sianora summertime!

Sweet Mindy is getting bigger and cuter!

Chloe keeping herself busy one night while I cooked dinner.  I gave her a value pack to keep her entertained and ....she ate it.

 

My friend from growing up paid us a visit with her sweet Callie and of course it involved dress up!

We have had a great summer this year.  The girls were getting more independent at the pool which made life so much sweeter for me.   We didn't have any glamorous plans or big vacations but we did the small simple things and had a ball with the good family days.   We love our pool and we keep them in business some weeks almost daily.    Abigail mastered her swimming and even decided she would take a crack at the diving board one night.  It was hilarious.  She watched a gymnast do some impressive dives off of the high dive and decided there was no reason she could take up flipping off the diving board as well.  It was almost like she didn't know to be intimidated by it.  She walked up turned around backwards and flipped into the water upside down and head first.  It was a riot!  She flipped off time after time and even had the lifeguards cheering for her.  She looked so tiny flipping over and cutting into the water.   I really think she doesn't have enough mass for it to hurt her when her little body smacked the water in random positions.  :)  Chloe is fearless as always with anything life can throw at her.  It drove her nuts that Abigail could go off the diving board and she couldn't, so of course by summers end we let her do it too.
  The rule was they can't go off with any floatation devices so a few brave (or stupid) times we took off Chloe's floaty and one of us sat on a noodle  in the water under the diving board.  The other one would make sure she got up the ladder ok and helped her walk the plank if you will.    We learned the hard way to spot her on the ladder when she went off backwards when she was too tired one night and slapped her back, bum and head on the concrete.  I never knew how fast I could pop out of a pool and that the lifeguards have a distress whistle blow consisting of 3 hard blows.  The whole pool emptied and lifeguards came running out of the offices and down from their platforms to check on our Chloe.  So typical,  that this girl be the one to prompt the stress whistle!!!  The good news is she knew to brace her fall on her back and bum and her skull never hit hard if at all.  Gave us all a good scare, and Chloe was over it in 20 min and begged to go again.  Brian and me however took longer to shake off  the shakes.  :) 
   Both girls grew a lot this summer and Brian and I had fun keeping up.  He and I got some nice date nights.  He took me up to a nice Brazilian restaurant one night. It was a beautiful summer evening out on a veranda patio.  The sun was setting and the panorama of mountains kept us happy and content catching up with out... distractions.  :)  Amazing how much you forget how wonderful it is simply talking.  You know, Brian's a nice guy, I miss just having a conversation with him.  We rarely get to do that anymore.  It was heavenly.  He took me shopping at Khols after then to ice cream at Dairy Queen.  Yeah,  good times. 
 

 one of my favorite pictures of my niece ,  so true to my Maddie!! And I see so much of her mommy in those baby brown eyes

 we have more pictures with Abigail grabbing her sister's head to turn her to me to take a picture!

 Chloe's standard "I will rebel against my picture being taken" face  ....grrrr.

Had a great visit with Sue and her family this weekend.  Mom, and the girls and me headed east to enjoy some time away.   We had a blast with Sue and Dave and the kids.   Every time we get together the little cousins get closer and closer to each other as friends.  It motivates us to keep it up so they continue to develop those relationships.   We mostly hung out at their home and a trip to the ocean but we made some great memories together.   Chloe gave us a good scare (as usual) when we went swimming in the ocean that night.  The surf was crazy dangerous and the undertow was enough we probably shouldn't have let the kids in the water.  And I tried my darndest not to let Chloe in but it took all my strength and pulled my shoulders almost out constantly grabbing Chloe's straps on her little floatation swimmer thing as time after time she would bolt full speed into the surf.  It would break in her face and she just coughed and sputtered and laughed out loud.  I was exhausted trying to keep her safe.  So much that I swore I wouldn't go again w/o her daddy!!!  She just knows no fear whatsoever and the bigger the challenge the more she laughs and hits it harder.   Abigail had a ball dancing all over the sandy beach with her sweet cousin Maddie Anne.
  I think we all wore each other out and I completely lost my voice by the time we got back to Roanoke.  No one can talk like my mom and sisters!!!   Totally worth it though!!!! I love my family and watching the next generation of us all is a true blessing;