Lake Jordan

Basically this post is going to be a lot of beach pictures from Lake Jordan. This location is amazing! We went a few times last summer when G was much smaller and wow, I kind of forgot she was a year older when we went this time. It was SO much fun. She explored, and splashed and played. 

 She would go right to the water edge and let the waves splash on her toes.

I'm here world! I love her new obsession with stretching her arms out at something she is excited for. As if she is saying "I absolutely love this! It is the best day of my life" Makes a mom feel good.

 

 Taking a quick break from the water to rest in our chair.

And back we go. This time with floaties on. She got a little more independent with the floaties. :)

 Running back to see us.

 Trying on Mimi's hat. It was the perfect day out. We were the only people there for a while and I was surprised. Such a great beach and only 20 minutes from us!

Sensory Table: Water and Wild Rice

Water and wild rice in this sensory table. I made sure G had a couple items she could use to stir and a couple she could use to pour.

I encouraged her with questions like, can you fill the green cup? Can you pour the water into the white tub? She was so determined to accomplish each task I set for her.

My favorite of the tasks was I held one spoon and asked her to pour water onto it from the other spoon! Talk about challenging. She would turn the spoon to early and the water would pour off, but she kept trying. Of course my continual praising of her efforts went a long way as well!

Love sensory time with this kiddo.

Helping Friends

I love this amazing state that we live in (North Carolina) and how we have managed to find friends who we know would be there to help us out when we need it. Equally so I love that we can help out friends when they need it too! We spent one morning this week watching the amazing Mr. Henry. Henry is moving to a different house and as you can imagine, trying to pack with a toddler unpacking behind you can be tough. So we took Henry all around with us as we did our different morning activities. :) Waiting for Henry to arrive.

I love how they are both looking at me like, we are just coloring, put the camera away. :) So much personality already in these little guys!

 Sharing the crayons, they did a great job!

 We headed out for the morning. We had two stops to make. Unfortunately I could not hold all of their stuff... so they both had to carry their own things. They were so cute! And they loved being so independent. Two kiddos with backpacks and lunchboxes.

 They had to hold hands to keep safe. :) They took their job very seriously. hehe

 First stop, our normal Tuesday morning play group. We played with noodles.

 And Grace got into the flour....

Good thing I brought an outfit change for her! Henry just got a little on his rear so we tried our best to brush it off. :)

Grace and her buddy Carson painting with chocolate pudding.... yup it was a messy one. :)

 More playing.

 Then off it was to lunch. One of Mommy's friends Ms. Courtney helped wipe everything down in the toddler section at chick fil a. :) What a good friend! Who obviously has two of her own in preschool. (I wouldn't have thought to wipe stuff down... but it makes sense)

 They loved climbing up the big play structure! They were such big kids.

 Smile guys! We loved hanging out with Henry today. They are definitely little buds!

Life and Science Museum :)

Today we invited our friends Miss Andrea and little Natalee to go to Durham's Life and Science Museum with us. The girls had so much fun exploring EVERYTHING! Here they are exploring the tunnels in the "mist" section.

 This is a really cool little hut made out of branches. The window is an awesome overlook into the woods.

 The girls were dancing. :) I was singing if your happy and you know it. hehe.

They were trying to figure out how to climb the hill that goes over the tunnels. This museum is so great because the girls will grow into it. I can imagine them in a couple years climbing all over the hill.... for today they just stared at it with wonder.

The corn field path. Grace loves running down it, until she gets to the end where the mist is. Then she freezes! She is still a little freaked out by the mist.

 The start of one of the tunnels. They did such a great job mixing natural in with incredibly fascinating!

 Grace running back to show me the mist. She really didn't like when it got heavy and she couldn't see anything. Understandable for a toddler with control issues.... :)

 This was the closest she got to the mist, and you can see she is running to me.

She made it out! Natalee did a great job in the mist and loved walking into it and using her hand to swish it around.

G sitting and watching the mist.... gotta check that stuff out, it's just so weird. hehe

 We moved on the bird viewing observatory. Not sure the girls would get this area. Grace loved climbing on all the chairs... but we did actually see a couple birds and squirrels, and they seemed to notice them.

 And back to the butterfly house. We love this place, it's just so tropical and exciting.

 This huge butterfly was coming out of its chrysalis, it was SO BIG!

 The girls were viewing the butterflies as they emerged. Several of them were coming out!

 As many times as we have been here and Grace decides today she is obsessed with the fish!!

Good bye butterfly house, hello farm animals. It was a bit cooler of a day and the animals were out and very active which was really neat. Two bunnies were out and Grace loved watching them.

Of course we love the strangest duck I have ever seen. The sign says duck but it sure is odd looking. Grace doesn't seem to notice any difference.

On our way out of the Museum the girls stopped to do some drumming! I love how Grace knows where the drum sticks go and puts them back when she is done. This girl amazes me. :)

So much fun today! Thanks Andrea and Natalee for going with us.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day for an entire weekend! It will be a picture journey of how we celebrated this amazing man! First up headed out and stopped for a picture on the stairs in front of our house.

 Went by a local coffee house with a cool roasting set up we could see!

 Giving Daddy his fresh bag of coffee! (We got one for Boppy too!)

 It smells heavenly.

 Headed over to Apex for some downtown fun. One of the trains was stopped on the tracks so we got to see a real train up close! Don't worry.... its not moving toward them!

 found a cool old house back behind the train track. Owned by the town of Apex and surrounded by lots of green space Grace could run in.

 Checking out the bark on a giant tree.

 Swinging with Daddy!

 Grace and Daddy had to rest after this activity! Both were pretty dizzy, but it was a lot of laughs and fun!

 Lunch at LaRancherita in downtown Apex.

 Grace trying to drink out of Mommy's glass.

 Forget the straw, dumping ice on my face is more fun. :)

 One tired girl by nap time. Passed out in Daddy's arms. We are SO lucky our child transfers from car to bed so easily.

 Night time run with Daddy and Mommy.

 Father's Day morning, Grace making pancakes.

 A little trip to the Raleigh Flea Market... because that's what Daddy wanted to do.

 Best seat there, lucky Grace.

 Chili's lunch. Yes we ate out way to much this weekend. We know. :)

 Finally afternoon and dinner celebrating Boppy and Daddy at the pool.

 Down the stairs. She is feeling confident in her new floaties.

 Drying out after all that work.

 Daddy was running and cannon balling into the pool, it was getting great laughs. :) Oh the things Dads have to do.

 These two bring me so much joy. :)