Grace's last days of preschool

We've decided to take Grace out of preschool since we have so much going on right now.

She is really going to miss her school, her teacher, and her friends.  And they will miss her, too.  I hope that she will be able to stay in touch with most of her friends when she starts kindergarten this fall. And maybe we can have them over for some swim parties this summer. 

But most of all I want to hold her tight and squeeze as much fun out of this summer with her as I possibly can. Because my firstborn, my baby, is growing up on me and this will be our last summer together before she starts school…

Fun at the library

Our local library hosted a Book Bash today.

There was face painting. 

And in our case, hand painting.

Balloon animals.

Prizes and hotdogs.

We saw the Easter Bunny.

Who terrified Faith.

Then Grace pretend fished for a goody bag.

And so did Faith.  Except she thought she was really fishing.  When something tugged on her line, she whipped that pole back out of the water, and whacked some poor lady behind her in the head.  I guess these volunteers didn't realize that my babies take fishing seriously!

After a while we went outside and played for a bit.

Faith tried jumping through the hoops instead of twirling them around.

And we finally finished the day by cooling down with some nice cold slushies.  What an awesome afternoon!

Fishing again

After church today Grace and Faith wanted to go fishing again.

But they wouldn't take off their Sunday dresses.

But that's okay.  Real girls go fishing in pretty dresses. 

Yipsticks

Both Grace and Faith love dressing up and being fancy.

And they especially adore "yipstix" (lipstick aka lip balm)

And Faith can put it on all by herself.

She puckers her lips, smears a glob on her chin, and then smiles so sweetly.

Declaring herself to be "boo-ful" (beautiful.)  And I couldn't agree more.

Then for an added boost of shine she sticks the entire "yipstix dar" (lipstick jar) to her lips.

I'm not quite sure where she learned that trick...

But her ingenuity is just one more thing that I love dearly about her.

Peekaboo! I see you!

Faith!  Where are you?   Where did Faith go?

I can't find Faith anywhere!

(She thinks she's invisible because she can't see me.)

"Pee Boo!"  (Peekaboo!) 

And now she's visible again.

Fishing

We enjoyed a nice quiet evening at our fishing pier tonight.

We shared a picnic snack.

Faith learned to fish with a real hook, live bait, and a real pole.

And we marveled at the beauty of God's creation.  Sometimes the simplest things in life are the most enjoyable and memorable.

A new place to play

I stumbeled upon a great new place for me and the girls to play.

It is what we call the "Castle Park."

And it is only a few minutes from our soon-to-be-new home.

Faith and Grace had a wonderful time exploring it today.

I think it's really supposed to be a "fort" since it is in "Spanish Fort" but my girls insist it's a castle.  And I tend to agree...

They swang. 

And spun.

And twirled.

They jumped.

And giggled and laughed.

They played together.

 And went on adventures.

 One after the other.

But always together.  Just like the best friends they are.

 

I predict many future visits to our new favorite play place.

St Patrick's Day treasure

Each year we have a special family tradition on St Patrick's Day.

 A Saint Paddy's Day treasure hunt!

This year those micheveous leprechauns left tiny little clues all around

That we followed and came upon two tiny treasure boxes.

 Full of the best kind of gold treasure - chocolate!

 Our clues were left in jewelry boxes, on the chandelier, and even under the table!  We had to look closely and creatively to find them all.

And after we discovered their treasure, those sneaky leprechauns played one final trick on us by turning our lemonade into green limeade!  It was magically delicious of course!  And we can't wait for our next St. Patrick's Day celebration.

My pregnant belly: 8 months

I can't believe I still have 2 months to go - I look like I'm ready to pop!

Making the bed

Today I noticed that Grace arraged her "friends" on the bed.  Monkey, Dollie, and Giraffe are reading a book.  How cute is that?

Fairhope beach

This time of year here is absolutely gorgeous.

The weather is cool and flowers are blooming.

And it's perfect for going to the beach.

So that's what we did today.  Notice Faith sitting in her chair?  It took me over an hour to convince her to get down.  That girl does not like sand on her feet.

Grace, on the other hand, was right in her element.

And would have buried herself all the way to her neck if she could manage it.

Finally, Faith braved the sand and had some fun with her shovel.

And chasing the seagulls.  She really loves birds.

Meanwhile, Grace had a blast rolling down the hill.

She was covered in sand from head to toe.  It will take me weeks to get all that sand out of her hair.  The curls just seem to trap it in no matter how much we wash and scrub at it.  I have found that if I use the hose attachment to the vacuum cleaner, that will get about 90% of it.  And give her clown head.

 

We had a wonderful time in the sand.

And as we headed back to our car, the ducks and geese stopped by to say hello.

Grace was polite and offered a good day to them as well.

Then we headed home.  I really treasure these last few days with just my girls.  It won't be much longer before we have a little boy in the mix and I imagine these afternoon trips will become increasingly more difficult.