Summer in the city!

Here's Emma, testing out the pool water before hopping in...she LOVES water!! It's been sizzling hot here for the last few days so this is a lovely way to cool down. Sure wish our yard was big enough for a "real" pool!lol

Tippy toe girl!

Here's Emma showing off her pretty summer dress - it was a HOT day here today. Then she's showing off her ballet moves...she loves to walk on her tip toes and twirl around!lol

Karate Kid!

Thomas got his blue belt in karate this week, we're so proud of him!

I love shoes!

Last week Carolyn posted a picture of Rebecca wearing her high heels - Emma apparently also likes larger shoes but you'd think she'd find a better match for her outfit than daddy's old worn out slippers!!lol BTW, she does have a love for shoes like her mommy...she says the word "shoes" very clearly and excitedly and likes to pull out various shoes from her closet to just play with and admire them!lol

And we wonder why there's always a mountain of laundry!!

I think we'll be drowning in a mountain of laundry this summer!!! As I've mentioned before, Emma is definitely not afraid of getting into the thick of things and getting her hands dirty (not to mention the rest of her too!!lol)... here are a few changes of outfit from today and this doesn't include her PJs or the pants and t-shirt she wore this morning when it was still nippy out! Maybe it's a good thing her mommy is a good shopper!!lol

Here is Miss Emma waiting for her friends Rebecca, Keira and Kate.

After a little wet play at the sand and water table, it was time for a change of clothing.

After even more play at the water table, time for another change!!lol

Cutie girl!

Just a couple of cute Emma pics. She's very proud of her new pink sandals...in the first pic, I asked her to sit and smile so I could take her picture - waddaya know, she did!lol

Make a mess - not us!!

Today, Mark Shelley, Meg and Kate, Kevin, Dana and Keira and Carolyn, Gino and Rebecca came for a visit. As you can see, the sand and water table was a big hit with the girls... get dirty, not our precious little girls - never!!llol

WARNING: Janice, the pictures shown below could cause you severe distress!!lol

Kate and Emma - all clean again!!

See, we didn't get dirty at all... we dare you to find a speck of dirt on either of us!!

Big and Small!

Thomas and Emma

Meg and Kate

What kind of creature??

Emma, what kind of creature did you just find?? This is what happens when you ask your 7 year old to dress himself for bed after his bath!!lol

Not too prissy!

I know some little girls are quite prissy and don't much like any kind of mess...that's not our Emma!! Here she is playing outside after I was watering the sod that was just layed in our back yard... she seems quite proud of the mess she's made. Janice, you'd be proud of me, I don't mind any kind of mess she gets into outside, unlike the messes she tries to get into in her high chair which you know I'm not fond of!lol Anyhow, she went straight from the back yard to the tub!

Emma, are you SURE that's a hat and not a toy???lol

Outdoors...finally!!

I swear it feels like it's been raining every day for about a month... okay, an exaggeration, but only slightly!!! Here's Emma finally enjoying some back yard fun! We pulled Thomas' old house out from under the deck and my father built it up again...needs a washing, but Emma is loving it. She also loves the sandbox although she doesn't quite seem to get the concept of leaving the sand IN the box...I think I'm going to have to buy stock in a sand company to keep up with demand!lol

Keira, Rebecca, Emma and Thomas

We headed up to Kevin and Dana's for a wonderful lunch - Kevin sure makes a delicious home made pizza! Here's a pic of the girls...beautiful aren't they! And then there's one of Thomas with a dragon on his head... ah boys!!lol
The girls look so small next to him, don't they...and he's only 7 years old and 60 lbs soaking wet!lol

Chicago

While my sister and parents were here, Gary and I headed out overnight - to Chicago. It's one of our fave cities. I love Frank Lloyd Wright and included is a pic of his Robie house - too big for a full pic, but you get the idea... great space. Also, one of my fave parks in Chicago - just next door to the Art Institute - it looks so different every time we drop in. Anyhow, Emma did great with my family and it was wonderful to have an adult getaway, even just for one night. We took some great architectural tours, both on bus and on foot and did some fine dining...nice and relaxing. :-)

Out of the way doll!!

My parents and sister are visiting. My father made this lovely doll cradle for Emma's dolls. Well, no sooner had my parents given her the cradle that she'd thrown the doll out and gotten in herself... tight squeeze, but that doesn't seem to bother her!lol And of course Emma being Emma, now she likes to stand in the crib and make it rock...she looks like she's surfing or something!lol This kid is such a hoot and she's giving me so many gray hairs - she's just full speed ahead!

It's a dog's life!

We went up to Carolyn's today for a visit. Carolyn has a huge family room with a ton of toys - what do the girls decide to do - take up the dog's bed and play with the dog toys!!lol On the way home, I stopped at Toys R Us and bought a sand and water table...much to our relief, it was much easier to put together than that other plaything I bought!lol

Mothers Day

Gary got original with my Mothers Day flowers today... isn't this cool... it's a fruit flower bouquet!lol We had a lovely day - we all went to the zoo and had a fun relaxing day. Then I got dinner in bed and a movie while Gary hung with the kidlets. I watched Match Point - it was good...so was the pizza. :-)

Just when we thought...

We were just saying Emma was eating so neatly these days...and then we turned our backs on her for a minute... oh well...I hear yogurt is good for the skin!lol

Girls, you want to know how to get this great look??

Well, just dip your hands in yogurt and them clap them together really hard... and remember to close your eyes because it spreads everywhere!!
Oops, I think I just got busted!

At the beach again!

Emma and I dragged Thomas and Gary to the beach today. It wasn't exactly beach weather, but that meant that we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was really lovely. :-)

Emma laughing at having sand on her little piggies!

I've done an antique finish on this pic... Emma enjoying the view!

Thomas and Emma playing in the sand.

A black and white of Thomas burying his piggies.

Monkey Bars - Emma

Emma loves the monkey bars. Whenever we're at the park, she keeps standing under them and saying "uppa, uppa, uppa" which is how she says "up". Thomas has been showing her how to use the monkey bars and I'm amazed at how long she'll just hang and swing. And don't worry, when she lets go, it looks dramatic, but Marilyn, our sitter, is right under her catching her!lol I have no idea if this is typical for a 16 month old, but Emma really seems to be strong to me...I know there's no way Thomas could have done that anywhere near her age, he would never even have thought of something like that! The other thing Emma loves to do is play basketball. She grabs the ball, holds it over her head and runs full speed towards the basketball net, screaming "uppa, uppa" all the way. As she nears the net, I lift her in the air and she slam dunks... she could do this all day!lol If this child doesn't end up loving sports or gymnastics, I'll be really surprised!

Emma

Just a cute closeup of Emma at the beach today...notice a few grains of sand around her mouth!lol

At the Beach

After the farm, we headed off for lunch and then the beach. Emma actually slept through lunch, but, boy, can that Rebecca fool you...she's so tiny, it's funny to see how much she can put away!! She even likes lettuce for goodness sake, what 17 month old likes lettuce...maybe she can convince my 7 year old to eat it!!lol Carolyn says she'll eat anything she can reach and she's not kidding!!lol We then went to the beach. Emma loves the sand, but Rebecca is withholding judgment! Emma likes playing in the sand, Rebecca seems to find a little too messy for her liking!lol Here are a couple of pics of the girls, one has Rebecca looking on dubiously as Emma plays with some sand and in the other, I think she's telling Emma that she should eat the sand first and tell her how it is...see Carolyn, there IS something little Miss Rebecca won't eat!!lol

At the Farm

Carolyn and I took the girls to a little farm today to check out some animals...the girls enjoyed the cows, sheep, horses, chickens, roosters, etc., but I think the ducks were a big favourite! We almost lost Carolyn when she had to dive over a fence to retrieve Rebecca's hat from the chicken coop!!lol

Oh, look at the ducks, maybe I can climb through this hole and get closer!

Nope, that didn't work, maybe I could climb over this silly fence!

Well, who knew, drop a Cheerio on the ground and the ducks will come right to you!

Flower Girl!

Tip toe through the tulips!

I can do it myself!

Beginning of meal...

End of meal...so there's still a little room for improvement on her table manners!lol

Emma is insisting more and more on feeding herself and mommy is getting more and more used to the mess this creates!lol She's having trouble "spearing" some food with her plastic cutlery so she's now moved up to this great regular but kid sized cutlery set some friends gave us for her... she's having great success with it and Emma being Emma, anything that she uses or does that seems to be the same as the rest of us, the better it is... she seems to have forgotten that she's only 16 months!!