Flashback to Father's Day

So I'm really trying to play blog catch-up. Only about a month to go:-). We've been so busy making memories that I haven't had time to record them for posterity!

Father's Day was a multi-activity fun day. We spent the morning opening presents and swimming at our neighborhood pool. This was truly the best swimming shot - check out those baby moobs (man breasts for those new to the term)!

Later that afternoon, we went to the Missouri History Museum to attend an African Dancing Class with Kevin's parents. They had taken the class a few weeks before and deemed it a very fun, family-friendly high-impact workout. I had my doubts about the high-impact exercise, but I was sorely mistaken. It was an hour and half of dancing accompanied by six African drummers. It was awesome! The girls were so entertained that they stuck it out for a whole hour before they had to take a break and explore the museum. Here are Pat and Kevin in action - serious concentration!

The drummers let the kids try their drums after class (OK, OK...I tried them too).

We ended the day with dinner at Fitz's, complete with a milkshake treat! This picture just "melts my heart", as the kids like to say.

I have to include some video so that you can hear the incredible music (and giggle at my kids gettin' down).

Leaf Bag Joust

Last winter, a creature was born in our backyard: The Leaf Bag Person. When I rake leaves, I always open the leaf bag by putting my arms and head in it (while standing), and shape it open with my arms. One warm day last January, I was trying to finish bagging the last little area of leaves left to bag (and ward off some cabin fever). Reiley bundled up and went ouside with me to get some winter swinging in, and my half-crazed winter brain thought it might be hilarious to walk around with a leaf bag on my body. Fortunately, Reiley must have inherited my hilarity, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We both took turns playing the Leaf Bag Person, getting lost in the yard, bumping into the swingset, etc. Leaf Bag Person has made several other appearances since that fateful day, and we have the footage to prove it.

He's a maniac...maniac...

Sawyer's newest party trick is clapping. He just started doing it in the last week or so, and now it's the first thing he tries once he's got your attention. He likes to look at you, raise his eyebrows a little bit, and give you a clap. It's so cute with his chubby little forearms! We managed to capture a video the first day he was trying out his new skill. He pairs it with a pre-clap headshake to look a little bit like a drunk, crazy frat guy. Enjoy!

Fishing Fun

My plan of more frequent posting hasn't panned out - maybe because we've been too busy with the fun of summer! Early in the summer we took the girls on their first fishing trip with my parents. "Trip" really just means a short drive to Tilles Park, which has a great shady pond with many ducks and geese to keep us entertained.

My dad talked through all of the steps of preparing your rod with Reiley. She was very serious and concentrated on the whole endeavor. Reiley really wanted to catch a fish and wanted to ensure that she was doing things the "right" way.

Ainsley sat in the chair and spent about 90 seconds jabbing the water with her pole before she got up to chase the ducks around. And just where did the gals get their awesome camo hats, you may ask? My dad (who works in sales) picked these up from a client and deemed them as the perfect fishing hats. The girls loved them!

Here's Ainsley with some of our duck friends. This might have been about the time that Ainsley decided that the ducks were a little too friendly for her comfort. Unfortunately, Mommy (ever the animal enthusiast) made the mistake of encouraging the girls to feed the ducks their leftover bagels when we first got to the lake.
That may have been why the gang of ducks and geese trailed us the entire time. Reiley was unphased by the distractions and waited for a bite (with a few near-catches) for two whole hours! I was pretty impressed with her patience. We didn't get a catch on this outing, but we learned what fishing was all about.Sawyer took a little snooze during the trip, and then played happily on the blanket. He loves to be outside!