Natalya

Today I went in to wake up the girls and this is where I found Natalya. I guess she must have woken up in the night, emptied the dress-up bin, crawled inside and fell asleep. I guess she gets the sleeping in weird places from me. My parents once found me asleep on the floor in our hall coat closet.

Fun with Grandma & Papa

Grandma and Papa Clinger came to visit. We had lots of fun playing, lighting fireworks, exploring the Safari park and celebrating Grandma's birthday.

Marcus & Papa

Raquel & Papa lighting sparklers

The girls couldn't wait for the 4th so we lighted a few fireworks

while Grandma & Papa were here.

Safari Park

We had so much fun at the safari park we knew that we needed to take Grandma and Papa when they came to visit. I think they had just as much fun feeding the animals as we did.

Natalya & Papa feeding a lama

Grandma & Marcus

Natalya helping Feed an ostrich

Raquel & Grandma looking at the animals

Papa with the giraffe

Sitting in the shade trying to stay cool on a hot day.

It was Grandma's birthday so we celebrated with dinner and a cake. Natalya kept trying to blow out the candles while we were singing happy birthday to Grandma.

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Raquel's last day of preschool. She was sad to be done but so excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. For her last day her class took a field trip to the local Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop. They got to explore the store, watch them make waffle cones and of course eat ice cream. Natalya and I couldn't pass of the opportunity to sample a few scoops so we tagged along with Raquel's class.

Raquel and her friend Ava

Natalya patiently waiting for her ice cream.

Checking out the zero degrees ice cream freezer.

All the kids agreed it was pretty cold.

Enjoying ice cream with her friends Carly & Charlotte

Ms. Leslie, Raquel & Mrs. Hamborsky

Raquel had great preschool teachers this year they made everyday fun and exciting with new things to do and explore.

Wheels & Wagons

Mike had medical training all weekend and so the kids and I spent the time doing as many fun things as we could find to do. First was wheels and wagons. One of the local shopping centers sponsored a morning of fun vehicles to explore, a bouncy house and wagon/bike parade. We were just going to watch the parade and explore the many wheeled vehicles but at the last minute Raquel decided she wanted to decorate a wagon and enter the parade. Using our leftover Tinkerbell decorations from Raquel's birthday party the girls and I spent an hour decorating our wagon and then headed to the festivities.

Wheels and Wagons

Checking out one of Blacksburg's Green buses.

Waiting for the wagon parade to start.

Checking out the local police vehicles.

Playing in the bouncy house.

Fireman Natalya

Fireman Raquel

Our next adventure of the day was a VT Baseball game where they were celebrating the last game of the season. The girls got all sorts of goodies and treats. They had a few fun games to play and a bouncy house. We planned to stay for part of the game but it was a very hot day and there was no shade.

Baseball Game

Eating cotton candy

Lastly our very hot but fun day ended at the library making ice cream. The perfect treat after spending all morning and afternoon in the hot sun.

Making Ice Cream

The girls had to shake up their cream, sugar, and vanilla to make ice cream.

After all the hard work they enjoyed their ice cream with candy and sprinkles.

Marcus loved the ice cream too!

Spaghetti

Who doesn't love spaghetti? Well Marcus sure does and these pictures prove it. After he was done eating we had to wash him off on the back deck and take the hose to his highchair to clean it. I don't think he minded though because he had lots of fun playing in the outdoor sink.

Do you think he enjoyed dinner?

Preschool fun

Raquel has had some fun days at preschool recently. Natalya, Marcus and I got to go see Raquel and her classmates act out a piggy play (a version of the 3 little pigs) where Raquel played a Mommy pig.

Then today her whole class got to go swimming at the new Christiansburg Aquatic Center. One of Raquel's swim coaches happens to be the dad of one of Raquel's friends in her preschool class. So all of Raquel's preschool class and their siblings got to play in the pool today. Raquel had fun showing off her swimming skills and going down the slide probably 20 times. Natalya was able to swim and have fun in the water too.

Raquel's preschool class dressed up in their piggy play costumes.

Raquel as a mommy piggy

POOL FUN!

Raquel playing with her classmates and swim coach.