Sisterly cooking

While cooking pasta for dinner this week Rachel grabbed a pot which caused envy from Ashley so I got Ashley a bowl of her own. Then Mike was nicer than I would have been and gave Rachel some water in her pot and dry pasta to play with. So the girls played while we watched and cooked. Here's a piece of the entertainment. At one point Ashley actually stirred the bowl.

Our lovely backyard is complete!

Sisters

A glimpse of what I have to look forward to. I hope they always love each other like they do now.

Family Picnic at the Park

We've been enjoying our mild summer (it's sad when you're excited that it's only 103*). We had decided to go to Mt. Charleston, but when we got in the car to go it looked like it was raining so we didn't take the chance and went to the park instead. I take the girls to the park a couple times a week and if we drive by one Rachel will want to stop, we can play for hours. This Saturday park day was even more fun since Mike could join us. And as we were leaving it started to rain.

Racing down the slides

Rachel likes the "baby swings" so she can "go real fast"

Short Weekend Escape

Other fun we had without the camera:

Saturday morning we went into LA to go to the temple with our friend and old neighbor Natalie. We then went to our Wed. night hangout spot- Cafe 50's. We ate lunch, drank milkshakes, watched an in-house magician do card and coin tricks and I got schooled by Mike in Connect Four. Saturday morning had such a familiar feeling that made it even more special.

Natalie it was great to see you again and to be part of your special "celebration".

After the girls went to bed on Saturday we made rootbeer floats while we watched an animated movie called "Nine". When I say "we" I mean all of us drank floats and then everyone minusme watched the entire movie. I was asleep as soon as my float was gone.

Thank you Lindsey and Brad for watching our girls which allowed us to go, for letting us stay at your place and making the rest of the weekend just as much fun. Rachel keeps getting in her pink car saying she's going to California to see Lindsey and Brad.

It's Fair Time

This past weekend we took the girls to their first County Fair. Really it had been a long time since I had been to rodeo and wanted to go so we went. Rachel loved it. She was so excited to go and see the horses, pig and cows. We started the afternoon off by watching Go For It USA (her gymnastic coaches also coach for this gym). When the girls started tumbling Rachel asked, "I go do that too?" We said in a few years.

Next we were off the small animal pavilion. The first animal she touched was a baby porcupine, and immediately pulled her hand away. Then we saw a camel- ever since when is a camel considered a small animal? Then she ran to see the piglets. Some other animals we saw were goslings, ducklings, peacocks, bald rats, hamsters, tons of chickens and roosters.

Then it was time for the next show. The K-9 dog frisbee show, Rachel would turn to me and say see the dogs jump really high. We followed this up with Anderson's ice cream $1 a scoop. Ashley got her first taste and was all for it, I had to hold her arms down so she wouldn't make a mess while I tried to eat it.

We found a tot lot so we let Rachel loose. She immediately went and found a couple girls to play with. They were building a tall tower that they got inside of when it was complete, then once we all had pictures they of course knocked it down.

Now it was time for the pig races to start. We got there too late to get a seat, so we couldn't see anything and Rachel really wanted to watch the pigs, she kept asking for them through out the day. Mike found one open seat on a bench and climbed over the fencing and had me lift her up to them so she could watch and I'm glad we did. She still gets excited if you ask her about them and will tell you that they "ran real fast".

We then had to grab a bite to eat before the rodeo began and you have to have a corn dog so that's what we got with garlic fries. Ashley's a fan of the garlic fries, but needs a little bit more practice chewing before I'm going to be comfortable giving her fries unattended.

Now for the event I had been waiting for- The Rodeo! It was fun, Rachel and I agree that our favorite event to watch is the barrel racing. I just hope watching all the guys fall off the bucking broncos doesn't scare her away from riding a horse. We went with a couple friends so we had good company, gorgeous weather and a fun family afternoon.

Here are some pics from the day:

Our Easter