had several little ones, but because of a ban on breeding of manatees Romeo and Juliet have been permanently separated. While this is sad story it prepared Juliet to foster orphaned manatees that are brought to the Seaquarium. She has now raised several new little ones.

The girls seem to have an endless supply of hats to shade them from the sun.

Sometimes the best toys are common and inexpensive. Julia will play with any drink bottle that I give her. This one kept her busy during the wait for another show to start.

Here are more photos from our family photos. They include photos with Grandparents, Uncle Philip, Aunt Jen, Caleb and Nathaniel. I have the photo release and will have them printed. Because there are so many, if anyone wants a copy, please let me know what photo you would like and what size you want.