Happy Birthday MiniM.E.!

Today MiniM.E. turned seven!

Happy Birthday MiniM.E.! You are my sensitive, caring seven-going-on-thirty year old. You take on so many grown up tasks like caring for your brother and sister. You are smart and determined and throw your whole self into things you love, like Tae Kwon Do. I love your mix-of-teeth smile and laugh at how much you hate having loose teeth but love having them fall out and showing off the empty space. You have grown so much this year. I love the conversations we have and I am so proud to watch you grow into a responsible young lady.

A birthday isn't a birthday without presents...

 We spent the morning at the Tree Paad so MiniM.E. would have some fun activity on her birthday.

MiniM.E. and Daddy share a birthday so they went out for a special birthday dinner while LittleL.G. had dance class. Then after MiniM.E.'s dance class ended at 7:15, we went to Friendly's for special birthday ice cream and singing instead of birthday cake!

Happy Birthday MiniM.E.!

More Birthday Weekend at Liberty Ridge Farm

MiniM.E.'s birthday isn't until tomorrow, but since most activities are closed Mondays, we spent the day today with Gram and Grumpy at Liberty Ridge Farm. 

While the girls had a great time on some of the big kid activities with Gram and Grumpy and Daddy, BabySlimJim and I checked out the animals.

There were jumping pillows, hamster wheels, a corn bin, swings, tractors, slides and more!

Happy Birthday LittleL.G.!

Today LittleL.G. turned four! 

LittleL.G. you are so sweet and loving. Always looking for an available lap to sit on and always ready to help a sibling with a hug. I love to watch you intently focus on coloring or writing, making sure you are careful and make everything perfect. You keep us entertained, always with a funny story or suggestion; without you our house is too quiet! I love that you want more than anything to be a big girl like your sister but I'm glad you still feel small enough to find me for a cuddle. Happy Birthday my little four year old!

We started the day by opening some presents.

Then we headed up to the Great Escape, LittleL.G.'s choice of activity for the day.

Then more presents and a bike ride to test one out.

Of course no birthday is complete without singing and cake! Happy Birthday LittleL.G.!

Swimming at Skidmore

This fall our weeknights were almost completely filled with extracurricular activities. It works for us since MiniM.E. isn't at school all day and we have a lot of down time and time to play all morning and afternoon.

The only night we were free was Thursday. UNTIL I saw the e-mail about swimming lessons at Skidmore. The girls made so much progress this summer that it seemed like a great opportunity to keep their skills fresh a little longer. So now we swim on Thursdays!

Riding

One Last Day at the Beach

Today we took advantage of the super warm weather and headed up to Moreau Lake for one last day at the beach. We took a hike around the lake, played at the playground and spent some time at the lake. Moreau has had some parasite and algae problems this year so I didn't let the kids swim... 

 
But BabySlimJim ended up drinking the lake anyway... which is probably worse than swimming in it...