4.30.2012

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Abby started a new swim session today. She has a different teacher and I am not sure that she likes having a boy teacher. Mckenzie said something that was so hilarious during the ride home. We have always taught our kids the appropriate terms for boy and girl parts. So after talking about Abby's new teacher, Mckenzie stated very seriously "I don't like (insert boy part here). I don't want to eat *** for lunch!" Where in the world she came up with that is beyond me, but I couldn't help myself from laughing!


006 Dakota

4.29.2012

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We made it to church this morning! It feels like it has been so long since we have gone. When we got home, I went out for a run. I knew if I didn't go right away, I wouldn't do it. I managed to run over 7 miles and didn't feel too bad afterwards! Scott also did a long run once I got home. I am starting to think that maybe, just maybe, we will be able to run 10 miles next Sunday. We took the girls out for an ice cream treat. It was a little windier than we thought so we ate our ice cream sitting in the back of the truck. The kids thought it was fun to picnic inside the car!


003 Abby static

She was not at all in the mood to take a photo but I had to get one to show y'all the static electricity going on around here!

4.28.2012

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Abby and Scott went to Abby's school today to do a bit of gardening as part of her Daisy troop. Mckenzie and I headed to dance class. I can't believe in just over a month, dance will be over and she will be performing in her first recital! I am getting so excited to see both girls perform :)

Scott and the girls planted a garden this afternoon. Well, the girls mostly helped by staying out of the way and jumping on the trampoline.

Abby had a birthday party for a friend in the neighborhood. I was a little worried that she wouldn't know anyone since her friend is in first grade, but Abby knew quite a few of them. She said she had fun, but she was disappointed she didn't win at Wii dancing. (I guess she is a bit competitive like her Dad;-))


009 mckenzie

4.27.2012

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020 lilac


We have lilacs growing in our yard! I love the smell of them and it brings me back to my childhood whenever I catch a whiff. I remember being at Grandma Hietala's farm and running around in the summer picking lilacs for her :)

4.26.2012

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017 fence


I'm not too sure what this is growing on our fence, but it looked cool enough to photograph :) Abby went to play at a friend's house this afternoon. When I told her where she was going, she was beyond excited. Mckenzie wasn't happy she wasn't invited, but we came home and played together on the trampoline :) I tried to find a play date for her, but everyone was busy :(

4.25.2012

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002 ballet shoes

Mckenzie loves it when I let her wear her dance shoes in the house. She walks around on her tiptoes and dances away. I am so happy she has found something she really enjoys :)

Mckenzie was "Star of the Week" at preschool this week and I had the chance to be in her class today. She was so proud to be both the Star and leader (you get to be leader when your mom is in the classroom with you). We made a poster board and filled it with pictures of her family and friends and her favorite things. She had the opportunity to stand in front of her classmates and describe her poster to them. She was a bit shy and kept her back to her friends, facing only the poster board or looking at her teacher. The she asked if anyone had questions or comments and I could tell it was difficult for her to decide which of her classmates to call on first. So, she was pretty diplomatic about it and went around the circle :)

4.24.2012

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005 dakota


The groundhog has come out of hiding and is teasing the poor dog again. Dakota lays by the back window, watching for the groundhog to emerge from underneath our shed. When it does, Dakota gets so excited. She starts shaking and she can't wait to get out there to chase it.

4.23.2012

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001 mandarin


I bought a bag of mandarin oranges today and the kids have polished off at least half of them already! They love "mini" oranges and I think part of the reason is they can peel the oranges themselves. A very grownup task :)

Abby had her last swim class for this session. She is getting much better at swimming without a floatation device and I am hoping that she soon won't need one at all.

4.22.2012

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Scott and Abby set up the trampoline yesterday. The girls have been wanting one for so long now and were beyond excited to finally get one! They are having a lot of fun playing
on it.



053 Abby trampoline


054 mckenzie trampoline

4.21.2012

112/366

Mckenzie had her dance visitation session today and got to practice in her recital costume. She likes to watch herself in the mirrors and always seems to be a step or two behind the others:) I love it. I can't wait to see her perform on stage! She looked so adorable all dressed up.


024 mckenzie dance


018 mckenzie dance


028 mckenzie dance


On a sad note, there was a house fire in our neighborhood. The girls were outside playing with a friend and alerted Scott that there was smoke. So, they all climbed over the fence to see if they could help as the fire had just started when they saw it. Luckily the family wasn't home and no people were hurt. Sadly their dog didn't make it out :(

4.20.2012

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106 water droplet

A little water left on the tree this morning. I saw it when we left the house to take Abby to school and I was hoping it would be there when we got back. Luckily for me it was :)

Mckenzie had swim class this morning and like always, she enjoyed it. She just loves the water. I don't know if she is actually learning anything in class but she likes it so I plan on signing her up for the next session.

4.19.2012

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Abby had a Daisy meeting tonight and they met with a local police officer. Abby was more than happy to spill her guts when they were talking to the officer. She told him I got pulled over for speeding (it was over a year ago and I didn't get a ticket!) and she also said I talk on my cell phone while driving!!! Hello! Ever hear of Blue Tooth kid?! At least she didn't say I drink and drive like one of the other little girls said about her dad! After that they picked up trash at the local park. I have never seem a group of girls more excited to clean up garbage!


069 Daisy troop at Police dept


087 Daisies

4.18.2012

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Scott didn't have to be at work until this afternoon, so he was able to drop the girls at school. Boy were they excited about that! Scott and I went for a run together this morning. It was great to be able to run together without having to push a jogging stroller.

Mckenzie and I got to watch Abby during her dance class today. They had a visitation day to allow the parents to see the girls in their recital costumes and see the performance. And we were taught how to do a proper bun for the recital. Guess I need to start practicing! I loved watching Abby perform. She has gotten pretty good at dancing this past year and I think she is starting to enjoy it a lot more than she did when she first started.



001 Abby


009 Abby dance


012 Abby dance


021 Abby dance


023 Abby dance

4.17.2012

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Mckenzie and I met a friend at the park this morning while Abby was at school. Mckenzie had fun swinging and for a little bit, I thought she was going to start swinging on her own, but as soon as I stopped pushing, she begged me to start again. Once Abby got home, the girls rode bike and played outside. It was another gorgeous day here. I am so glad summer is on its way!


001 bee


008 mckenzie


018 Abby


022 Abby

4.16.2012

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Mckenzie insisted on riding her bike as soon as she got home from school today. She was so excited she didn't even have the patience to wait as I let the dog out of her kennel! She is getting pretty good and rode her bike until Abby got home from school. We had a quick lunch and then took our bikes over to our friend's house so the girls could ride together. Abby had swim class tonight and then we all went out for dinner.
005 Ava Sophia Abby Mckenzie
I finally got a semi decent photo of a bee. Not great by any standards, but I have worked hard these last few days trying to capture one that was at least in focus so here it is :)
003 bee

4.15.2012

106/366

Oh my goodness. Mckenzie was up so much last night. She was dreaming and talking in her sleep. Between Scott and myself, I think we were up at least a dozen times before we brought her to our bed. I really don't like doing that, but she slept so much better, hence we slept better. And the girls must be wearing off on me. They walk around saying oh my goodness or OMG all day long. It is hilarious to listen to them. Sometimes I swear they are much older than they really are! If they talk like this now, what will they sound like in 5 years?! We ran some errands this afternoon and we picked up a big girl bike for Mckenzie. She is getting too big for her trike and we decided to move her to the next stage. It seems so sad to think our girls are past the age of trikes. They are growing up way too fast for me. Mckenzie loves her new bike and took off on it like she had been riding for years! It took no time at all for her to ride fast enough for me to jog alongside her to keep up. She told me that she wanted to ride bike all night long. Mckenzie kept thanking us for her new bike and telling us how much she loved it. I love making our girls happy :) Abby played outside for a little while, but decided there were too many bees and asked to go inside to play Wii.


012 mckenzie new bike


018 mckenzie shadow on bike


019 mckenzie new bike


023 Mckenzie color

4.14.2012

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We headed out for a run/bike ride today. This was the first time Scott and I have run together in a really long time and I am happy to report that it was so much easier this time. I was starting to think I was making no progress in the running department and for once, I am willing to admit I was wrong. Maybe there is hope that I will actually be a runner someday. Maybe. I am not holding my breath, but there is a chance. When we finished our run, Mckenzie wanted to ride her bike so we took another lap around the block. Abby wasn't eager to venture out again because she saw a bee during her first ride and wanted to stay at home instead. But we made her go along. I think it is going to be a long summer fighting over bees. We went over to a friend's house for a bbq. It was quite the afternoon. Apparently the bratwursts were a bit too greasy and started a fire in the drip pan under the grill. Oops! So, after a trip to the store to replace the charred food, we started over. It was great to hang out with our friends for the afternoon.


002 tree

4.13.2012

104/366

Mckenzie had swim lessons today and Abby was thrilled that she got to go with to watch her little sister swim. Mckenzie is in love with the water and it blows my mind how eager she is to jump right in every week. We headed to Target after class and we ran into one of Mckenzie's classmates from swimming. Those two little girls squealed with delight when they saw one another and acted as though they hadn't seen each other in weeks! Since it was lunch time and we had nothing else to do, I took the girls to Chick fil A for lunch and play time. As always, Abby made new friends for her and Mckenzie and they played forever before begging for some ice cream. They always want to trade in their toy for ice cream and when I agree, they drool in anticipation until the ice cream hits their tongues. 022 dandelion

4.12.2012

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We spent the day at home again today. After visiting so many places this past weekend, I just felt like staying home and hanging out with the girls. We worked on "homework" as the girls call it, which is really just mazes and workbooks and watched a movie. I caught up on all the laundry from our trip. Well, there is still a load in the dryer that needs to be folded, but I can't do it all today. What will I do tomorrow;-)

4.11.2012

102/366

We took it kind of easy around here today. Abby was super helpful this morning and insisted on getting herself and Mckenzie breakfast. She made Eggos, one at a time, and buttered them herself. She was so proud of herself and I was proud of her for being so helpful! We picked Dakota up from "daycare" as Mckenzie calls it. She was so excited to see us! And she was super tired from her visit. She got to participate in the group play every day and she was worn out from running around with the other dogs. I feel bad that she doesn't get to play with other dogs very often. If the kennel was closer, I would send her to day camp every once in awhile since she enjoyed it so much.

4.10.2012

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We took the girls swimming after breakfast. It was much less crowded but still just as cold. I hope these kids know how much we love them because I most surely could have done without swimming! We drove to the National Zoo before heading out of town. We almost didn't get a parking spot. We took the last space in the last lot available which wasn't really even a space, but the kind parking attendant let us drive into the grass and make one. The zoo was nice and the girls loved seeing all the animals. It was kind of sad that the zoo had a better sealife display than the aquarium we visited the other day. We left for home afterwards and the traffic wasn't nearly as nice as on the drive in. We were in traffic from DC to the outskirts of Baltimore! Yuck! Mckenzie fell asleep in the car and Abby was happy to watch movies and sing songs. I love that she loves listening to some of our music. She belts out the words (or whatever words she thinks is being sung) with a big smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes. Just watching her sing makes me smile :) Mckenzie was sad to be headed home and about 10 minutes from our house, she asked if we could go back to the hotel instead of going home. But, the promise of seeing Dakota tomorrow made her happy to be home.


101 Washington DC Zoo


103 Washington DC Zoo


118 mckenzie


120 Abby


126 Washington DC zoo


132 Mckenzie Scott Abby

4.09.2012

100/366

We visited the National Aquarium today and I have to say, it was surprisingly very tiny. I couldn't believe how few exhibits were there. The kids didn't seem to notice though and they enjoyed checking out an albino alligator and a few fish. We walked over to the National Museum of American History. Scott and I found the exhibits to be very interesting. There was one of the first toasters ever made and a lot of old cars and motors (I can only imagine how many hours my Dad would spend in a museum like this!). The kids weren't as enthused and one of the few things they enjoyed was Star Spangled Banner (the flag that inspired the National Anthem). The kids were hungry so we grabbed a bite to eat at an outdoor vendor. Not a good idea at all considering it was super windy and very dusty. The wind blew away some of our food and our drinks were blessed with some dirt :) We headed to the National Museum of Natural History next. Both girls really enjoyed this one. There were dinosaurs and a butterfly garden and so many things to touch and see. Abby said her favorite part was all the gems and minerals they had on display (they even have the Hope Diamond). Mckenzie loved the butterfly garden best. We wanted to check out another museum, but the kids were done. We headed back to the hotel, ordered in some dinner and took the girls swimming.


090 Washington DC Aquarium

4.08.2012

99/366

The Easter bunny managed to find the girls in our hotel to leave them their Easter goodies. Both girls were excited to get a new swimsuit and flip flops! After breakfast at the hotel, we set out to see some of the sites. We stopped at the White House first, but we couldn't get very close because the First Family was headed out to church. So, we waited around until they emerged from the house. It was pretty neat to see them in real life. We weren't close by any means and my camera was acting up. Sometimes it would take a picture and sometimes it wouldn't, shutting off completely. Grrrr. We visited the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately, the reflecting pool was empty because it is undergoing renovations right now. The girls were getting tired and hungry so we stopped at a McDonald's on the way back to the hotel. I just have to say that was a big mistake. I got an upset stomach from it and ended up staying in the hotel while Scott and the girls went to dinner at Scott's friend's house. The girls had a blast! They got to eat cupcakes and ice cream cake and play with their dogs. Scott hadn't seen his friend in several years so he really enjoyed catching up with him.


006 Scott Mckenzie Abby waiting for the President on Easter





024 Washington Monument


025 Abby Mckenzie


028 Tulips


037 White House


048 Mckenzie Abby playing in front of the WAshington Memorial


056 Abby Scott Mckenzie WWII memorial


057 WWII Memorial


060 Washington Monument


069 Mckenzie Barb WWII Memorial


073 Scott Abby WWII memorial

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