Celebrating BopBop's birthday (a week early!)

We went to Kiawah for the weekend to see everyone and to help BopBop celebrate his birthday! We decided to plan a little surprise party for him, complete with yummy food, games, presents and even a pinata! The kids all did a great job keeping it a secret and couldn't wait for BopBop to pull in with Nana so that they could shout Happy Birthday! (although Matt says that this video makes it look like Laurie and I were more excited than the kids)! The girls had worked so hard on making their own presents for him and were so proud to give them to him. They even had special plans for what he could do with them. They picked out some pottery and painted them themselves and then it was fired in the kiln and we went back to pick them up. The wait was hard but they were so excited with their finished products! Reagan made a fish plate and said he should eat his eggs on it and Riley made an owl cup and said he should put his paintbrushes in it but if he really wanted to he could drink out of it. Cooper even picked out a special t-shirt for BopBop with different fishing lures on it!   Everyone had a great time! It was so special that we could all be together to celebrate BopBop and show him how loved he is by all of us!!!!
(and of course the ONLY picture that we were able to get of the whole group together has BopBop's head lit up by a light he's standing in front of and he's the only one you can't really see! Bummer....but trust me it's him!)!

BopBop's Boat

BopBop took us out in the boat on Saturday morning! It was such a perfect way to start the day and the girls loved every second of it. He even let them both take turns driving the boat! We saw a few dolphins but the girl's favorite part was when BopBop made the boat go "SUPER FAST!"! They thought it was hilarious...and just giggled and giggled! Too much fun!

Over and Over and Over

While we were in Kiawah for the weekend the girls fell in love with the diving board! They wanted to do it over and over again! These videos are from Friday night after dinner but they did it again on Saturday and have no requested that the pool in our neighborhood get a diving board installed. (not sure who I need to talk to about that! Ha!) They had so much fun swimming with Cooper too...he had a really fun turtle float that all three of them could fit on at the same time (not that they ever stayed on at the same time...but they could have if they'd wanted to!!!)!

GETTING READY!!!!

I took the girls this afternoon to pick out their brand new backpacks for school! They had been using the same sweet little ones for the past two years and they finally outgrew them! This year they will stay for lunch too, so the bags need to be a bit bigger.  They had so much fun picking out their own ones....Riley chose a bee and Reagan chose a doggie. I think they are the perfect picks! They walked all around the Town Center with the bags on...I tried to get them to give them to me and they were NOT having it! Since we got home (which is why I'm able to do a blog post right now) they've been in the playroom with their bags, playing school and "packing their lunches" with their pretend food from their pretend kitchen. I'd try and get a video of it but as soon as I do I know they'll stop....just trust me that it's absolutely adorable. Can't believe these two are going to be starting preschool in just about 2 weeks!

Nana Susan comes to visit!

We had a fabulous time with Nana Susan last week! We were so lucky to have her for a whole week and she was our very first house guest in the new house...and I think she approves! We somehow filled the week and it flew by and we didn't really go farther than about 10 minutes from the house! The girls wanted to do the zoo and take her to the pirate museum in St. Augustine...but it was just SO super hot that we decided to hold off until next visit! We spent the week at the beach and at the pool and playing on the swingset and getting ice cream and keeping Nana entertained! The girls especially liked playing in the playroom with Nana (her attention span with them is a lot longer than mine right now!)! They've been really into playing "school" lately so she got to do that numerous times! They also each got to have a date night with Nana which was super special...and poor Nana had to go to Bruccis two nights in a row! They both picked it for their date night and she was patient enough to go along with it! We all took her to Lulu's one night and to Palm Valley Fish Camp one night too...we grilled out and just had a blast. We miss her already and can't wait for her to come back SOON!!!!

Riley's checkup!

We just got back from Charleston and got such great news from Riley's appointment!!! All of her tests came back looking great and her heart looks amazing. YIPPEEEEE!!!! If you look at her and watch her, you wouldn't be surprised by this in the least bit because of how active she is! She holds her breath under water for so long that it scares people! She can already do handstands in the pool...and she and Reagan never stop moving and playing. We were very nervous after her appointment in February when we received some unexpected news...but are just so happy to report that as of now, the doctors have no concerns and we don't have to go back until NEXT July! YIPPEEEEE AGAIN!!!!!!
We actually had a great time in Charleston as we took the girls and stayed at The Charleston Place hotel. It's right in the middle of downtown and we had so much fun taking them all around and walking up and down King Street. I can't wait to go back when we can enjoy it a little more (Matt and I were a tad stressed until after her appointment!!!)! On Thursday night we took a PediCab from our hotel to upper King Street where they opened up a Jeni's Ice Cream shop. If you've never had Jeni's ice cream you are missing out!!!! It is amazing...it's based in Ohio and has become so popular that it's now expanding all over! The girls thought the pedicab was absolutely hilarious. And the ice cream was just as good as we remembered it from when we lived in Cleveland!
Most importantly...Riley had a good checkup! She was so brave and stayed so still during all of her tests. (I brought along some lollipops so that might have helped a bit!)! Reagan was such a good "big" sister and calmed Riley down and stayed quiet when she needed to and helped us out so much! The children's atrium at MUSC is amazing and the girls had fun playing in there in between waiting for different tests and doctors. Riley especially liked the doctor's office area where she could pretend to be a cardiologist and check out the babydoll's heart! A very sweet and proud moment for Matt and I watching her. Needless to say, we are incredibly relieved and can breathe easy again (until next July, ha!!!)!
So....we're back home and waiting for Nana Susan to arrive! She'll be here for a week and we can't wait to show her our new house and have lots of fun playing, playing, playing!

Summer FUN!

I know, I know....I've been terrible about posting updates this summer! Sorry! We've been having so much fun lately but we really haven't done all that many crazy, interesting things out of the ordinary! The girls have really, really been into drawing pictures lately and "writing their letters" and while I love watching them do it, it's not really the best for taking pictures or videos...just trust me that they are getting pretty good! They both recently drew pictures of people for the first time and you could actually TELL that they were people with eyes and a nose and a mouth and even arms and legs! Matt and I were pretty impressed! Reagan is really, really into writing her letters, too. They can both spell their names if you ask them to, but they can't write them yet! I'm not pushing that....but love to see them trying and pretending!
We've also been swimming a lot and playing at the beach. In typical Florida summer weather, we have beautiful (hot and humid!) mornings and storms every afternoon. So we try and get all of our outside playing done in the mornings! In the afternoons we bake cookies or do projects...last week we made cheerio birdfeeders to put in our back yard. There are SO many beautiful birds back there!
The girls also love playing in the sprinkler! They think it's so funny and I could watch them for hours. (plus it makes them tired and they take really good naps for me!)!
A month from today is the girl's Meet the Teacher day at school and then they start school a few days later. I can't believe we only have a month left to play, play, play! I plan on taking full advantage!
We head to Charleston on Thursday. Riley's big appointment at MUSC is on Friday morning so keep her in your prayers! We are just going down and back so we're going to spend the night in a hotel right downtown to make our lives easier since her appointment is early in the morning. The girls are so excited about the hotel! Riley has already asked if she can sleep with me and Reagan can sleep with Daddy. I see a night of little sleep in our future! Ha!