Last Summer Days

Weekend bike ride with daddy on a trail. Aurie and I saw a snake!

Trying out our new chocolate pen from our birthday...

Hendrick's County Fair has become a tradition.. a few peeks at the cows and rabbits, a spin in the hay maze and a couple of choice yummies…

Library visit to the American Girl Doll Club

Food Truck Friday- Lunch with Daddy!

The sweeties with our neighbor friend studiously writing during an evening visit.. they looked so pretty out there...

A moment on our weekend hike...

Our Backyard

 I know when we move, this backyard will be one of the things I miss the most. I love even looking out our back windows to see it. The gardens I had planted that first fall have now come in so much so I've had to cut them back and even transplant. I do love the green...

Happy Birthday Aurie!

Our tiniest sweet girl.. getting so big! Six!

Love when Pinterest comes through! My Little Pony "Rainbow"cupcakes…

Just a teeny bit excited ;)

The piñata was a huge success. Great use for the otherwise useless mini bats we've come to accumulate from baseball games. At first, Aurie wanted to use the pull strings that supposedly a door or flap on the bottom of the pony…boring! I convinced her to get a little aggressive and voila! an at least fifteen minute adventure that had bits of candy here and there falling, girls scrambling and everyone happy with a selection of treats afterwards. Success! (Oh yeah, and no one hurt!)

Presents were fun.. her friends were as eager for her to see what they had chosen as she was to open them. And, I love the care with which Aurie read their homemade cards- just as she creates herself.

The gang...

We started with create your own pony, had temporary tattoo cutie marks, made rainbow friendship bracelets, the piñata of course, and some sprinkler fun with a pony pool party (in a baby pool). 

And who could forget.. Pin the tail on the Pony!

Kennywood and Pittsburgh!

Our summer tradition.. a trip to Kennywood. Amazingly, Lia still met the height requirements (in most) for Kiddieland, thus forging a bond as you can see below.. pals. (for the moment)

Our good luck game.. Lia's win last year had us eagerly returning. And this year… Mommy! HUGE Rainbow Dash Pony went to Aurie "because her birthday was next". (Shhh…. because she's my baby!!)

We flip-flopped who rode what.. Aurie wasn't tall enough for bumper cars so daddy watched the girls and Aurie became fascinated with this family of ducks in a nearby fountain. We caught the cars again not he way out and we all watched as Ellie quite carefully and deliberately avoided all bumping and made her way around as though she was out on a Friday night with the car! It was hilarious! Sillies below rode the Garfield- something scary looking or another- while we went for drink refills. 

Log jammer has become a favorite of Ellie and Lia's.. 

The girls started with a new one for us- Raging Rapids right after we got there. It absolutely soaked most of us.. so much so I was wringing water from my shorts for some time afterward. Daddy decided to give it a go before we left with Ellie (who has taken on Uncle Ryan's call sign)

An invite had us on a river boat ride in downtown Pittsburgh where we saw the most breathtaking fireworks display, as if it were put on for us alone. It was amazing. The ride alone had Bill grinning.. he's always loved those rivers and stadiums and had never in his life seen them from that perspective. I was excited he had a chance to!

Canada Day!

For the girls very first Canada Day as Canadian citizens, and long overdue to visit, we headed up to Ottawa for the big weekend.

With rain looming in the forecast, we headed up to 'the hill' that morning (with Bill searching left and right for the alleged "hill"). It was perfect…lots of celebrating, everyone in red and white, flags and maple leaves everywhere. 

The boys turned out to be our best friends as we eagerly explored their rooms within 15 minutes of arrival… Graham spent so much time with them. They absolutely adored him. 

And the drinks kept flowing! Sooooo much fun!

We were surprised with visitors (I had secretly hoped!) all the way from Toronto to spend the weekend with us. It was fifteen of us at one point.. made for tons of laughs and I was overjoyed at spending time with everyone.

There were no cuter on the hill than these three in their Canadiana wear- fresh from Nana's shopping!

Jo Jo had thought of everything to make our weekend memorable.. 

Our very fancy tea at Chateau Laurier…so beautiful!

And then, there was the chip truck. So.. we're on our way out of town on the Monday morning, 4th of July. A nine hour drive ahead of us, we were on the road about an hour (barely out of town, really) when a Tim's really sounded good. So, we find an exit, pull off. I hop out, grab the coffees and necessary timbits to go, and pass them out in the car. And then… I spy a truck across the street.. at 10:34am mind you… and think no- it couldn't be…. it was irresistible- poutine! It was something mentioned more than once as a must do in Ottawa, and there we were. I tell you- magnificent! So much so that - gasp! can it be said?!- Bill admitted two days later, that they were better than Potato Patch fries. (And, had Lia asking in Kennywood while sampling the requisite Potato Patch fries.. isn't there any of that cheese and gravy to go on top!) HA!