Winnie the Pooh

Mads went to the movies!  Her very first trip to the theater to see classic friends Pooh Bear, Piglet, Tigger, Christopher Robbin and the rest of the gang.

On the way in we grabbed a little booster for her tiny not yet two year old booty and grabbed a few seats close to the front.  At first Madeline wasn't so sure about this movie business.

 But after watching a few previews and snacking on a Hershey Bar, her all time favorite treat, things improved.

Ellie was pretty thrilled as well since this was her first movie since seeing Tangled in November.

Winnie the Pooh was a great first movie for Madeline.  It was (super) short and light hearted, except when Eyeore lost his tail.  That part stressed Mads out a bit.

If you are searching for a rainy day activity, our little critics give Winnie the Pooh two big thumbs up!

Like a fishie.

Every summer Ellie takes swim lessons.

Every Fall, Winter and Spring she forgets what she learns and we start over.

This summer she started over with a little extra fear of the water.  Thankfully that was nothing a little peer pressure from her friends couldn't cure.  After swimming at the clubhouse pool with a few of her besties she had her entire head under water and declared herself a swimmer.

But Ellie's version of swimming was to kind of tread water until her head bobbed under, pop up and yell, "Did you see me?!  Was I swimming?!"

Um, not quite.  You would have thought we were pulling off her toenails when we asked if she wanted to float on her back, and kick?  Yeah right.  It was time to sign up for lessons again.

You'll never guess what happened at the first lesson.  Well, if you have a preschooler you can probably guess, but at the first lesson Ellie jumped right in and went for it. After one lesson she can push off from the side and swim under water.  Ellie was even floating on her back like a pro.

New plan - whenever I need Ellie to cooperate, I will find a super tan college age girl with a trendy name certified in CPR and pay her $15 per hour.  No?

My Girls {wordless wednesday}

What's going on.

Summer has a slow pace that draws you outside to swimming pools and splash parks.  Birthday parties drag on with kids running through sprinklers and parents sipping sangria and pale ales.  In other words, Summer is bad for blogging.

In the past week Madeline had her first set of pig tails, Ellie put her entire head under water, we saw a cake pop display that would make Starbucks hang their heads in shame and spent a few days at the beach.  My digital camera remained buried in the diaper bag and we just soaked it all in.

In addition to all of that summer fun, Betsy and I are working on something big coming this Fall.  And I mean BIG, big.  Are you following @lilstylefile yet?  

The Family Bed

For the last two weekends we have had out of town guests staying with us.  The first was a family of four and the last was three adults.  To accommodate everyone in our three bedroom home, we decided to sleep with Ellie in her room.

And I loved it.

I loved sneaking in and watching her snooze all snuggled up on her purple unicorn pillow pet holding on to her favorite pink poodle lovies and stuffed giraffe that she bought with her own money.  Then peeling back the blankets and snuggling up together listening to her cute little four year old sleep sounds.

A family bed never before had an ounce of appeal until now.   It's a shame that Ryan would never go for it. While Ellie and I are in our snuggle euphoria on the other side of the bed she is scratching Ryan's legs with her painted toe nails, flipping her long curls into his face and accidentally whacking him upside the head when she rolls over.

Hmmm...maybe we just need a king?

Happy Birthday America!

"Whenever you hear a loud boom, say 'Happy Birthday America!' It's just for the celebration!"

 

Happy 4th!

We are gearing up for a big holiday weekend!  Ryan's twin bro and his family are coming to visit and then we are going to hit up the beach, take in some fireworks and even a parade.  An all American 4th of July.

I am sure to be back with lots of photos with red, white and blue next week!  What are your plans this holiday weekend?  Have a safe and happy 4th!