Babysitting adventures

Last Monday and Tuesday Autumn joined Ella and I for the day. Ella was so excited to be able to play with Autumn for two whole days. I actually think it's sometimes easier to have them both around, instead of just Ella. They do get on each other's nerves every now and again, but overall they play together beautifully. I love that I can just sit and watch them play. It's pure entertainment. 
Monday, we picked blueberries and came back to our house to play. 

They played on Ella's water slide for hours. Autumn pretended she was a swim instructor with Ella's swimming baby. She has quite the imagination. 

We couldn't end our day without a picture together. I love this one!

Tuesday was a beautiful day. We went to the park early. The girls played on the playground, and then we walked a trail. They held hands the entire way. It was adorable! 

We came back to our house and played outside almost the entire afternoon. They played on Ella's swing set, rode the Barbie jeep, and painted. It was a lovely, peaceful day. 

All in all I think it was a great two days. I'm thankful that my brother and sister in law trust me enough to keep Autumn by myself for two days. I hope we can do it again soon! 

Summer Fun

We have been having a TON of summer fun. I have been  trying to plan something fun for Ella to do everyday. It seems to make for a very long day if we don't have anything going on. Ella even wakes up in the morning with her own ideas of what she wants to do. She woke up the other morning telling me she wanted to go to Holiday World. After I told her we were not going there that day she said, "I was planning on it." If it was up to her we would be there every day of the week. 
We have started meeting up with a little girl, Julia, that will be in Ella's kindergarten class. Her mom, Heather, contacted me via facebook to see if we wanted to start getting together once a week before school starts so the girls can get to know each other. It has been a blessing to say the least. They are both pretty quiet, and they are both only children. They get along really well. We have been to the Inflatable Fun Factory, the park, and Chick fil A to play and eat lunch. I'm always shocked at how much Ella talks to Julia. They are cute little friends, and I hope this makes her transition to kindergarten a little easier. 
A couple of weekends ago we went to the Good Shepard summer social. Lacey went along with us so she got to experience a Saturday night with the Bertrams. :)

Last week we went to Holiday World. My mom came along with us since she is retired and can do things like that . It was an unusually cool summer day. We didn't even go to the water park, but it was still fun.

This past Monday we went to Burdette the first time this summer. We went a ton last year, because we had a pass. I love Burdette. We went all the time when I was a kid. It wasn't the same without my brother grilling hot dogs for us! 

It has been a fun summer so far, but the days seems to be dwindling. Ella start kindergarten in 32 days. How can that be true!? We will be soaking up the rest of summer until then! 

My girl

The week before the fourth I took some "patriotic" pictures of Ella. She is a really great model these days. She knows if she sits still and smiles it will be over quickly and painlessly. She has many other important things to do besides take pictures. 
Enjoy!

Fireworks, friends, and family

Another fourth of July has come and gone. I think the fourth is one of my favorite holidays, because it is a day filled with some of my favorite things and people. My love of the fourth goes way back to my childhood. Every year we would go to my aunt and uncles house. My cousin, brother, and I would light firecrackers all day, and we had fireworks at night. It was SO fun. I hope Ella has memories like that when she gets older. 
We spent our day with friends swimming and eating, and our evening with family watching the fireworks. It was perfect!
Our day started off at Aaron and Sarah's house. Sarah is 9 months pregnant so it was a little different than last year. We still had fun swimming, socializing, and eating way too much good food. 

Ella had fun swimming and playing with sparklers when she wasn't in the pool.

 There is our dinner. These beer can chickens were delicious. Aaron has a knack with the grill and smoker. 

We were able to hang out with this little cutie and her mom and dad. Isn't she the cutest baby ever!? 

Nathan, Lindsay, and L'Wren. 

Sarah, Aaron, and baby Isabelle (due very soon)!!

At around 6 we headed down to the river with my mom and dad and met up with Terry, Penny, and Autumn. Ella was on cloud nine since she was able to watch the fireworks with Autumn. It is so fun to see them together and listen to their conversations.

My mom came fully prepared with food and a cooler of drinks. We definitely had anything and everything we needed for the three hours we had to wait until the fireworks started. 

The girls had fun with sparklers and running up and down the hill too many times to count. I love this age. You can take them anywhere, and they have fun doing just about anything. They are both great little girls!

My parents had one of these lanterns left to light so they brought it along. We have not had good luck with these. Last year in Florida we tried one, and it never took off. The second one lit on fire, and then it took off. It was floating through the air on fire and headed straight for the condos. Thankfully, we never heard any sirens from firetrucks that night. This last one was another fiasco. It wasn't opened all the the way before it was lit. It never took off. I'm sure everyone was looking at us, because we couldn't help but laugh at my dad. Better luck next time....

Here is one that took off successfully....

After three hours of waiting the fireworks finally started, and they were well worth the wait. 

 Autumn was taking pictures of the fireworks as well. A girl after my own heart!!

We didn't get home until 10:30, and Ella didn't get to bed until 11. It was a great day and definitely worth the late bedtime. I hope you had a fun, safe fourth!!