Random Fun

So random fun things that have been taken place this month, nothing really deserves its own post but was fun and silly:

One weekend morning Becky and Ally made a gigantic fort.

Can you see Ally hiding from me - she is curled up in a ball - black pants and purple shirt.

learning to stand up on the swing

doing a very complicated 100 piece puzzle with mommy - of course it was a T-rex

Ally was so proud of her ability to focus on it for long periods of time.

we started working in our yard this month - above was the first installment of weeding and below was the planting a few weeks later:

 In school Ally planted pumpkin seeds and above is the seedlings that are now ready to be planted.

 Ally worked away in her very own raised garden bed to plant flowers and a tomato plant.

The pumpkin seedlings planted in a container.

This picture just cracks me up - one day after swim class we went out to eat with Stella and her family. Stella's little sister was grumpy and over tired and did not want to ride in her own stroller so she hopped on in Ally's and sat on Ally's lap. If you zoom in you can see that Violet is fast asleep collapsed on Ally! I think the picture is even more funny with Shannon pushing an empty stroller next to me!

Memorial Day Weekend Highlights:

Ally and I went to Target in the morning. Ally was sad trying to decide which baby doll to bring so I suggested she bring them both. She was worried they would fall in the crack on the shopping cart next to her, so I suggested we bring them in a carrier so they would be safe. You can tell by her silly look that she liked the idea. She looked super cuter wearing them on her back too.

Ally spent a long time looking at the kids computer games. She is definitely related to Becky!

Note the sparkly shoes for the trip to Target.

We went to a BBQ at Erik's house with a few other families from Ally's preschool. Ally and Stelle had fun eating a picnic dinner.

Ally, Baby and Dolly were all practicing their handstands on the couch.

Lots of time swinging on the monkey bars this weekend. And we came up with a new challenge - I use the stop watch feature on my phone to time her and see how fast she can get across the bars.

Becky brought Ally to a different park and said Ally loved hanging and moving all over those bars there too.

And in a silly move Ally said she was chilly and climbed up into my lap. So I put my T-shirt over her head to warm her up. Ally then stuck her arms out too. Can you tell she loved it?

Personally I felt like a mutant from the movie Total Recall.

May has seemed like a really long month. We had lots of travel, lots of play dates and lots of fun.

Major Accomplishment

We completed a major accomplishment on Monday. Pink eye has been conquered and we are complete with our course of eye drops.

Ally earned about $25.00 and she said to me last night "I wish I could still have a dollar" I explained that maybe we could set up a chore chart and an allowance. She is pretty receptive to that.

But most impressive of all was that Becky did the honors on the last dose of eye drops:

Yes that is eye phobic Becky putting drops in our daughter's eye. As you can tell they were laughing and giggly about it at first, but then they got down to business.

For those of you who know Becky you realize this was a BIG DEAL.

I wasn't sure who to be most proud of; Ally or Becky.

Monthly Get Together

This weekend we had our monthly Guatemala Girls get together. Mary Beth and Roxie hosted. It was such a wonderful day - not too hot, not too cold, a big shady backyard to play and chat in.

 Here is Ally ready for some sprinkler fun

It was chaos and squealing galore for a while

 We did get them all lined up for a picture

Rosa, Roxie, Ally, Gabi & Alice (l-r)

Rosa was really into spraying with the cool sprinkler hose

 The moms relaxed in the shade

  

 Alice and Cheryl

Rosa & Roxi

Ally and me

Ally and I were talking at one point all cuddled up to dry her off before lunch and she commented on how all the girls have black hair. I said yes, that is because they were all born in Guatemala and most people in Guatemala have dark hair - but its not all the same - and we talked about how each girl had dark hair, it was a little different and yet still dark and beautiful.

A Little Girl Got Lost

 We came home the other night (Ally had been with her babysitter for a few hours and was asleep when we got home) to discover Ally's latest work. The book A Little Girl Got Lost

The cover

 The little girl went outside

 She got lost in the forest

She got lost until she found the wolf

 The wolf ran away

 The little girl went back

 and then it was time to go to bed

The end

We were quite impressed. I really want to know what the second to the last page says but we can't quite decipher it.

Muffaletta Night

Last Friday night was Muffaletta night at our house.

Alice's family came over to make Muffalettas. If you don't know what one is you are missing out.

It is an Italian sandwich made famous in New Orleans. Lots of meat and cheese and a special olive salad all sandwiched between bread.

Very special bread.

Bread too hard to find in Boston so Tom made the bread. We were so impressed and touched that he took on such a challenge. He has never made bread before - it was delicous.

Tom was a little nervous to cut open the bread.

So Becky took over - and that stack of things in front of her is all the cold cuts to assemble the sandwich.

While the parents were chatting the girls were bust playing.

The assembly line of meat and cheese being layered on the bread

Tom was skeptical about his ability to slice the sandwiches  -- eventually he let Beckt do the honors.

After dinner we took the girls to the park. They were so happy to play together.

They do attend the same school but are in different classes and as it turns out do not see much of each other at school.

Tom and Cheryl

Ally and Alice swinging so high

The monkey bars are always a great hit. Alice was able to do them all - up and down and even some backwards!

They even figured out how to climb up so they could sit on top of the bars and get down all by themselves. Its so amazing to watch them grow up.

After the park it was home for dinner.

I made a cake with my grandma's brown sugar frosting - it tasted like pralines. Yummy.

It was a special night for all 6 of us. Its been a while since we've gotten together - just a crazy busy year and it was good to reconnect and share a  New Orleans meal together.

Thanks for all the effort to make it happen Tom. We really appreciated it.