rainy mini golf

The girls have been filling a jar to earn a reward.  The reward they chose was going miniature golfing.  It was a bit rainy when we went, but we still had fun.

 matching ball and toenails and shoes.

 Maria's handiwork.

We have plenty to praise God for; happy girls!

school bound

 Mrs. Vester, Anna's preschool teacher on open house night.

 Anna, our little monkey, wearing her new monkey skirt.  She was excited to go.

 at the church ready to head in.

She had a good first day, talked about doing calendar, singing, having snack(our day!) and playing on the playground.
We have plenty to praise God for; our smart, funny, loving little girl who's growing up so quickly!

Off to School

 Maria's teacher Mrs. Hickman at back to school night

 checking out the classroom library

 I'm in kindergarten.

 I'm in preschool(in a month)

 Wearing her star so her teacher can find her.

 Waiting in anticipation...

 here she comes.

 No looking back.

We have plenty to praise: knowing that Maria will do well in school and make some great friends.

Mommy's taking us to the zoo tomorrow....

Okay, maybe you don't know that song, but the girls like it and I think of it every time we talk about the zoo.  I think it's Raffi, at least it's on one of his CD's.
Anyhow, we had told Anna back in may we would go to the zoo(Fort Wayne Children's) at some point for her birthday, and have her cousins go with us.  So, it finally worked out for our schedule and they were able to meet us.  We had a fun, hot, day!

 driving the jeep on a safari!

Anna actually did touch the black rat snake, Maria not so much!

 camping cousins!

 I love the giraffes

 Gotta have a picture with little poof!  That thing has been there forever.

 Anna and Everly playing peek-a-boo!

 crazy cousins!

 ah, relaxing on the log ride

 such a sweetheart!

 They had to climb on every statue in the zoo!

 Riding the train!

We also made sure to stop and meet our newest nephew/cousin.  My brother and his wife have been trying to adopt for over a year now and we are elated to welcome Winston into the family!

We have plenty to praise God for; new and not so new cousins!

Riding the Dixie

Somone had given us tickets to ride the Dixie paddlewheel boat last summer, but we had already gone.  So, we finally took advantage of a cooler evening and went out again.  It takes a 90 minute ride around the lake and gives some history of the lake and surrounding area.  The girls love it, and were especially happy that since the Dixie was celebrating it's 83rd year they had free cake!  Score.

 Our neighbor Ron was the captain that night, and he let kids try their hand at guiding the boat

 So excited to buy a soda!

 Our precious girls!

 Our favorite spot on the boat, not very crowded, and there is always a breeze.

 the paddle wheel

 Maria's shots

 Anna's shot

 we saw a blue heron resting

 self-portrait

We have plenty to praise God for; settling in for our new routine.