Bowling

Sarah is learning how to bowl:

Here she is getting her ball, bowling and applauding:

Swimming

Mommy finally got the pool out for the girls (just in time for the cool spell.

And Sarah playing:

Princess Party

Our local toy store had a princess party today.  The girls had lots of fun.

Here is Emma making a crown with mommy and Cinderella:

Showing off the sparkly crown:

 With her face painted:

Even Sarah got in on the fun action.  Here she is playing with an ostrich:

Playing with the piano (notice the good job applause and the bow at the end):

And finally, playing on the bouncing dog (turns out her balance isn't great yet):

Funny

Emma has a new butterfly net to play with.  Of course, she cannot catch actual flying things, she prefers to catch her sister:

New play area

Given where the kids play, you would think that there is no play room in our house or toys, but the dog crates are, once again, a favored spot for both kids:

Walking

So Sarah might just be the world's laziest baby.  We know she has had the ability to walk for quite some time, but she mostly just refuses to do so.  But she is finally starting to walk a little bit now and I caught some of it:

Unfortunately, she forgets you have to learn to walk before you run.  Anytime she speeds up, she tends to fall (oops)!

Randomness

Just some random pictures we have caught over the last few days:

We brought back the dog crates, so Emma had a blast playing up there all weekend.  Here she is sleeping on top of the crate (notice all of her stuffed animals with her):

 And waking up:

 Here is Sarah giving Mimi a check-up:

Maybe she is a little too violent in her check-ups:

Little Chef

We have started a new tradition.  Once a week, Emma will pick a recipe from her toddler cookbook (thank you Mimi), she helps shop for the ingredients, and she actually prepares the whole dinner.

For her first dinner, she picked Lettuce Boats (except ours had drink umbrellas instead of flags):

Even Sarah enjoyed her lettuce boats (she particularly enjoyed them by way of the smush method, so she ended up with sour cream everywhere)!

Sporties for Shorties

Emma did a sports camp this week for preschoolers (appropriately called Sporties for Shorties).  They learned soccer, t-ball, football and track.  Here are some highlights:

Emma getting initial instructions from Coach Mike:

Emma learning the football "hike" stance:

Learning how to throw like a quarterback (through a game called Cleaning Your Room).  They threw toys and stuff animals over a line towards the other side of the "room":

Quarterbacking with an actual football:

Doing hurdles on track and field day:

And finally, learning how to play t-ball (she was so good at this the coach showed off her swinging skills (even though her ball never went very far)):

Princesses

Here are two pretty little princesses:

And one princess getting some "help" walking:

Random Chicago fun

Some pictures of the girls time:

Emma, Sarah and their cousin, Kayla (it was really hard to get all 3 girls to stay still, so this is the only one I managed to get):

 Playing peek a boo in a box in Kayla's playroom:

 Emma and Sarah got to have a sleepover with their cousins, Alexis and Dave.  Emma even slept in the tent with them:

Both Sarah and Emma had a favorite toy at Grandma & Grandpa's house, an old keyboard, which was always a little loud.  But we clearly have budding Mozart's in our mist:

Aquarium

While in Chicago, we took the girls to the Shedd Aquarium for the first time.  They enjoyed parts, and seemed bored with others (what can you expect from a 4 and 1 year old).

 Emma seemed unsure of the jellyfish:

 Even as she strained to get a look at them:

 We went all the way to Shedd, and Emma just had to get her face painted (because we have never done that before):

 Riding the turtle:

 Pretending to be a penguin:

Waiting for the dolphin show with daddy:

 

Sarah was so enthralled she just couldn't stay awake:

 Emma crashed on the way home, clutching her new toy, Squirty:

Fireworks

The family went to Chicago for the July 4th weekend.  The girls had a great time!  Here they are with fireworks!

Emma with a sparkler:

 All the cousins with sparklers (Sarah was forbidden to have a lit one, hence her absence):

 Emma with bottle rockets (which she was distressed she was not allowed to set off, but mommy drew the line at those):

 Emma doing a party popper:

And Sarah got in on the action, though she never got a lit sparkler: