Impulse Buy

I bought an inflatable slide on a really hot day last week. We took it over to the Bautsch house for its unboxing. The kids were out for three and a half hours! It didn't take them long to discover they could jump from the top of the slide into the splash pool below. Brooklyn woke up the next morning complaining her neck hurt. Imagine that!

Dancing machines

We attended a wedding on August 4th. The kids loved the reception! They were out dancing to Kenny G while waiting for the wedding party to arrive. Brooklyn even had Xavier leading her around the dance floor and forcing him to spin her. It was hilarious!



Brooklyn convinced everyone they need to dance with her. She took turns dragging each of us out onto the dance floor. A few of us only made it a few moments before she decided it was someone else's turn.

Xavier was intrigued by a crazy guy in a funky suit out on the dance floor. He noticed Xavier watching him during YMCA and asked him if he wanted to dance. Yes, he is doing "the sprinkler!"

Just Because...

They are so beautiful to me!

I get to be the top of the pyramid!

Imagine the feeling in the pit of my stomach as my four year old comes home from cheer camp announcing her position in their final cheer. Yikes!
Brooklyn really enjoyed cheer camp and now says gymnastics is her favorite thing to do. She is now able to do a cartwheel, forward roll, and a bridge with her head OFF the floor. What progress!
She was very excited to show off her skills at the "show" at the end of the week. She was most excited that Daddy was able to get away from work to see her. She made a special video request to his boss asking if he would PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let Daddy come. How could you turn that down?
I was surprised at the skills of the other girls in the camp. Brooklyn was, by far, the youngest and most inexperienced of the bunch. But still, there was a girl that couldn't have been more than two years older doing back handsprings! All comparisons aside, I am very proud of Brooklyn for trying something new, knowing no one, and coming out of the week with some great new skills. Sorry for the quality of the photos and video. I was fighting with lighting and a mean blue pole standing between Brooklyn and the camera.

Every girl can be a princess

Brooklyn won a week long dance camp at Dublin Dance Centre. It just so happened to be a princess dance camp! She spent from nine to noon every day with 6 other little princesses. They did a different princess theme every day. At the end of the week, they did a mini performance at "the Royal Ball" and had a tea party. Their ballet routine was to "Every Girl Can Be a Princess."


They also did gymnastics during the camp. This was Brooklyn's first experience with gymnastics. She really seemed to enjoy it! Her favorite event was the high beam. During their performance to "Friend Like Me," she did a real cartwheel! I was so impressed!


Brooklyn invited Avery to come watch her at the ball and join in the tea party. The teachers were very nice to include Avery at the "Princess Table" at the tea party. I think Brooklyn was happy to have her friend back in dance class.
Next week...cheerleading camp!

All things girly

To celebrate Brooklyn's friend Avery's 5th birthday, we had a mommy/daughter day at Easton. We started our afternoon at the Cheesecake Factory. The girls did so well sitting quietly in the restaurant. After our meal, the waiters brought sundaes with sprinkles and sang "Happy Birthday" to the girls. Brooklyn was included because her birthday is only a few weeks away! The waiters ran out of candles so the girls blew out lighters instead! After lunch, we headed to Libby Lu's for a makeover. The girls chose to dress up as fairies. They had their hair and makeup done and were covered in a ton of glitter! They did a dance to a Hannah Montana song. Too cute!



After Libby Lu's, I took the girls to Friends 2B to make dolls for Avery's birthday present. They, of course, each chose a dancing outfit for their dolls. It was wonderful to spend some time with Brooklyn doing all things girly.

Norris Lake

We took a family vacation to Norris Lake in Tennessee for a week of boating and relaxing. It was a fabulous trip! We went out on the boat almost every day. Andy was like a little kid in a candy store when he dove into the water for some skiing. No skiing for me this year! I did attempt the tube with Brooklyn, but neither of us decided we should do that again. She said she "loved it!" while she was out there, but never wanted to get back on the tube. Andy's dad allowed both of the kids to drive the boat. They definitely need to work on their steering!




When we weren't on the boat, we were swimming in the water at the dock. Xavier amazed me once again. He went from not wanting to let go of Andy or me in the water to jumping off the dock by himself and swimming to the ladder. He loved the tube and sea doo. He begged us to take him out on the sea doo every day! Once again, Brooklyn loved the sea doo then never wanted to go out on it again. She was content to swim in the water and ride in the boat.
Thank you to the Murphy's for letting us use your house. It is beautiful!

July 4th

We started our Fourth of July celebration on July 3rd with the celebration of Opa's birthday and a trip to the Columbus Clippers game. We stayed after the game to watch Red, White, and Boom from the stands. It was an amazing display, but the traffic afterward was horrible! It took us an hour and a half to get home from the game and that included some creative driving by Andy.




On July 4th, we started the day with Marysville's awe inspiring parade. ;o) It lasted all of 10 minutes, but allowed plenty of time for Xavier to gather lots of candy. Brooklyn was able to ride on her dance center's float. She was excited to see us cheering for her on the side of the road.




We had the Marshal's over for dinner and fireworks. The kids experienced their first sparklers. Xavier didn't want to touch them, but Brooklyn thought they were great! She ran through the yard until they burned out. I was sure she was going to catch one of her pigtails on fire! Unfortunately, I forgot about the cup of water for the used sparklers and Charis burned her fingers. Sorry!


After dark, we headed to the walking trail for Marysville's fireworks. We roasted our traditional s'mores and enjoyed the evening.

Are we crazy!? Yes!!

We decided to put our house on the market in April. We love our home, neighbors, etc. but want a little more land and a house better set up for entertaining. We're looking at moving to Plain City so we can be closer to our church. No offers yet, but we've definitely had some positive feedback from our showings. If it is meant to sell, it will sell. We're content either way.

Surprise! We'd been discussing the possiblilty of having a third child after being SURE we were happy with two. We said we would start trying after Disney and the triathlon. I found out I was pregnant three days after we got home from Disney. My official due date is January 23, 2008. Thankfully, I've been more tired than sick. The kids are really excited. I think the entire world knows because of Brooklyn. The triathlon training is being put on hold for a couple of years, but I'm going to try to keep swimming. The next few months should be interesting...

Breakfast with Elmo and Blue

We went to breakfast with Elmo and Blue at the Honda Wellness Center. I was shocked when the kids went right up the the characters. I guess Disney broke them of their large, stuffed animal fears. The pancake breakfast was neat because you held out your plate and they threw the pancakes at you! I wish I had a picture of the kids catching their cakes. Camera batteries don't always cooperate. Maybe next year...

Strawberries!

We went berry picking on one of the hottest days of the year so far! The kids ate their weight in strawberries. Brooklyn did a great job picking pretty red berries. Xavier's were so green and rotted that the nice woman at the counter didn't charge me for his. A cool strawberry smoothie was just what we needed after a long, hot, hour of picking berries.