put on your boots!

Madeline is in love with her snow boots. she typically wears them around the house for dress up, but today she insisted on wearing them out. no big deal, i'm not someone who really cares about stuff like that, but keep in mind it was 114 degrees outside!!!!! i tried to explain she would be hot, really, really, really, really, really, HOT!!!! but she did not care. she wore her boots with pride showing them off to every passerby who commented how hot she must be in her boots. "yep," she'd reply, "deese my snow boots!" you are one cute girl Maddie!

vida yas vedas

i love the way Maddie is talking right now. she says a lot, but still i'm one of the only ones who understand her. we went to Las Vegas again with the kids. it was so much fun! in fact, at one point some woman in Walgreen's, was like "Vegas with kids is not a good idea for a family vacation." and i felt like saying, "yeah it is, we're having a blast!" of course, we wouldn't choose it, but it was great. thanks State Farm!

we stayed at the amazing Palazzo, a hotel at the Venetian. holy toledo is this place beautiful. so, random back-story, years ago i looked into this as a job. at nordstrom, there's a (i can't remember what it's called) "decorating" department. i once inadvertently re-decorated my department, and was introduced to the back room where they keep all the great stuff! i looked into changing departments, but there were never any openings, and then i went to law school. ah, missed opportunities. how i would have loved to dream up and execute something like this:i am not kidding when i say i could have stayed in this atrium our entire vacation, taking pictures and checking it out from all angles. but, i was over-ruled by my family who preferred to swim and play!

the pool, or should i say pools (because there are like 9 of them) were so awesome. not only were they beautiful but it was as if the function was specifically for my little family. the main pool had 2 enormous baja steps on each side, so big in fact, that i don't think they can be called baja steps, but were more like 2 zero depth kiddie pools on each side of a huge play pool. that way, Madeline could walk around and play without ever having to actually swim, while Anna could swim as much as she wanted, and i could watch it all while playing with/holding/feeding Avery! perfect.

i have been really wanting to go to Europe lately, it is the 10th anniversary of my summer in Paris, and that just feels really too long! oddly enough, Vegas helped me get a little fix, but i maintain that a trip to real Venice

and real Paris is in order.

contrary to some advice i read on line, the Venetian and Palazzo are totally family friendly places. my girls could spend hours meandering along the Grande Canal. not only are they obsessed with the water and the bridges, but the singing gondoliers and 14th century operatic royalty are a hit with them!

the rooms are amazing, each with a sunken living room equipped with a sectional couch and dvd player. trust me, these are family friendly features! the girls had a fun time in the bathroom, taking leisurely baths, and using the luxurious vanity. Avery has been perfecting her army crawl, and cruised all over the marble floors. we ate great food,look, even the menus make us happy! rode many a moving side walk, and even saw Uncle Austin! what a fun trip! Vida Yas Vedas indeed!

the rode home was uncommonly quiet (in the car) and a little stormy (outside).

girlie girl!

Anna has always been super girly, wanting to choose her own clothes, and accessories, wear makeup and so on...

today she chose this all black outfit that made me feel like she was 4 going on 20. i tried the pic in black and white too, hoping to recapture some of her youth - sometimes black is just too grown up!

this girl loves carrots

happy birthday America!

i love 4th of July! back in California we had all kinds of fun traditions, and since moving here we haven't seemed to have gotten into our groove. it is really stinking hot here in July, so the community fairs with fireworks however charming, are unbearable. in recent years we have been lucky enough to have an open invitation to swim at our neighbors, which we love. the only down side is that we're there alone. you see, most Arizonans have a long standing 4th of July tradition - get the heck out of town! we have pledged to take this one on asap, but so far it hasn't really worked out for us. to our great happiness, another set of neighbors was unfortunate enough to be stuck home this year too. so we had company. we swam, ate too much, played with illegal sparklers, and had a fabulous 4th! thanks Wadsworths for the pool, and Johnsons for the company!

we had a lot of fun with Anna's new surfboard:

this is Maddie's version of hang loose. Anna used to do it like this too.

Daddy misses the ocean! but he has a good time at the pool also.
Madeline is such a trooper at the pool, she has the most sensitive eyes and skin, all the sun and chlorine make her itchy and uncomfortable, but she loves it anyway.

i can't get enough of this baby. she is just so perfectly sweet! she actually hates the bath, so i hadn't taken her in the pool yet. but once i did, she took to it like a fish. she had fun floating on the board, and was quite a little "swimmer." she kicked and kicked and laughed and cried for more!
Anna was pretty funny about the 4th of July, her birthday was on Wednesday, her party was on Friday, so on Saturday she asks, "are we going to have a 4th of July party to celebrate....me?" no matter how much we explained we were actually celebrating America's Independence from England, she stood firm in the fact that the day was all about her! Ariel and Flounder were her special present she picked out all by herself. she could pick 1 thing from target, and this was it. this is a gift she gave last year, and she remembered how much she wanted one. this girl doesn't forget a thing. she also got a bath time Aurora for Maddie, ostensibly to be kind, but maybe a little bit because she didn't want to share?
the water slide is Anna's favorite part of the pool next door. and i think it's Ariel's too!

good times!

good morning my 4 year old girl!

it's a brand new day and Anna is 4! she was so excited, she darted out of bed and began running around trying to reach things that were too high for her yesterday. sadly, she discovered she still needed a stool to wash her hands, and reach things in the pantry. but, on a brighter note, she is able to jump much higher as she demonstrated many times throughout the day! the best part of the day, was opening her long awaited surfboard!!! Anna has always told us that she wanted a surfboard like Daddy when she turned 4. she was thrilled that the time had finally come. and so was Madeline!
Anna showed us how she'll use the board once she actually gets to go in the ocean. and she shared with sister.

on Friday, she celebrated her big day with all of her friends at a party at home. Anna is very much a princess and very into costumes. she always asks people what they will "be" on their birthday. she wanted a princess party, but wanted to include boys as well. we settled on fairytale, and made crowns and swords, played pin the tail on the dragon, and unicorn. and generally had a fantastic time! (Avery was there too! and definitely enjoyed the eating portion of the day.)

happy birthday my 4 year old girl!