I can't believe my little girl is now 5 years old! She had a great birthday and loved every minute of it. I'm having trouble uploading my photos (and there are a ton of them) but here's a little sneak preview.
...in our backyard! (no, this isn't about the movie!)
We decided to take advantage of what would probably be our last beautiful fall day and paint our pumpkins. It started off innocently enough.
And then it was, "Come on, Car-wee, I won't hurt you."
and it turned into this...
and this...
and then the little Picassos turned their paintbrushes on daddy...
and a little kiss to tell him "it's okay"
"I won't hurt you."
but you can sure see the joy in her eyes
this is better than makeup!!
and then they went back to quietly painting their pumpkins
Yes, Colleen is the big winner! Aunt Beth handed down their trampoline to the girls. Colleen, sorry, no prize, just a hearty GOOD GUESS! Pretty good guesses by everyone.
The girls have really enjoyed the trampoline. It's just too bad that we haven't really had a fall season to enjoy it. Six inches of snow last Saturday! We still have to get a net and the edge cover for the trampoline, but that hasn't stopped the fun. They laugh and giggle and play lots of silly games. Mostly, though, it is considered their own personal gigantic stage, complete with lots of shows. AnLi is always introducing the next act: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please welcome Carli the singer", or Carli the dancer or ballerina or magician. They perform and then we are instructed to clap as they take a bow.
This week AnLi has been really sick. Temp of 104 last Sunday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were high temp days also, but they have finally subsided. She's not 100%, but has started to eat a little more and getting up and moving around. She gets worn out pretty quickly, though. Thankfully Carli hasn't gotten anything. Keeping those two apart was almost impossible, especially since daddy was gone all week. One night after I was done cleaning up after dinner, they were laying in our bed and Carli was reading a book to AnLi. It was so cute to listen to them talking about the pictures in the book. Carli is a such a lover, so of course she was wanting to take care of AnLi.
Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!
We made our annual trek to Adventureland. Something the girls have been looking forward to all summer. It was a beautiful weekend, great weather and no crowds! We basically had the hotel swimming pool to ourselves, and there were no lines at the amusement park. No heat, no humidity. Just a perfect weekend!!
As soon as we got to the pool, they both took off swimming.
Mmmm!! They LOVE a Shirley Temple.
One funny - While we were in the pool, AnLi slipped off an underwater bench.
I said, "Are you okay?"
AnLi said, "Yeah, I'm okay. I didn't lose my memory. I still know who you are, Mom."
Where she comes up with this stuff, I have NO idea!
Carli LOVES the rides. Always has. She laughs and giggles and just has a great time.
Last year you might remember AnLi didn't have such a great time (HERE). This year was much different. They were both upset that they weren't tall enough to ride the roller coaster.
Next year for sure!!
The bumper cars were hilarious. They were laughing and screaming through the whole thing. I love this pic, tho, because AnLi sees Papa coming right at them. I rode with Carli and she was just beside herself with laughter. I'm not sure she even took a breath.
I think they rode this three or four times. Another favorite.
Waiting in line - patiently. :)
Brian and I rode this first. I loved it so much I wanted to go again, so Frank was a willing victim. Brian and I love rides as much as the girls, but the older we get, the harder the circle/merry-go-round type rides are. After the first two, we steered clear of those or momma wasn't going to make it through the day.
And of course there are the games. We were so shocked when they both sank a ball. (Daddy didn't even do that.)
We had a great time and everyone was asleep before we got to the parking lot!
We went to the annual Hoo Doo parade on Labor Day. The girls got a ton of candy! About halfway through the parade, AnLi went and laid down on the blanket and said, "I've got enough candy." And since she doesn't even really eat candy, Carli's has had double the loot, which makes her grin from ear to ear!
Waiting patiently for the candy to be tossed
AnLi, Ava and Carli
AnLi, Ava, Carli and Kyle
(I couldn't get anyone to look)
Miss Messy Hair enjoying a Tootsie Roll
(She takes off and on her headbands a million times a day.)
The most exciting part of the day was riding the ferris wheel. As soon as they got on, they raised their arms and started screaming like they were on a roller coaster. We rode it over and over again! They used ALL of the ride tickets on the ferris wheel, opting to bypass everything else at the carnival. 
Both of the girls have started the new school year without a hitch. Carli started mid-August and AnLi started after Labor Day. Out of the ten children in Carli's class, only two are new. Same teacher, same two paras, same speech therapist, same occupational therapist, same room. All of that has made her transition back to school very, very easy! She LOVES school! Carli's school, by law, must provide a "meal", so she gets to eat lunch there. I ask every day what the girls' favorite part of the day was, and every day Carli says "I eat." LOL! Since Carli was eating at school and we couldn't very well eat in front of her, AnLi started going to her preschool's Lunch Bunch, where she gets to pack her lunch and eat with her friends every day. The only problem for my little bird eater is she never eats anything. Every day when I pick her up her lunch box is full and she says, "I saved it to eat with you, Mom." Awww...
The biggest transition for both was going in the afternoon. Carli HAD to go in the afternoons, so I moved AnLi to the afternoon class. Both were still taking naps. We worked on no naps for a few weeks before Carli started school, to no avail. The first couple weeks of school, both would come home and just crash on the couch. Now they are getting more accustomed to their new schedules, but bed time is early and easy these days. :)
Carli's first day of school
Since Carli started three weeks before AnLi, that left AnLi home for 2 1/2 hours without her sister. And for 2 1/2 hours all I heard was, "Is it time to get Carli?" "When can we get Carli?" "Let's go get Carli." "I miss Carli." So Brian had some time off and took AnLi to see Nana and Papa for a few days to give everyone a break. It sounds like they had a lot of fun!
AnLi's first day of school outfit of choice.
(No one is looking!)
(Okay, I'm going to try to catch up here!)
