sisterly love

Oh, how fascinating it is to watch big sisters and little sisters.  I kid you not, the pictures below were taken approximately 30 seconds apart.

Can you tell who wanted the first turn?  

lake pics

We spent a week at the lake a couple of weeks ago.  We had absolutely gorgeous weather and made lots of memories.   

Monday was spent painting fingernails with the new nail art kit that Grandma had bought with Amelia on the way up to the lake the day before.  Now, let me tell you that I'm not a fan of little girls painting their own nails.  I completely understand that they need to practice to improve, but it makes this Mama a bit crazy to have them all wanting to do it all at the same time...at your parents' lake cottage.  

This may have caused me a bit of stress.  I told Josh that I was not having fun on this particular morning, and (after everyone's nails had sufficiently dried) he ordered everyone to put on swimsuits and jump in the lake.  This improved my sanity greatly.  And on a side note, I'm going to beg my mom to go with the hula-hoops next time. :)

We ended the day with ice cream from the local ice cream shop and a pontoon ride (or "contoon" as Olivia calls it...she also calls her swimsuit her swimsoup...and popsicles hotsicles)  

Tuesday was another swim day along with an all-family wave runner ride.  Claire, Josh, and Amelia ended up in the water at one point.  After Amelia finished crying, she thought she might want to fall in again.  The girls and Josh also went tubing.  

Grandma and Grandpa came back on Wednesday, but we were gone most of the day enjoying some time with friends.  

Thursday was spent playing and preparing for more friends and family.  Josh's parents came for a visit and a pontoon ride on Thursday.  

Amelia and Eden can finally sit next to each other without fighting at mealtime. :)  Eden is currently OBSESSED with Meredith.  Anytime Jill asks Eden what she would like to eat, drink, do, etc., she responds, "Well, what is Meredith having/doing/etc.?"  Every. single. time.

The breakfast crew...where are Grandpa's smiles?!

 Amelia caught a nice catfish:

Claire hooked a soft-shell turtle:

Meredith and Carter are inseparable when they're together:

This Meredith/Carter relationship amazes me each and every time we're together.  Our families get together 2-3 times per year, and they play together (almost non-stop) for several hours straight.  I have a picture of them together from 2009 (when they were 4), and I distinctly remember them not leaving each other's side that day either.  They eat together, swim together, play together, talk to each other, and wait to do anything while the other one is in the bathroom.  It's awfully sweet.

Lake days have always been some of my favorite days and continue to be.  Looking forward to spending more time up there before school starts.    

sweet summertime

The girls love eating on the deck.  I guess Olivia loves eating with her feet propped up as well.

claire's cake

As I was looking through facebook photos the other day, I realized that I never posted pictures of Claire's birthday cake on the blog.  I need a record over here, too. :)  

I was so proud of her for making her cake from scratch...I was also thankful that I didn't have to do anything!  Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting.  Yum!

  

She did a great job, and we invited her friend Abby's family over to celebrate and eat cake.  It was a fun night, and the cake looked great and tasted delicious!  Great job, Claire!

chop chop

Ever since Meredith heard that you could donate your hair, she's been wanting to do it.  She decided at the beginning of the year that this would be the year. 

The night before her appointment, she was in complete agony over the whole ordeal.  She had decided to cut 12 inches but was having commitment issues.  I told her that she didn't have to cut her hair, and she could donate another time.  She was convinced that she would regret either decision. :)

The organization where Amelia donated hers a couple of years ago takes 8 inch donations, so she finally decided that 8 inches would be acceptable.  

Before:

After:

She came home, admired herself all evening, and then went into total chopper's remorse at bedtime.  It wasn't pretty.  We tried to remind her that her hair would grow back, it was still really long, and it was really generous of her to donate her hair to a child who needed it.  

What won out in the end was a little extra time with Josh, Claire, and me after Amelia and Olivia had gone to bed...along with an extra snack of peanut butter bread.  I did an extra special hair-do on her this morning, and she seems much more content.  No tears today. :)