Hello and Goodbye, Hearty

This morning, Ainsley happened upon a tiny frog in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard. She captured him and decided she was in need of a pet. Thus she named her frog....Hearty. Hearty? I have no idea why.

As you can imagine, Hearty was not fond of Ainsley's grasp and she hopped out of it a few times. Bennett was very concerned for Hearty's well-being in the presence of Grandpa and Grandma's dog. We decided to make Hearty a little home in a canning jar, allowing her to jump around but without the danger of being eaten.

As Ainsley stood holding Hearty's jar on the back deck I overheard Bennett say, "Ains, don't you want Hearty to be happy? Don't you want her to see the world?!" Well, in fact, Ainsley did want those things, so she and Bennett put a step stool on the patio table, creating a scenic overlook for Hearty.

Ainsley released hearty back to her natural habitat before we headed into town this morning. Upon our return, believe it or not, she relocated Hearty. She was thrilled, but Hearty was not, and shortly thereafter she hopped out of Ainsley's hands and fell through a crack in the deck. You can only begin to imagine the devastation and broken-heartedness of a little girl at our house. Here she is desperately attempting to peer through the cracks of the deck in hope of seeing Hearty. In fact, as I type she is still out looking for him or one of his siblings, should one exist. Hello and Goodbye, Hearty. You were loved and will be missed!

Our Fun Weekend

One visit to the fair was simply not enough. The Girls just had to make a return visit with Dad along for some fun! Pony rides! These were not featured earlier in the week when we were at the fair, so Bennett and Ainsley were surprised and thrilled to have the opportunity to ride a pony. Lots of fun!

The Girls also tried their very first carnie game...the Dime Toss. If they landed a dime in a glass, they got to take the glass home. No new glasses in our cupboards, folks. Oh, well...

Two little girls waited patiently with their tickets for a ride on some swings.

Riding the sssswwwwiiiinnnngggssss! The girls loved these. Mom and Dad held their breath and were glad when the questionable-looking ride came to an end.

We are currently house-sitting for Grandpa and Grandma while they vacation. They have a huge house, and huge television, and a huge yard. Bennett, Ainsley and Dad did some kite flying this weekend!

Grandpa and Grandma also have a huge SUV, so we loaded up all the biking gear and headed out of town for some biking and hiking. We had a blast!

Dad on his beloved Raleigh and Bennett on the Trail-A-Bike. It was tough to keep up with these two!

Mom on her beloved Giant and Ainsley in the trailer. Note: It is not a great idea to try to take a picture of yourself and your child while riding a bike. I had a couple of near wipeouts in my attempt to get our picture taken.

Oh, my! Can you say super-fun time? Uncle J. brought his Polaris Razr over for the girls to try out in Grandpa and Grandma's yard. Bennett got to take the wheel and she did a great job!

Ainsley got to take a spin as well! Thanks, Uncle J., for sharing your cool toy with us!!!

Never a Dull Moment

There is never a dull moment at our house. The following photos were taken yesterday...it was an interesting day.Upon walking into the living room, I found a snake charmer! Nice! I bet I was the only person in town, possible in the state or maybe the country, who had a little kid charming a rubber cobra in their living room yesterday.

At our house, kids can be found watching movies on a couch that's on a couch. Also, the girls like to lay in the front window on top of the couch to watch shows. Okay then!

Ainsley always has a baby with her. She has invented a baby carrier-dress. She wore it most of the day. She has another dress that she can stretch the top enough to carry two babies at once! We're working on a patent.

The Fair!

Bennett, Ainsley and Cousin M. took in the fair this week. I have to say, it was a great time. Here are some highlights... First stop...livestock! The Girls LOVED seeing all the animals!
This visit to the fair offered several opportunities to actually pet livestock. The girls got to pet a pig, a sheep and a rabbit. When asked what a pig feels like, Bennett's response was "a beard." Interesting comparison, Bennett!

They also jumped at the opportunity to hold a live snake!

We got to see a performance by some trained pigs. It was quite a show!

The above pig was Ainsley's favorite...the mama and baby pigs.

Blue snowcones! Wonderful! Bring on the stain remover...Actually, no shirts were harmed during the consumption of bright, blue snowcones. Amazing.

The Girls broadened their experiences by trying some buffalo jerky. It was tasty and I ended up having to buy them each their own serving.

We took in a ventriloquist's show. It was pretty funny...

...especially when he had a crazy baby puppet. Ainsley laughed herself silly!

Bennett volunteered to be part of the show. She was a chicken and she did a great job!

Prize Winning Painting and The Prize

Bennett won a painting contest at the library! Below is her painting... The prize for winning the contest was a crispy ten dollar bill, which I believe is the largest bill Bennett has ever possessed. She possesses it no longer though, because it was burning a hole in her pocket. What did she choose to buy with her earnings? A hideous little skunk, as can be seen below. Her new favorite thing is a line of small, plush creatures called Aurora Yoo-Hoos. They are kind of frightening, but mostly cute, and it was her money to do with as pleased, so I must relinquish control. Anyway, congratulations Bennett!

$9 for this ridiculous creature!

Ainsley's Book of the Month

We went to the library the other day. Bennett chose a few books to check out, and Ainsley was furiously looking for a single book to check out. She has no real method to book selection, she just randomly and impulsively chooses the books she wants. On this particular day, she only wanted to choose one book. Now, the library offers children thousands of wonderful, quality literature choices. I showed her many of her options, and she turned down each of my suggestions. Finally, she whipped the book pictured below off the shelf and immediately exclaimed that she had found just the book she wanted....Santa and the Christ Child! Seriously? Yes, very seriously. This is a crazy book. It is written for small children but contains vocabulary such as "endeared" and "dejected" and "chaise lounge" and "remarkable conveyance." It does, however, end with a good message about how Christmas is really about Jesus being born, rather than Santa and toys. I'm pretty sure I know why this book was "the one" for Ainsley...Baby Jesus, featured on the cover, of course!

Ainsley and Her Cousins

Ainsley and I took a little roadtrip to visit a new baby cousin. Ainsley had a wonderful time because there is nothing she loves more than a newborn baby! Ainsley enjoyed holding Baby L. many, many times!
Ainsley talked to baby L. and watched over her like a little mama.

Ainsley and Cousin A. enjoyed stoller ride around the neighborhood.

Ainsley and A. played in the back of Grandma's SUV, of course! This activity is always a given.

Holding hands while out on the town...

Hugging while out on the town...

Magnadoodling it up while out on the town...

Fourth of July...What a Blast!

We headed north to visit some great friends for the Fourth of July weekend, and we could not have had a better time! Here are some highlights from our action-packed weekend! We kept nine little children up very late for fireworks! Above, Ainsley and C. are waiting patiently for the show to begin, playing with their glow in the dark necklaces.

What's a party without a pinata? The kids had a blast working to get this one open. Notice Ainsley's expression as she watches T. preparing to take another swing.

Bennett and L. did some crafting together...decorating their patriotic sun visors.

Oh man...our friend, Dave, rented this gigantic inflatable for the day. He is a genius, because this was an extremely popular activity. The kids and many of the adults got a good workout!

We went to a really big parade in a teeny, tiny town over the weekend. There was a wee bit of rain, but it did not keep any parade goers away. We were glad we endured the wet, because it was a great event...lots of candy!

More parading.....

While waiting for the parade to begin, Bennett got some fireworks painted on her face.

We stayed with some friends, and the children had the joy of hearing a hilarious tale before bed. They heard a story about King Soggybottom, and they just thought it was a hoot! I think Bennett and Ainsley's dad enjoyed it as well!

Our friends live in a very unique house. One of the features is a huge spa tub that is elevated with carpet covered steps leading up to it. Now, this may not be every homeowners dream, but if you are a little kid, nothing could be better! Five kids and two dads piled in to wash their feet after some outdoor play. Did the dads really think they would only be wetting their feet? Probably. But the moms knew that this foot bath would not end without a kid or two being soaked all over! Oh well...we're making memories!

Crazy Ainsley

We all know that Bennett is a crazy kid. Well, Ainsley is coming along nicely in the area of craziness.... It's about 9:30 p.m. in the above picture. Shouldn't we be wearing pajamas and brushing teeth? No, no! We should be generously buttering our bread while wrapped up in some scarf-type thing. Right!!!

Bennett is playing a computer game here. Apparently Ainsley was not happy with the appearance of the screen at tabletop level. Hey, why not put a really flimsy child-size chair on the regular chair for a much improved view? Yes!!!

My, what big feet you have! All the better to take a baby on a walk with, my dear. Ainsley loves fancy shoes, whether they fit her or not. However, after watching in terror as she cartwheeled down our entire flight of stairs in high heels, we have a "no fancy shoes while going up or down stairs" rule at our house.

Weekend Wackiness

What a lovely weekend we're having! We kicked it off with a garage sale Friday evening. What did Bennett and Ainsley do while the sale was in progress? They hauled about a half million vintage Cabbage Patch Kids out to Grandma's SUV. I think that they were playing something that had to do with Baby Jesus (the doll Ainsley is holding was Jesus). But honestly, every time I got close to the vehicle the girls started yelling for me to leave. They do not like me interfering with their "Grandma Time." Where is Grandma in the photo? She's sitting up in the driver's seat with the air conditioning on full blast because it is hot out! We also were pleased to receive a surprise visit from some great cousins. Here are a whole lot of cousins, piled onto a teeny, tiny teeter-totter. The tiniest cousin, a mere four months old, is looking a bit alarmed. Bennett and Ainsley and alarmed babies go hand-in-hand.

We rounded out the evening by grilling and hanging out with some friends. We whipped out the Fun Foam and played a bit of Floamball. Here is Bennett, fresh out of her first T-ball season, taking a pitch from Renee. Of course it was a living room homerun!!!