Lillian's New Backpack

Look who's a big girl now!! It was beach party day for Lillian at school today - her first! She didn't want to keep her swimsuit on, didn't want to wear water shoes and refused to put a shirt on....but we made it to school! I needed a bag to put all her stuff in so why not use her new backpack? She was so excited adn felt like such a big girl - she showed everyone her new backpack as soon as she got to school. She even carried it with all her stuff in it and kept telling me how heavy it was. I think she really enjoyed her day because today was the first day that when we went to pick her up she asked to stay and take her nap at school!!!  Not today...but it will happen soon. I think it will be good for her eventually but today, she was headed home. I'm happy that Lilly is enjoying school and the time with her friends. She is learning a lot and is speaking in full sentences now. She knows all her letters, can count to 13 and then jumps around but gets to 20 eventually, knows shapes and colors. She is coloring and cutting and doing all the things that little ones do - but is doing very well. 

Maddy and Ashlee

Ashlee is enjoying her last few weeks with Maddy. They are out and about and it will be sad when she leaves. Maddy enjoys her and they ahve a lot of fun together. So sweet!

Getting Healthy

We spent this weekend getting healthy. Gabby has had a bug that just won't go away. It comes in the evening and makes her tummy hurt - but last night was the first night in 10 days that she did not wake up in the middle of the night...so I think we are making progress. The girls had a good time at the farm. Maddy rode the bike/scooter all of the court, Lilly and Gabby got to ride Morning Glory and even had a chance to ride with their cousin Dorothy May and her new pony Little Joe.  Gabby wore her princess dress, had 2 ice creams and did some good swinging. We picked apricots and just hung our for the afternoon.

Maddy had a fun trip to the park yesterday and really liked the big slide. She thought it was fun to start going down the slide before I could get to the bottom and while she is getting older, she is still only 13 mos and some of the things she does scare me to death! She is getting more confident on her feet - not fully walking yet but making progress. It's coming, just not here yet! She has the best smile. Overall, it was a great weekend and the girls had a good time.

Sisterly Love

Need I say any more? It warms my heart when they are nice to each other.  Usually they are tormenting each other but every once in a while, there are these moments where they are laughing in the car, holding hands and I know that they will be best friends for life - whether they think it now or not.

Maddy's Officially Walking and Happy Father's Day 2014

We had a wonderful day yesterday. Low-key as Gordon and Gabby were still not feeling 100%. The girls made Gordon a shirt with all of their handprints on them. Then they each got matching shirts! Yesterday was warm here in town so we spent a lot of time in the pool. We had a morning bike ride, made brownies, ran some running races, got some clubhouse ice, went to the clubhouse pool, and took some fun naps. Maddy took her first steps yesterday - a couple of times she let go and took 2-3 steps towards me :) She is also starting to have her personality - and it's funny and feisty as well. She does not like to share - I can't believe it is starting already! When we get out the tub of beads and blocks, she does not think she should share with Lilly. She also does not like to share her books. Her favorite book right now is Brown Bear - I think I have read it 100 times in the last week! She goes and gets the book, then brings it over and climbs right in the middle of my lap to have me read. I swear she is starting to talk already. She is teething and it's molars this time....I saw one pop through this weekend. Poor thing has not had a break in months. Anyways, it was a fun, relaxing and family filled day. The girls enjoyed their weekend and we are off for another fun week of summer fun!

SLO Bound!

We had a get-away day on Saturday! We were planning to go to San Diego this weekend but best laid plans....get nixed when kids are sick! I got a call on Friday at 3:00 that Gabby was sick at school. She was legitimately sick so we cancelled our hotel room and plans and decided to stay put. BUT...I couldn't stay in Bako another weekend without needing a chance of scenery. So, Saturday morning we woke up and Gabby was feeling chipper so we decided to take a girls trip to SLO. Gordon was also feeling very ill so I left him home with Maddy. We watched Frozen on the car ride over to the coast. Got there, had a delicious pear, peach and apricot smoothie and then hit the Children's Museum.  We were the first people in the museum....the girls had a blast. We stayed for 2 hours and then we decided it was time for lunch and the beach. We grabbed a sandwich and some chips, went to Avila beach, had a picnic, played on the swings and went in the ocean. Gabby found some friends to play with while Lilly and I chased waves for a solide 45 min! We topped the day off with a yummy snow cone.  At 2:00 both girls were tuckered out and ready to come home. The change of scenery helped me and the girls had a great time as well. We watched Tangled on the car ride home and all in all - it was a beautiful day.

Gabby at Swim Team

Gabby has been doing swim team 1-2 times a week. She is in the pool so much during the summer that we are not pushing swim team. I got to take her to practice the other afternoon and it was her first time swimming in the "Big Pool". It is where they do the diving and it is a 50 meter pool! Gabby did so good. She has a great freestyle and is working on her backstroke. She did a little dry land training to work on the breast stroke. She swam a couple hundred yards and then when we got home, jumped in the pool again! She is a fish....

Lilly Swim Lessons at Jan Graves

Lilly and Gordon have been going to swim lessons the last 2 weeks at Jan Graves. Jan is a long time Bigler Family friend that has taught swimming lessons for MANY years. Jan heats her pool to almost 90 degrees and has a diving board so the kids think it is the coolest thing to get to swim at Jan's.

Lilly started 2 weeks ago with not wanting to put her head in the water. We had not pushed the issue because with Gabby - she just always wanted to do it.  Lilly is a different cat. After the 1st day - she was great. She thinks she is a big kid now and loves to swim and keeps her goggles on! She is still swallowing a fair amount of water but that just takes time. She loves to jump in and is even going down the slide in our pool into the deep end! She really is a brave and adventurous kid. I must remind myself that she is only 2 1/2. I find myself treating her like she is 4 and that is not always fair to her. Lilly has a spark to her that we need to foster and guide. She needs her own identity and we are working hard to make sure she gets enough "alone" time with either mom or dad so that she doesn't feel that she is always competing for attention - it's just hard - I guess that's called parenting.

Summer Days

The last few days have been full-fledged summer. Maddy is almost walking - so close. You can see her want to take that step but not wanting to fall. She is standing everywhere testing her balance. It makes me nervous when she does it near the edge of the couch but there is only one way to learn that lesson... Lilly is enjoying the pool and the water table in the hot afternoons. She is doing great with her swimming and just yesterday went off the slide into the pool in the deep end.  Gabby is enjoiying snow-cones after swim practice. She is working on her dives, butterfly and backstroke. Her goggles are amazing - we got dark tinted goggles and then added car tint to the interior of the goggles - they really do cut out as much sun as possible! 

Camping Out 2014

This last weekend was a hot one...so Gordon and Gabby decided to camp out. We put up the big tent - Gordon wanted to make sure he could do it - and it was huge inside. Lilly was in the tent to start with but decided she preferred her bed. I think the coolest it got in the evening was high 70's/low 80's so everyone was a happy camper. I have a feeling there may be a few more camp out nights this summer....

Swim Lessons Return

Finger Painting Fun, Horseback Riding and Shoes

This may seem odd...but this is what our weekend consisted of. The girls did not have school on Friday and they had fun with Ashlee fingerpainting. It was Maddy's first time and she had a blast. On Saturday we went to the farm for some horseback riding and Grandma time. Maddy stayed home with dad to get some good rest and this is where you can find her most of the time. She loves shoes (she is Gordon's daughter after all!).  We topped it off yesterday with Sunday Brunch at Stockdale Country Club to celebrate Ann & Russ's 50th Wedding Anniversary. The girls were dressed in their dresses and pearls - although Lilly's only ended up lasting 5 min as she pulled the chain and broke them :( We did get some family pictures taken and I will share when I have them....I think there were a couple cute ones of the girls. Lilly was not cooperating and Maddy didn't care to be in her dress but Gabby was a trooper and loved having her picture taken! It is heating up and the girls are enjoying the pool in the evenings. Summer has officially arrived!