Fourth of July

Tomorrow is officially the first day of Fall, so it's the perfect time to finally post about... the Fourth of July... If you have not figured out by now, one of my mottos is clearly "better late than never" and that certainly applies to this blog!
 First however, one reader's note: I realized that when reading this, there is no way of distinguishing between the girls' father, whom they call Papa- pronounced the Italian way- and their grandfather, whom they call Papa- pronounced like Papa Smurf... So although, he is never actually referred to as Papa Bill, when I talk about him, I'll refer to my dad as Papa Bill...

It has become a tradition in recent years to spend the Fourth of July in Dallas with my sister and her family, and this year was no exception. Dallas may have been in a record heat wave, but leave it to Papa Bill to ensure that we could enjoy the outdoors by installing a misting system across the patio. Of course, the margaritas we all enjoyed also did their part to keep us cool! The girls, however, preferred to beat the heat in the pool, showing off their newly-acquired swimming skills and splashing around with cousins Liam, Barrett, William and Jonathan. We didn't make it to see the fireworks this year, but we certainly celebrated in style!

Emma, Caroline and Liam enjoy popsicles at the edge of the pool

Splashy Smiles!

The pool's shallow "tanning deck" was the girls' favorite hangout



Papa encourages an apprehensive Emma to swim into deeper waters



Liam, Barrett, Emma and Caroline enjoy No David with Nanny Nonnie



"The Triplets" take a bath



Emma shows off her Fourth of July apparel with Papa Bill

Bathtime Fun

The girls always seem to have a great time in the bathtub and have  been known to request a bath or two even when one is not required. Santa brought them letters and numbers for the bath last Christmas, and this has become a favorite toy. Bubble bath is a close second. Emma and Caroline always request "hats" when Lucas gives them a bubble bath, which basically means that Lucas puts bubbles on top of their heads and tries to make them stand straight up! Of course, as with everything, bathtime is an opportunity for the girls to show some independence, so we've had lots of "I wash my body myself" and "I can do it" hair shampooings lately. As these pictures show, there is almost never anything mundane about this evening ritual.



Think there's enough stuff in there??



Emma loves "floating" in her bath

Caroline and Emma use "stracini" to get clean

When the bath is over, the girls ask to be swaddled in their towels and look at the "baby" in the mirror



Let's not forget to brush our teeth!



The Things We Do

 Things are very busy in the life of a 2 1/2 year old, and when your best friend lives right at home with you, the party never stops! The following pictures show a few of the things that occupy our time these days as we seek to satisfy our curiosity, entertain (and be entertained), learn, and, hopefully, tire ourselves out by 8:00.

We ride our tricycles, even in dresses- because that's what Southern girls do!

We make a bed out of the (non-working) fireplace

We dance and play giro tondo

We dress up like gangsta rappers

We're so cute as gangsta rappers it's worth two pics!

We play with puzzles and other fun toys

And even when we say we're going to help mama fold the laundry, sometimes, we just need a rest!

Movin' On Up

As of the second week of June, the girls transitioned into a new class at their preschool. They said goodbye to Ms. Geneva and are now in Ms. Michelle's class. While we will miss Ms. Geneva terribly, we are happy to be back in the same room as Oliver (Emma's little man) and Caleb (to whom Caroline blows kisses) and to be in a room where there is more focus on potty training. The transition seemed to be fairly easy on the girls, although they will still tell you that Ms. Geneva is their teacher. I guess if that's the worst of their confusion, we're doing alright!

Ms. Michelle

Swimming Lessons

Caroline turning and reaching for the wall

 The girls took two weeks of swimming lessons in mid-June, and although they are not ready to join the Olympic team, we are very pleased with the progress they made in such a short time. They now know how to put their heads under, kick, turn and swim for the wall, and even jump off the diving board. Their teacher, "Miss" Blake always had positive things to say about their attitude and cooperativeness. We would expect nothing less!

Emma emerging from a swim

Caroline swimming across the width of the pool

Caroline jumping off the diving board

Waiting to jump off the diving board

CDS Art Show

Each year the girls' school hosts an "art show" to exhibit the wonderful talent of their students. Along with displaying their best works of art, the school hosts activities for the kids like balloon art, face painting, games, and dancing on the playground. I was at a weekend retreat for the art show, so I was very glad that the girls' creations were being sent home- although I never expected the displays to be six-foot "lollipops"! Even so, they are now proudly on display in our computer room. So art critics, enjoy these pictures of the work of my mini Michelangelos. As with all they do, we are very proud :-)



Caroline's "lollipop" of art. Notice the picture and bio of the artist in the middle.



Emma's "lollipop"



Caroline's bio

Emma's bio



The girls with their teacher, Geneva Banks.



Emma having her face painted.



Christmas in May

The girls and I arrived home recently to find a very large box on the front steps, and for once I had no idea what the package might be. I say "for once" because I have developed a rather "healthy" online shopping habit lately, seeking out bargains on clothes for the girls. On this occasion, however, I was certain I wasn't expecting any purchases- and certainly none that would require such a large box. After hauling it inside amidst lots of excitement, the girls and I opened it to find no less than a Christmas' worth of toys sent to us from Lucas' cousin who works in the toy industry. I had completely forgotten that he had asked for our address a few weeks before!  There were Barbies and My Little Ponies, bubble makers, a singing Little Mermaid, walkie-talkies, the latest Crayola color wonder tablet (complete with sounds!) and several other toys that sent my girls into the toy equivalent of a sugar high. We did our best to space the opening of the toys over the next several days and had lots of fun doing so. I'm not sure what made Cousin Jim think of us at that particular time or think of us at all, but we are very happy he did!

Emma's first Barbie!

Papa happened to stop by soon after the box arrived and was able to help me open some of the toys.

Two very happy girls :-)