splashtastic

The Florida Aquarium also had a splash-pad-kind-of-thing.  We didn’t bring bathing suits because we didn’t expect to play at the splash pad, but the girls had a BLAST!

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aquarium

Look at that turtle!  Yikes!

And that fish!

Pendo wanted to jump right into the water.  This girl really thinks she is part fish.

The girls weren’t too excited about the touch tank, probably because they thought the water was too cold.

Pendo is pretending to be a hermit crab.

When can we go back?

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florida fun

G and I took the girls down to Florida to visit my aunt and uncle.  We haven’t seen them in 3 1/2 years, and they hadn’t met either of the little girls yet.  My mom joined us there, too, so it was family-Florida-fun time.  Try saying that five time fast.  OK.  I just tried, and it wasn’t that difficult.  Anyway . . .

we were there about five days, and we had lots of fun visiting a few different parks, a pool, the beach, and the Florida Aquarium.  No, we didn’t get to Orlando to see the big Mouse, but maybe in a couple of years (at least that’s what I’m reeeeeeally hoping for).

All of us LOVED being at the beach.

The girls were thrilled to be in the middle of a giant sandbox, and they collected sea grass, sea shells, and rocks.  So, so, so, so much fun!  More pics to come.

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we’re back!

What?  You didn’t know we were gone?

G and I took the girls somewhere for a few days.  Here’s a clue.

I have soooooooooooooo many pictures to show you, but for now . . . until I can edit them . . . this is what we found while G and I were unpacking and making dinner.

Guess we got a little rain while we were gone.

Of course Pendo found the water-filled wagon and climbed right on in.  Who needs a pool?

Rose wasn’t too far behind, once she made sure I wasn’t going to be angry that she was getting in with her clothes on.

Too cute!

So . . . where did we go?  Any guesses?  IF you know where we went, don’t tell.

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what’s going on here?

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summer toes

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frog hollow

The last time we went to visit Aunt Mel, G and I were able to go out to breakfast for a much-needed date, and Mel and Grandpa took the girls to a fun park.  We hadn’t been to this one before, and we will definitely go back again!

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one down, two to go

Remember the vanilla beans that I keep talking about?  I know.  I’m getting tired of talking about them, too, but I’m still really excited about them.  Anyway, G and I found a recipe called Smore’s cupcakes that we just HAD to try.  These were the first cupcakes I have ever made where I really felt like I was making “bakery style” cupcakes.   I actually bought cake flour for the first time and whipped my own cream and lots of other really fun and exciting things.

I was surprised that they turned out a little bit flat, but they were AMAZINGLY delicious!

Just imagine that you can see the vanilla bean specks in this.  I could really taste the vanilla flavor, and it was weird that I hadn’t added any vanilla extract to get that taste.

I decided not to make the icing which called for TWO sticks of butter AND 5 oz of Crisco and marshmallows and graham crackers other stuff I can’t remember right now.  I just couldn’t justify making it because of all the added calories, but I’m sure it would have been yummy.  Since we skipped the icing, I ate TWO cupcakes and didn’t feel very guilty.

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it’s official!

We officially have two two-year-olds.  The newest one is this little lady.

She decided that she wanted to have a Minnie Mouse party, and we had lots of fun!

The morning started with our traditional cinnamon rolls, but G and I decided to step it up a bit and make sticky buns instead.  Wow!  Soooooo good.

Kait took the girls for a ride in their new birthday wagon.

Can you tell that Rose helped put the sprinkles on the cupcakes?

Blowing out the candles

Love those cupcakes!

We had a few friends join us for dinner and cupcakes, and it was a really fun day.  Happy birthday, sweet girl!  We are so grateful that you are ours.

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surviving

This has been a week, let me tell you!

I have been surviving, barely.  No . . .really . . . just barely.

It’s been bad, friends. . . . really, really bad.

Some days I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this stage of life.  I’m thankful that G also feels that way.  At least I’m not alone in feeling like life is hard right now.  Instead of whining and moaning about it, I’ll just say that having two little ones who are 10 months apart and who are both in the middle of the terrible twos is kicking our tails.  We are just weary.  The little girls have been all kinds of naughty this week, but really it’s been much longer than that, more like the last 6 weeks.  OK.  That’s all I’m going to say about it.  We’re hanging in there, and we know things will eventually get better, but WHEW!

In spite of the frustration and weariness, we have done some more fun summer things.  We greatly enjoyed some of these delightful cherries . . . straight from Traverse City.  Ohhhhhhhhh . . . amazing!  Thanks, Austins!

We also had a lot of fun with some friends at a nearby lake.

Oh, look, they do actually play nicely together sometimes.  🙂

Also, G and I used our first vanilla bean from the UAE.  Remember the three beans he brought back for me?  More to come on that one.   Tomorrow Pendo turns 2, so more to come on that soon.

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