6/30: We have this big box in the playroom that Jared painted pink a while back, which serves as a little play house. The girls took all of the throw pillows and any other pillow and blanket they could find and stuffed it all, plus themselves, inside of the house. Sometimes you wonder...

 7/1: Makenna is finally potty trained, as of the last week! She still has to wear pull-ups/diapers for naps and bedtime (unlike Avery, who has never had an accident in bed) but we are at least mostly diaper free! 

7/1: I'm wondering if both of my girls will ever make it through a full dance class on the same day. Today, Makenna went right in (well, after just a little bit of prodding) but Avery wouldn't go in! WHAT?!!! She finally was ready to go in for the last 10 min. but the door was locked!! I brought her around to the other door and it was locked, as well, so I went BACK around and the teacher finally came and opened the door because Makenna had to go potty! Argh! So Makenna missed the last 10 min. of class again (she did the same thing last week) while Avery only went the last 10 min. Class is only 30 min. Why can't they both make it through 30 min.?!!!! I was also aggravated that the doors were locked! So if your child has to go potty, they don't get to go back into class?? OK, vent over...

7/1: Avery just now: Mommy, if I ask you nicely, I can have that candy cane now. [asking for a candy stick she sees on my computer desk]
Ha ha! 

7/2: Pictures from our day of water fun with cousins. The girls had so much fun! None of the kids got the concept of running and sliding on the slip-n-slide, so I had to get out there and show them (no, I'm not posting pics of that, ha ha!); they still didn't get it, so we ended up pulling them down the slide or they just crawled/scooted down. They also had fun jumping on the trampoline together.

Jared had to get in on the action, too

7/3: All four of us went out today and bought some fun summer stuff from the Dollar Tree, got a new Betta fish (yes, our second one died! I think I still fed it too much, so I'll feed this new one a lot less!!), bought some fireworks (the girls have been asking for "spinny ones" since we first mentioned that we'd be doing fireworks tomorrow), and ate lunch at Wendy's. A fun little outing.

We found these freezer pop molds at Dollar Tree and I put yogurt in them (and added some extra strawberries) and froze them while the girls napped. They loved them! SO easy and yummy!

 7/4: Our Independence Day evening: A quick trip to Walmart (to buy a new electric air pump to set up the kiddie pool, since we can't find ours ANYWHERE!) and to Home Depot (for deck paint, a new fridge water filter, light bulbs, and kitchen in-sink soap pump), then home to grill steaks and eat before setting off fireworks with neighbors. Jared had the help of 4 neighbor boys in setting off his fireworks. And the girls finally got to see their firework turtles and "spinny things", which they have asked about non-stop for a over a week since they heard Jared mention fireworks (they remembered doing fireworks at Maw-maw & Paw-paw's house for Christmas). After a quick treat of popsicles for the girls and the neighbor boys, the girls finally went to bed at around 10:30

My birthday (7/5): We went to the aquarium, came home and took a nap, then went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Thanks for a really fun day, babe! A full year into my 40's!  :o

Avery didn't want to go on the rope bridge the first time Jared took Makenna, but then Makenna convinced her to go on it the second time; she got scared and Jared had to carry her across until the last few steps:

 My birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse--bloomin' onion, rolls with cinnamon butter, ribs, baked potato, salad, and ice cream with chocolate syrup. :)

They made me get on the saddle while they sang Happy Birthday to me before giving me ice cream and the girls wanted to get in on the action, too:

7/7: Ha ha! The girls have a box of toy bugs, spiders, etc. Makenna brought me a crawfish and asked what it was. I told her they live in Louisiana, where I use to live. She asked if I use to play with them and I said, "Yes, and we ate them too." She said, "Noooooo, that disgusting!" Ha ha ha!

7/7: The downside to having both girls potty trained now--I feel like I am ALWAYS headed to the bathroom to wipe someone! Also, I had to take the girls to the restroom twice during sacrament meeting yesterday--we didn't even make it through the opening song before Makenna said, "I have to go pee-pee!" I was like, "Are you serious?!!" The good news, however, is that Makenna has made it through 3 naps without a diaper and last night, too! She did go on the potty at 4:30am but only because Avery was crying so I let them both come in bed with me and I made Makenna get on the potty on the way to my room. Maybe we can be totally diaper free from now on! :D

7/10: Cooking up the first zucchini of the year from our garden. Yum!

Jared drove up to Hoytsville Thursday night (7/10) and stayed at his mom's house.  He went to get the camper ready and help Aunt Cindy with some stuff for the family reunion--he ended up helping Uncle Paul do a bunch of stuff on the Brown property, where the reunion was held.  The girls and I drove up the next afternoon, after I finally got everything packed into the car.  Here are some pics from the family reunion 7/11-7/12:

 Here's our cute little camper, for those of you who have never seen it [I made cute new curtains for it and didn't take any pictures of them.  Argh!  I'll have to do that when we go camping soon.]:

We were the first ones to arrive with kids and the girls had fun playing in the dirt.  They said they were, "digging for fossils."

Everyone brought their own meat to grill plus a salad or dessert.  We brought cheddar dogs, chips, and frosted brownies.  Cindy made ice cream and the kids enjoyed it, of course:

 

 After dinner, everyone went over to the ward building for our talent show.  Jared and the girls sang "The ABC Song" and "I Stuck My Head in a Little Skunk's Hole" and did a cute, short skit.  They did great and were so cute.  I'll post videos later.  I played "The Entertainer" on my clarinet.  Other talents included skits with piano music, dancers, and singers.

 

 We then headed back to the property and the kids got to hit pinatas (one for the younger kids, and one for the older) and get lots of candy:

 

It was quite late (after 11:00)  by the time we put the girls to bed.  Avery had actually been telling me that she was tired and wanted to go sleep in the camper.  They were so excited to sleep in the camper and to sleep in sleeping bags for the first time.  They slept really well, once all the other kids went to bed and settled down around midnight.  Avery refused to get out of bed for a while the next morning, ha ha!  She just stayed and snuggled in her sleeping bag for a while longer.

 

After breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon) the next morning, Aunt Cindy had lots of activities planned for the kids, like fishing for prizes:

 

 Makenna "caught" a water gun and had a blast going around shooting people:

 They had fun doing a sack race, too:

But this is how Avery ended the race.  Alisa picked her up and helped her across the finish line.  She was bundled up in her sack, like how she cuddles up in her blankie, ha ha.

Then, they had fun doing a water/spoon race:

 

 

 And, finally, bubbles!

 

Cleo got a lot of attention from all the kids--some wanted, some not so wanted.  She thoroughly enjoyed a belly rub by Hailey at the end of the reunion.

After most everyone else left, we sat and visited with Cindy and Kendall for a bit, then we went to Grandma's house.  I stayed there while Jared and the girls went to Grandpa's farm to see the beehives with Michelle's family.  Then, I cleaned out the camper and loaded the car while Jared and the girls went with Grandma and Laura's kids to the car show in Coalville.  Jared came back with Navajo tacos and a scone, which we enjoyed before the girls and I headed home.  They quickly fell asleep in the car and I gave them a bath when we got home before putting them to bed.  Jared stayed in Hoytville until really late that night to help his mom and dad, then hang out and chat with Cindy.  

The reunion completely wore the twins out.  They both slept until 10:30 on Sunday!  We actually had to go in and get Makenna out of bed so that Jared could feed them breakfast while I went to choir practice.  As all of the reunions are, this one was exhausting but really fun.  We were really happy to be able to spend time with Michelle and her family, who we don't get to see much.  We wish everyone lived close enough to be able to attend each year!