A Day at the Races

Lone Star Park hosted a $1 day, so we decided to take the girls out to see the horses. Everything cost $1- that meant parking, bets, and food! I think the girls cared more about the food at some point than the actual horses, but they still had a blast. We picked up Uncle Tim from the airport right before, so he came along for the fun. Everytime the horses ran around to our side, Elia got VERY excited and would jump around in Chris' arms and talk to the horses.

It had rained a lot before we got there, so Gianna came prepared for puddles. Once we got there, it was ridiculously hot and humid. So much so that Gianna didn't want to walk back to the car, and we rigged her into the single stroller with Elia. Uncle Tim helped carry her boots. So sweet.

July 4ths

Just thought I would share these sweet pictures of Gianna. Elia slept through the fireworks this year and last, but Gianna has always loved them. She has never been scared of them. I hope to document her excitement every year, hopefully adding Elia's reactions too. Here is Chris' post of her first fireworks. If only we had taken Elia this year, maybe she would have learned to say 'wow' like G did.

14 months old

2 years old

3 years old

Family Fun

We went to St. Louis for July 4th weekend...and had a blast! We left very early Friday morning and made it to St. Louis without any major issues- no car battery dying or speeding tickets like last trip home. We sat them next to each other so that we could maximize space in the backseat. Although there were some fights, they ended up entertaining each other quite a bit.

The one on the left is of Elia after she had gone through a few cookies. We kept feeding them lots of horrible goodies to keep them happy.

So the weekend started out with Col's wedding fun. First, the girls all went and tried on bridesmaid dresses, and the sisters got to see Col in her wedding gown! So pretty, and so unbelievable that she is getting married! Then later that night, we had a bbq engagement party. We met Colleen's future in-laws, and they are such a sweet family. Bobby is the oldest, with 5 girls under him! And of course, because were all having such a grand time, I didn't take many pictures of this event. Just a few of the cute cousins together before the party:

Love this one of Uncle Ry carrying Austin in a bucket.

Then, the next day was July 4th. the Lengyels and Rowles and Marschners and Colleen all went to the Cardinal's baseball game. The Cardinals won, so we got to see a few fireworks. Here we all are enjoying the game!

Chris and I got to go out on our own for a while to celebrate our 4th anniversary (july 3) after the game, and we made it home in time to go and see fireworks with everyone. Gianna, who has loved fireworks since the first time we took her to see them when she was 1, was just hilarious. She kept covering her ears saying this is so noisy, but its making me giggle. Then she would go around asking other people (uncle Tom, Colin, etc) if it was making them giggle too. Such a sweetie.

Monday was spent saying goodbye to family and catching up with my highschool friends. We will hopefully be back in August! Miss you all soooooo much.

Singing in the Rain

Its been pretty rainy around here, so Papa decidede it would be the perfect time to break out G's bday present- her golashes. We bundled the girls up in rain gear and headed out in the back alley. Chris and Gianna had boat races with pieces of birch bark in the creek while Elia watched. She wanted to go down to the creek so bad with her sister, and she sure told them all about it! I started taking a video of Elia talking and of course as soon as I started filming she stopped talking. Here are some pics of the rainy day:

Fashion Show

These pics are for Grandma Rowles- we just got her awesome presents in the mail! (and for Aunt Shanny, who is constantly asking for pics!!)

What to do when a baby has a wardrobe malfunction like this?:

Pull the sleeves over her neck to form a cute collared baby!

They seriously can't get enough of their new toys!

(Or their daddy)

This is what happens...

... when you let the baby have free range with a bowl and spoon. Bon apetit!

Smarty Girls

Elia is getting so smart, just like G was around this age. She will bring me her shoes for me to put on and sort of point at her feet. So cute. She also loves to put (clean or dirty) clothes in the dirty clothes basket. I even got it on video(pardon the nakiness).


She also loves to pick up dirty diapers and put them in the trash. And whenever she is walking over to the trash can, she talks to me/the diaper the whole way. Its like she is telling me what she is doing. I can name and point to an item thats on the floor for her to pick up and bring to me. Such a sweety girl.

Gianna is so smart too. Today she cleared her dishes without me asking her AND put her dirty clothes in the dirty clothes basket without asking. I was amazed each time. I thought if I blogged it and read it in 14 years when she is a ridiculous teenager I can remember these sweet, small victories.

Picture Time

Typical looks between these 2:

We played around with hats on fathers day:

$1 toddler scooter from a gargae sale- score!

Daddy reading time:

I just love my little family!

Gianna's Little Quirks pt 2

Oh the things this girl says that keep Chris and I laughing.

Reincarnation

Her current favorite book is the Digging-est Dog. After reading it for the 500th time last weekend, she commented, "when I was a dog, I used to dig a lot." oh really, I asked, so how did you become a little girl? Reincarnation? And then she looked at me with a total DUH look and said, "no, it just happened!"

Clouds

She has started looking at clouds and telling me/Chris what they look like. We were in the car together last week and she said that this cloud looked like a picnic table, another looked like a house, then she started a list of kitchen items: refrigerator, cups, spoons, etc.

N

She wants to know how to spell her name. So Chris or I will spell it out for her. On Saturday, we asked her to repeat it back to us and she said ok, this is how you spell my name: n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. I have 10 ns! it was hilarious, like she was never going to stop saying n!

Baseball Fan

Chris was flipping through the channels the other night and stopped at the Cardinal's game. I told Gianna that the Cardinals are mommy's team, just like the Giants are daddy's team. She then asked who is Gianna's team? I totally tried to bribe her into deciding on the Cardinals, but I think she came to the conclusion that she likes the Rangers. After all, that was the last real baseball game she had been to! Chris made sure to tell her she can like whoever she wants as long as its not the Yankees, Red Sox, or Dodgers. Gianna said yeah, and not the blue sox either.

Thats all for now, I am sure I will think of more later!

Super Star pt 2

Elia is a super star! The first one is from a week ago and the second is from last night. She is almost running in the second one. Also, the second video has a sweet shot of G's new do.