Memorial Day Weekend–Part 2

Our second full day at Hartfield was another beautiful one.  The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and the weather was warm.  After breakfast, a bike ride, and minnow catching, we were back in the boat for lunch and more swimming.  We were curious how Nina would respond to going back in the water after the jellyfish sting, and she was a little apprehensive at first, but it only took her a minute in the inner tube before she wanted to jump in the water to swim.  We were proud of her for being brave.  Lyla still wasn’t too hot on leaving the safety of the tube, but with about 30 minutes left before we had to start back home, she got up the courage to leave the tube and swim in the river.  We were proud of her, and she was so proud of herself and had a great time swimming and jumping from the boat into the river.  We told them that they’re both now official members of the River Girls Club, and they’re already excited for their next trip back to Hartfield for more fun on the boat.

 

  

Memorial Day Weekend

Our first full day down at Hartfield was quite eventful.  The girls and I drove down Friday (Mark was at home coaching all weekend) and met my parents here.  The girls were up bright and early, so we spent the morning outside getting the boat ready to put in the water.  My dad was getting some cleaner out of one of his boxes when he found this snake skin wrapped up in the box.  So, now we know there is a five foot snake roaming the premises – we just don’t know where!

 

Once the boat was ready, lunches packed, and bathing suits were on, we got out on the water.

 

The girls rode with Poppy from the boat ramp back to the dock to pick us up, then we spent the next several hours on the new boat.  We had a great time on the water and swimming in the river.  Lyla wasn’t ready to leave the safety of the inner tube and actually swim in the river, but Nina only wanted to stay in the tube for a bit, then she was swimming in the river. Mousey and I were in the river with the girls, then Poppy came in too, so we had the whole crew jumping off the boat and swimming in the river.  It was a blast!  The only downer was that Nina got stung by a jellyfish on her leg, but she was pretty brave and got through it.  Poppy let the girls take turns driving the boat home, and we all really enjoyed our first day on the water this season.

 

 

 

Nina’s Birthday

Even though Nina had her party with friends on Sunday, she still had a really fun day yesterday.  Of course she started the day with donuts (a Nina favorite), then got to wear a birthday crown during her school day.  Lyla and I met her at school at the end of the school day, then she was greeted with a cute birthday sign from the “big girls” on the street.  She spent the two hours that followed playing gymnastics competition with the girls, then Mousey, Poppy, and Uncle Bo came over.

Even though we celebrate birthdays with friends at a party, we still like to get together for a family birthday celebration, so everyone came over for dinner, some presents, and a trip to Sweet Frog.  To say Nina was energized with birthday excitement would be an understatement.  She had a great day though and definitely enjoyed all the attention she got.

 

 

Officially Six Years Old!

Happy Birthday, Nina!

Our first girl turns six today.  It's said so often by parents looking back nostalgically, but I can't believe where the time has gone.  If you would have asked us how the time was going in the first six months of Nina's life we would have said it was going by so slow.  Looking back, that time seems like a blur, and the years with Nina have been a true joy.  At age six, Nina loves to play, loves to dance, she asks endless questions, she's a great big sister, a fun companion, and quite a little smartie too (of course, we're not at all biased in any of these things...) .  She is a fun, friendly, loving, kind, and energetic young lady who has grown into a daughter we are very proud of.  Happy birthday to our Nina.  We love you very much!

Here is a collage of some of our favorite pictures of Nina from the past year.  You can click on the collage to see it bigger.

Nina’s Art Party

Nina turns six on Wednesday, so we had her party with friends on Sunday afternoon.  This year was an all girl art party with her friends from school and the neighborhood. I took pictures of the girls as they came – the silly face photo definitely warmed them up for the nice smile photo.

 

After everyone settled down, we got started with the art.  We split the group in half and had one group working on painting their own art board while the other group designed their own t-shirts.

Thankfully, my trusty family was there to be party assistants.  The men were on duty at the paint and stamp/stencil table, filling up each girl’s art palate with paint and helping rinse out brushes and pass out stencils.

 

The girls had a lot of fun with the art boards.  Here is a picture of all (but two) of them.

The ones that weren’t working on the art boards first worked on making their own t-shirts.  Thankfully my mom and two friends that stayed added extra hands at the t-shirt table.  The girls worked hard to make some very cute shirts to take home.

  

 

We finished things off with some hamburgers and hot dogs, artist palate cupcakes, and design-your-own sundaes. We had a great time celebrating our girl, and she and her friends had a blast, so all was good (other than being so tired by the end of it all that I was literally asleep by 10:15). 

  

Bike Riders

Over the weekend, Lyla asked us to take off the training wheels on her bike.  She took her first few trips down the sidewalk on Saturday afternoon and did great.  She went a little bit farther on Sunday, then we had some rain that kept her from trying it again the past two days.  However, today was beautiful, so while Nina was at school she wanted to ride some more – this time making it from the house all the way to the playground and back.  When Nina came home, we went across our neighborhood street to the community park and Lyla rode the paths like a little pro.  She had to deal with hills, sharp turns, and bumps and did it all without falls. She was very proud of herself!!  This is a big milestone for her, and we’re looking forward to some fun family bike rides this summer.

Little Lyla

Lyla does everything at top speed - riding her bike, riding her scooter, etc. We've witnessed some pretty bad falls but she keeps going fast (she says she wants to be a race car driver when she grows up). On Tuesday evening she was running down the sidewalk at top speed and tripped, falling face first. Her elbow was dripping blood and she was screaming, and Mark carried her in and doctored her up. I think there is probably a large chunk of her elbow skin on the sidewalk, and her arm is very sore today. She was curled up on the rug this morning when Mark was leaving for work, and from under her blanket she says to him as he leaves, "Daddy thanks for carrying me home." Isn't that just the type of thing dads are for...