More YouTube Favorites

Okay, YouTube is kind of addicting -- but there really are some cute and fun videos to watch. Here are a few more of our favorites .......

YouTube Video: Pete the Cat

For Tom's birthday this past spring the girls and I bought him the book 'Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes'. We love reading the book and we love watching the author and artist perform the story too. I'm also excited I finally figure out how to post a YouTube video : )

Time in Minneapolis

Friday afternoon we headed to downtown Minneapolis, bummed around and had a BLAST!!

The girls loved all the shiny buildings, fountains, escalators, elevators and American flags.

They also got a kick out of the big windows, big buses and the busy-ness of all the different people.

The skyways were a big hit too,

and so was checking out different statues (Go Minnesota Twins) .....

..... and climbing under them : )

The art gallery featuring Dr. Seaus art was really neat .....

...... and meeting different people on the streets was really interesting.

Visiting Candy Land was a definite highlight for the girls ....

..... but going to the ROOF of this building -- the Wells Fargo Building -- 57 stories HIGH ....

.... was the definite highlight for their Dad. Seriously, we were waaaaaay up there.

It was windy, it was super high, it was a really really neat experience and the view was pretty crazy:

Before we headed home we stopped for a bite to eat (yummy, yummy flatbread sandwiches) ......

.... and while driving home we all agreed, We LOVE Minneapolis!!

The gold building is the Wells Fargo Building, where we went to the roof, and is the 3rd tallest building in downtown Minneapolis.

Sports Class: Track and Field Day

Wednesday Zoe and Ella ate their breakfast while watching a hummingbird eat her breakfast.

What a fun way to start the day!!

After breakfast the girls went to their last sports class of the summer, and they now know more about Track and Field than me.

First they stretched standing up ......

.... then they stretched sitting down.

They also ran as fast as they could ....

They practiced throwing the little-kid version of the javelin, I think that's what it's called (using a ball in a sock) .....

They jumped the kid-version high jump (over a jump rope) .....

And they also jumped the long jump. Zoe landing ....

.... and Ella mid-jump.

Both girls were disappointed they didn't run a relay (the've been doing that in our backyard with their Dad) and that class is over with, but Ella was really disappointed they didn't learn how to play football. No worries though, their Dad bought them a pink football for family football games in the backyard. So 'Sports in the Backyard' will continue, even though 'Sports of All Sorts' is over with ......

Grampa is Going HOME Today!!

And that news makes me feel really happy -- and like smiling -- like I do when I look at these old photos my Dad with some of his grandkids ....

Open a Book ....

...... Open Your World!!

I just love to listen to Zoe and Ella read their own books : )

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Grampa Update

Grampa Lindy is continuing to get stronger and improve each day.

He's not home yet, but we're hoping that will happen soon.

In the meantime, Ella and Zoe had fun being silly with Grama making colored-pencil mustaches, while Grampa enjoyed visiting with their dad.

Laughter is the best medicine, after all : )

Our Own Backyardigans

We haven't had to go far this summer to appreciate some of what nature has to offer --- these pals have all made appearances in our own backyard and have provided quite a bit of entertainment for our whole family, and visiting friends too.

The Big Toad with the Smaller Toad.

Also Known as 'Big Guy' and 'Little Guy'.

The feisty grey squirrel who loves to sit on the sliding door mat and peek into our house (he actually climbed our screen door one time but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture).

Little Sweet 'Bun Bun' (one of the many bunnies who lives in our backyard, but a favorite of Ella and Zoe's -- and named of course by Ella and Zoe), who likes to hang out under the recliner.

Mr. Turkey, also know as 'Turk', (I know -- my daughters are very clever name-givers), who is seriously a lot bigger than these pictures show, and has caused me to let out a few screams the few times he snuck up behind me.

And a teeny tiny frog that the girls did not want to part ways with.

They named her Fiona .....

...... they even put her in their bug house for a short while, with a lot of soft grass for her bed -- see her in the bottom right?.

We also have the cutest little red squirrel named Red (of course) who loves to chase the larger grey squirrels up and down the back hill, and we've had a pure black squirrel and a pure albino squirrel make a few appearances as well (the photos I tried taking of these guys didn't show up well, they move to fast for my camera skills). Along with all the birds (Cardinals, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Finches, Hummingbirds and Orioles, to name a few) our backyard has definitely been full of color and activity, even when Zoe and Ella are in the house : )

Sports Class: Tennis

Tennis, anyone??

Despite a chilly, very close to rainy morning both Ella and Zoe said YES -- and had a great time learning how to hold a racket and {attempt to} hit a tennis ball.

Zoe chose a red racket because that's her 'second favorite color' ....

.... Ella chose a rainbow colored BADMINTON racket because she loves 'ALL the colors in the rainbow' .....

.... and they BOTH wore their new cheetah tennis shoes their dad bought for them.

Seriously, this has been THE BEST class -- each week has been a super experience for the girls and has provided many good laughs for Tom and me. Next week is the last week and it's Track and Field Day.

BFFs

Swinging.

Swimming.

Being Side-by-Side.

Best Friends Forever -- These Two Make Me SMILE!!