The girls amazes me!

Friday we went to a great new park with Alyssa Kate's buddy Noah. The kids had a blast and Alyssa Kate decided to try the monkey bars and after a few falls she started flying through them. I know that I am biased but the girl amazes me everyday! I wish I could say that I could do this at 3 years old :)

Alyssa Kate, Caroline and Greyson playing at Rock Creek

Caroline and Alyssa Kate the pig tail twins

Caroline actually left the pig tails in all day!

I walked into their room and Alyssa Kate was reading Caroline a book

Then Caroline wanted in one the action

Caroline used a spoon for the first time last night...it went pretty well

Jake came over to play this morning...he looks thrilled doesn't he :)

Cute Cousins

Poking the baby :)

Hot Springs II

Thursday

-I bought white cotton dresses at the end of the last summer with the idyllic vision that we would take the girls to the beach this summer. Well, we decided to stay in Arkansas to save money and wait on the beach until the girls were a little older. I brought the dresses with us this week and attempted to get some pictures on the deck under our condo. It was not too successful but with girls that cute you are bound to get something good.

-After the hot photo shoot we changed clothes and went to Hot Springs Tower. It was fun and pretty cheap...both girls got in free. It was pretty windy and cool so it was a nice excursion.

-Wes was told by a coworker about a good restaurant in Mount Ida and a neat spring in the Ouachita National Forrest. After the tower we headed that way. It was supposed to take only about 30 minutes to get there but the whole trip took almost 4 hours round trip because of the gravel roads and things we had to take. The restaurant was great and had a lot of different homemade pies to enjoy after lunch. Then we went the spring which is in Collier Springs. It comes out of a mountain and there is a gazebo built over it and it comes out the other side. The water was ice cold and there was a small pool at the bottom of some little waterfalls. While it took a long time it was neat and Alyssa Kate like the water.

Friday-
- We were told that there was a beach area at Brady Mountain on Lake Ouachita, so we attempted to get the "beach" pictures I wanted with the white dresses. It was quite bright and Caroline was much too interested in eating the sand and rocks but there are a few good ones. After the pictures we changed into swim suits and Alyssa Kate and Wes built sand castles. She really liked it and said that we have to go to a beach with "more" sand soon :)

-When we got back from Brady Mountain Wes took Alyssa Kate to the dock under our condo to fish. While they didn't catch anything she was very proud of her Dora fishing pole.

-Mimi and Pop came up while they were fishing to swim and spend the day. We swam for a few hours then Pop and Wes grilled some burgers for lunch. When the girls went down for a nap Pop and Wes dozed on the couches and Mom and I were able to go shopping which was great. The girls then went home with them so Wes and I could have some fun with friends on the lake.

-Wes and I went to dinner at Fisherman's Wharf that night and had a great time. It was very nice to have dinner just the two of us. Then we went and played miniature golf...it was like a real date :)

Saturday

- We rented a boat with some friends and played on the lake all day. It was lots of fun and I was going to put some pictures up but really it was just a bunch of old guys sking :)

Hope you enjoy!

Hot Springs

Right now I am sitting on a deck, with my feet propped up, enjoying the warm breeze off of the lake in total silence. I truly believe this is the most relaxed I have been in months! We are in Hot Springs for a week for our summer vacation. We are staying in a lovely condo right on the lake. This condo was a gift from a very generous friend who wanted our family to have a nice, relaxing time. We think the condo is bigger than our house...which I know doesn't say a lot but it is just right for us. There are two bedrooms and 1 3/4 bath, fully stocked kitchen, laundry and living room. The girls love exploring it and Caroline spent the first hour we were here running in circles, touching everything :) We arrived Sunday evening and I made it with only forgetting two things- my hair straightener and Wes's deodorant :) Luckily Walmart is just down the road and we were able to make sure we didn't have a stinky daddy for the week.

Here are some of the highlights:

Monday:

-We went to a local breakfast spot and had some very yummy food....the only problem was that the serving sizes were massive and we left more than half of the food on our plates...lesson learned.

- After breakfast we walked around bath house row and Alyssa Kate was able to touch the "hot spring" water. The next day we saw a creek and she wanted to know if it was hot or cold :)

- We brought the girls buckets and shovels and set out to find a "beach" area that they could build sand castles on. The area we that was suggested to us was, might I say, icky :) I didn't say anything about it though because Wes was very excited to get the girls in the water and play. Alyssa Kate stepped into the water and promptly screamed saying fish were eating her and it was yucky. Luckily within a few minutes it started to thunder so we left. Needless to say it was not a hit but I can honestly I was quietly proud of my little prissy pot, mommy wasn't getting in there either :)

-By the time we made it back to the condo the storm was over and we spent the next few hours in the pool. Everyone loved that and it was not icky :)

Tuesday-

-One of the things we were determined to do this week was to take the girls to the Mid America Science Museum. It turned out to be a huge hit and we stayed for over three hours. There were of course things that were way over their heads but for the most part they were able to play with most things. It was nice that they could manipulate so many different things and get a a vague understanding of how things work. It was fun to watch Alyssa Kate's brain working figuring things out. Wes really wanted to see the lightening cage where they shoot off 1.5 million volts of electricity. It was neat but the loud noise terrified both of the girls so that was over pretty quick :) The highlight was Caroline tossing her milk cup in the fish pond with the gigantic coy fish. Luckily daddy was able to rescue it. :)

-After a good nap we then went to dinner at the Colorado Grill. It was a great restaurant but unfortunately the power went out after being there 20 minutes. It made a fun time in the dark with the girls. Luckily it came back on after about 20 minutes and we were able to get out food. While the wait was not great the food was excellent.

- When that two hour dinner was finished we were ready for some fun. So of to the pool for us again. It is amazing how much splashing in the pool can wear us out!

Wednesday-

-This morning Wes was helping a friend move into the Math Science School so the girls and I were on out own. I took them to the Little Bitty City and they had a blast. It was a lot like the Wonder Place with a few different play areas that made it new and exciting. Caroline was obsessed with the kitchen/market area getting in and out of the chairs. Alyssa Kate loved pushing around a shopping cart and hosting a "dinner" in a play tent. There was also a blow-up jumper that was quite a lot of fun.

-After a yummy dinner of lasagna we took the girls to a go-cart track. Alyssa Kate rode with Wes the first time and she loved it! She told me that she went really fast. Then she, Caroline and I went and rode bumper boats. There were no other people at the time so no real bumping but it was fun. Next was mommy and Alyssa Kate on the go-cart track. It was fun but I spent the whole time worrying about her getting hurt and probably looked like a grandma driving around that track :) To wrap up the evening we played in the arcade and with only $3 in tokens Alyssa Kate won 65 tickets and traded them in for various pieces of junk :)

I will post the rest of the week later!