hey!
(cricket cricket)
i said HEY!!
as in, i'm alive!
yeah, so it's been almost a month since i've posted.
i've even debated ditchin' this poor lil ole blog.
sometimes it just feels like a lot of work, you know?
and sometimes you just don't feel like doing anything but eating bread and laying on the couch or the floor while the kiddos play (and you get crumbs all over yourself). even if it's like for a month straight. growing a human does seriously odd things to you, i tell you what.
but today i woke up and wanted to blog.
i missed it.
i missed you. (you 5 faithful readers who might not still be out there...).
regardless. here i am.
our summer ended with some fun things. in no particular order:
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(pictures 1-6): we went to the cutest super-hero birthday party ever.
the girls each got their own capes and masks with the first letter of
their name on them. i mean seriously! their own capes! i have pretty
talented friends. the girls had a blast and still wear those beloved
capes all the time.
(pictures 7-10): Alice got super sick
with this weird cold sore infection called Stomatitis. her whole mouth,
gums, and throat were covered in these huge sores-- super nasty and
super sad! it was definitely at the top of the worst sicknesses my girls
have ever gotten- because she would eat/sleep/stop crying for almost a
week. like up all night screaming. oh brother! anyway- the one plus was
that for the whole week, we basically ate frozen yogurt, jamba juices,
and ice cream; my kinda diet! and made for a pretty cute photo-op one
night.
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(pictures 1-3): we spent a lot of time swimming at Grandma and
Grandpa Chapmans house this summer. the girls loved it best when Daddy
swam with them- i can't blame them- daddy's just are more fun. Ellie got
so brave this summer! jumping off the diving board by herself, and
being thrown across the pool in the ways only daddy's and uncles can do.
i can't lie, it totally freaks me out.
(picture 4):
Ellie is totally into her leapfrog Tag reading system that she got for
her birthday. she spends hours looking through those books, repeating
rhyming words back and laughing at the stories. my favorite thing is
that it is so interactive, independent and educational-- all in one! if
you're looking for a winner gift for a four-year-old, look no further!
we love this thing. (i bought ours on amazon on a lightning deal which
included like 20 books- but this is the idea:
Leapfrog Tag).
(picture
5): we finished up taekwondo a few weeks ago. Ellie really wanted to
keep doing it, but with preschool, dance and gymnastics...i just
couldn't do one more thing. it makes me laugh how much she loved that
class! she really was the runt- the last to finish everything- and yet
she loved it. kids are so funny.
(picture 6): i find
Alice sitting on a little chair staring and studying "the Little
Mermaid" dvd at least 5 times a day. she is ob-sessed. she asks to watch the movie over and over, i sing the song
multiple times a day (look at this stuff, isn't it neat???), she carries
around an Ariel wherever she goes, and she steals Ellie's plush Ariel to sleep with almost every night (obviously causing serious water-works). like i said, obbbb-sessed.
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(pictures 1-4): M's brother
Jeffy came for a week- so we did some fun stuff while he was in town. we
went into the city and did Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf one evening- and
of course the girls loved the double decker carousel.
(pictures 5-8): the girls loved seeing the boats, the docks and the Sea Lions- but mostly loved being chased everywhere along the big pallets....and making dad's heart stop in doing so.
(pictures 9-11): but i think the girls' favorite part of the city that evening was the giant lollipops we let them devour - even before dinner. we're so cool sometimes.
(picture 12): my favorite part was the crab feast at Bubba Gump. that was the last time i've eaten any sort of meat/protein..(i can't even look at it right now, let alone touch it, taste it, or (ugh) smell it). but i'm glad i went out with a bang. i love crab (when i'm normal).
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(pictures 1-3): another fun thing we did when Jeff was around was going to Santa Cruz. we love the Santa Cruz boardwalk! so fun. Alice loved chasing all the seagulls and digging non-stop. Ellie loved playing catch with Uncle Jeff and daddy (unpictured).
(picture 4): after playing on the beach, the girls were very hungry and ate like lil seagulls off of grandpa's turkey leg. thank goodness Grandpas are good at sharing.
(pictures 5-9): then we walked the boardwalk and let the girls ride some rides while i devoured two bags of cotton candy. and then the motion of the rides made me turn green, so we left. i'm getting kind of used to being the party pooper these days. it's a lame role to play, i tell you what. regardless, it was super fun.
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(picture 1): the girls are definitely fighting more lately, but they are also loving each other so much more lately, too. i live for finding them cuddled up close together like this.
(picture 2): another thing Alice loves to do these days is disappear to the playroom, and fan through blank coloring books. i hear her naming characters ("Ariel, Belle, Pooh Bear," etc etc) and then studying the pictures. it is just the cutest thing to me, her mama, who thinks every little thing she does is so cute and funny. (sorry, are you gagging?)
(pictures 3-6): now that the evenings aren't so scorching hot, we have spent a lot of nights outside side-walk chalking. the girls love having their bodies traced - and giggle and squirm through the whole thing. my favorite picture was that little family portrait that Ellie drew and was so proud of, "look Mom! it's my family!" the best was hearing her describe M as the little dude on the far right. what does that mean, exactly?
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(pictures 1-2): and then summer officially came to an end when we got rid of all those dead-ends/swimmer hair and freshened up with some new haircuts. Ellie kept asking "how do i look? does it look pretty yet?" and Alice was hilarious- she was so serious through the whole thing, and sat so still....which was pretty miraculous. it must have made a big impact on her because now she pretends to cut the hair of all of her babies and dolls. i love these little girls so much!
and so that was our summer. beautiful, sweet, busy, fun, memorable, lazy, and everything in between.
i have much more to update on, but that will do for now.
up next: labor day trip, Ellie's first day of preschool, dance & lots of Alice-isms!
hope your'e all doing well- sending you big hugs.
and officially, so long sweet summer! thanks for being good to us Chapmans.
xoxo
