A Kid's Summer Tradition

A Lemonade Stand!

We and our nieghbors decided to participate in the annual neighborhood garage sale to unload some old junk, so the kids had their very first lemonade stand (or Koo-Aid stand depending on what was available to us throughout the day). It was so much fun! I think Annie has a future in retail. She kept yelling "Get your lemonade! Ten cents!"

Kate, Annie and Steve.

Annie unscrupulously pocketed all the earnings! They made enough to buy more Kool-Aid and cups for the next day, $1 sausage biscuits at McDonald's, and they even donated $2 to church on Sunday (in exchange for doughnuts, but whatever). Annie also purchased a wallet and a very lovely purse at our garage sale from our sale partner Julie. :)

Go Tribe!

We took the girls to Comerica Park to see the Tribe play the Tigers yesterday. We had never been there before, and after yesterday, we aren't sure why we've waited so long! We had a great day!

The cutest Indians fans getting ready to go!

We parked pretty close and got there a little late, but she still needed a ride. :)

We both did a poor job of getting Comerica Park in the background, but it is a really nice stadium.

The sun was behind, beating onto Evie's mostly bald head. Her hat is too big, and she doesn't like it, so that's why she looks dumb. However, she was the perfect little baseball fan the whole game.  She even fell asleep for awhile!

Kate ate that lemon chill almost entirely by herself.

Doing the wave! Annie and Kate were both so mad when it died out.

In the background, you can see that we sat next to a group of people who came dressed as Tom Selleck, complete with Hawaiian shirts and fake (and some real!) mustaches. They were pretty hilarious, and we exchanged quite a bit of good natured ribbing. Sadly, the Tom Sellecks came out on top. The Detroiters were actually quite nice about our loyalties, and we found a number of other Cleveland fans there, as well. Good work, Detroit.

Family photo courtesy of Tom Selleck #1. Even though the Tribe lost by one, it was an exciting game. We'll hold out for a win next time!



Dear Annie,

You have a friend you call Daphne Who Lives In Mexico. That is her full name, and you use the full name every single time you say it. She is not Daphne From Scooby Doo and she is not Daphne From Preschool. She is Daphne Who Lives In Mexico.  I'm surprised I haven't blogged about her before, but I suppose it's because she is hard to get in a photo. She is most certainly real. I once questioned her existence, and you got quite upset. When I suggested a  pretend trip to Mexico, that was equally insulting. No, she is certainly real.

And she has taught you many things. It seems as though Daphne Who Lives In Mexico has a wonderful life, full of trampolines and treats. She doesn't have a bedtime.

You love her. You make lots of drawings for her. You know how to spell four people's names: Annie, Kate, Jack and, of course, Daphne. (I will admit Who Lives In Mexico was simply too long for me to spell out every time, so I convinced you to stick with Daphne).

Tonight, you made her this:

It says Annie and Daphne on it. And you made me cut out each and every little line out of the heart and hang it on your bedroom door while you were sleeping. Enjoy your time with Daphne Who Lives In Mexico. And don't say I never did anything for you.

Love,

Mom

Fan Day at the Big House

Today was Fan Day at Michigan Stadium. We took the girls to go check it out and to see some of the players.

Entertaining themselves before we were allowed onto the field.

They were really excited to meet the cheerleaders. They even got to hold the pom poms!

There are a LOT of steps there. I'm glad we went with the baby carrier, although it was quite a workout.

Tackling Daddy on the field. When Matt saw this picture, he said "Ooh, Annie. Good Zs in the knees." And he also commented on Kate's athletic stance. We will see...

All of us. Evie was unimpressed. She chewed the edge of the poster and was desperately trying to get it back the rest of the afternoon.

Doing the wave!

And yelling Go Blue!

We had a really fun time. Kate's final comment was that we didn't get to meet any of the players, which was true. We waved to them from afar; the lines were crazy long.

Huntington Beach

Last Friday, while in Cleveland, we took the kids to Huntington Beach to meet up with their cousins to play. Grandma Ralls joined us, too, and besides the gross and semi-disturbing Lake Erie dredges that ended up all over everyone, it was a wonderful time swimming, playing in the sand and eating ice cream!

The lake was really rough! Annie and Kate got knocked all over the place. They loved it!

Uncle Matt (Parke), Ella and Madelyn

Sand fun!

Annie and Ella

Maddee

Waiting oh so patiently for ice cream.

Yum! Mitchell's!

Annie, Maddee, Kate, Brady and Ella. They were all very neat with their ice cream, as you can see.

Maddee.  The ice cream fell off the top of her cone shortly after this. Brady was kind enough to give her the rest of his, though.

Ella's purple face :)



Six Months

Evie is halfway to her first birthday!

I've been wanting to take this picture for awhile. She looks so tiny, though!

Obviously, she's a champ at sitting up! She also crawls a little now, and a few times has gotten herself into a sitting position from her knees all by herself. She babbles all the time, and she grabs everything she can (to stuff straight into her mouth).

She weighs 17 lbs, 14 oz and is about 29 inches long. So basically, she is big.

She still doesn't quite sleep through the night, but she is a decent sleeper. She is so happy and smiley, and we can't believe we ever lived without her.



Protectors

I put Evie on the floor yesterday so I could make the bed. I threw one pillow behind in case of a backwards tumble and got started. A few minutes later, I looked over to find this:

Annie and Kate had completely encased her in pillows--just in case, they said. They wanted to put one underneath her, too, but I said no.

They were very pleased with themselves. Think they will always look out for their baby sister like this?

No, me neither. ;)