Mama is amazing!

Becky recently purchased a new sewing machine. Her old one was a very basic model and it kept jamming and was not so much fun to use. Becky is home now for the summer and really enjoys doing creative things and sewing is her current focus. This week she made these dresses in 2 days!!!

Its dresses, because she made Ally's and then one afternoon she asked Ally if Lucy might light a matching dress and then proceeded to create a pattern and sew Lucy's dress out of scrap fabric in about an hour! Amazing I say!!! And adorable.

Showing off their new dresses.

Beach Time

Saturday afternoon was a spent a a fabulous beach. It was a new one for us and we agreed we'd go back again. Its half price after 3PM and since we got there at 330 it worked out well, and we stayed until 6PM. We had such a nice time. Ally got to work right away digging a hole. On the way there when we told her we were going to the beach she got very excited and pumped her fists and said she was going to build a sand castle. But neither Becky or I were in a building mood. We refused to help her, so instead she dug a huge hole.

This is the girl who at 18 months screamed and howled if her feet touched the sand.

That is a really big hole.

We walked along the beach and found the tide pool.

Then it was back to our spot. I told Ally if she dug a second hole I would make a tunnel between them. So she and Becky went to work on the second hole. Here Ally is testing them to make sure they are the same depth.

And then I got to work on the tunnel - it was a success!!!! See my fingers on the other side?

Once the tunnel was complete we washed off the beach toys and ourselves and headed home.

What a great day.

Blueberry Picking

Today we drove up to the north shore about an hour to an orchard that a friend recommended to pick blueberries. It was AWESOME.

Ally with our containers all ready to go.
Riding in the wagon on the way out to the field. It was not a very long walk, but in the summer heat and sun we were glad they had a wagon we pull Ally in.

The field

The blueberries. Oh were they yummy and so plentiful.

This is Ally's summer look - sun hat and large sunglasses. And basically no fight about wearing either one. Hopefully this is a sign that she is getting older and understands how important it is that she wear them.

Ally picking the berries. Becky declared that blueberry picking was much more age appropriate than apple picking, since the fruit was all within Ally's reach!

Becky picking berries.

After a while Ally got hot so she took shelter in the shade of a blueberry bush. It was a riot, I think for every one blueberry that went in the container two went in her mouth.

Ally has always loved blueberries and these were especially delicious. Even to me and I don't like blueberries.

She was just too cute sitting in the shade with her water bottle.

On our way back to the store to pay for our bounty.

Carrying all the blueberries was serious business.

The orchard sold the most delicious cider donuts, they were just fried and hot and yummy. But Ally chose a cookie instead of a donut. She sat in the shade and ate every bite of her cookie.

After our treat it was time to feed the chickens!

She thought it was the BEST thing to feed the chickens. There were a lot of chickens and we could even see the eggs.

After the chicken feeding Ally rode on a swing made of tires in the shape of a horse. It was pretty cool.

All in all a fabulous time.

After blueberry picking we got some lunch, went to 2 outlet stores and then went to the beach. I'll blog about the beach in a different post.

It was truly a fantastic day.

We all agreed that we'll stick closer to home tomorrow and take it a little easier.

Baby Lucy

This is Baby Lucy. We have had Baby Lucy since Ally was 1 year old - we bought it for her birthday and basically for 4 years now Lucy has been pretty ignored. Ally plays with dolls when friends comes over, but until recently she has not been that interested in them. But then I went away, and Becky thinks that sparked an interest/distraction for Ally and so Baby Lucy is Ally's current preferred possession.

Ally feeds baby Lucy her bottle.

She even rides in the car. Did you know that Little Mermaid sunglasses make an excellent seat belt for dolls?

Lucy rides on Ally's shoulders when Ally rides on my shoulders.

Most of all, Baby Lucy helps Ally be the happy healthy fabulous little girl that she is.

While I was Away

I had a fruit arrangement delivered to Becky and Ally while I was in Ireland. They also received flowers, but I don't have a picture of those. I also made a card for Ally to open every day and numbered them so she could count down each day until I came back. I drew a picture on each card for her to color in and I wrote her a note so she would know I was thinking about her. Becky said they were a big hit with Ally.

For some reason Ally had been talking about Halloween and costumes. She decided that special Kitty would dress up as a Bunny. Gorilla as a Lion and Ernie is supposed to be a wolf. I can't believe Becky created costumes for the stuffed animals, I am so impressed!

Another project while I was away was this large castle. I guess it was Nali's house and every day he would lie next to it as if he was the protector.

Alice's mom Cheryl texted me this picture when I was in Ireland - they hosted Ally at a playdate and it was so much fun to get a surprise picture of Ally!

Technology is great, I was able to text and message and email with Becky quite a bit so I kept up with what was going on here without talking on the phone everyday. And everyday I took a picture from my phone and emailed it home so they could see what I was seeing and doing.

Long Time No Post

Sorry for the long time without a post. I was away.

In Ireland with my mom, my Aunt Martha, my cousin Katy and my sister in law Christine.

Before I left Ally worked really hard arranging things on the fridge before bed one night:

It was away for a week. It was a wonderful trip - we saw lots of Ireland and made some great memories. I missed my family though and am happy to be home.

Fourth of July

Today it was just Ally and me - Julie is off on her trip to Ireland. We've been having a good time. We celebrated the day with a cookout at a friend's house, and then we went home and made ice cream!

Ally got to choose what kind of ice cream we made, and she JUST wanted sprinkles in it. So we put these rainbow-confetti shaped sprinkles in at the end of the ice cream maker cycle, and
TA-DA...

FIREWORKS ICE CREAM

(I couldn't get the sprinkles in the picture- the flash kept washing them out!)

Ally declared it better than the ice cream that we buy.