A day at the zoo with our cousins

We got to spend the afternoon with our cousins Dev and Tommy at the zoo.  We all had so much fun together.  

This is what we looked like most of the time.  

Dev and Emmerson climbed on every rock they could find, 

We even got to go on some of the rides. 

We had the sharks pretty much to ourselves. 

Thanks for a great day Chopras!  

Neighborhood fun!

One of our neighborhood churches has a fun festival that we have become regulars at.  Sausagefest has become a tradition for us and our neighbors.  

We had friends over before we went.  It was so fun!

We had a quick snack before heading over. 

Rested after some serious jumping. 

Then Marin and I caught a ride to the festival.   

Having FUN!

Even though school has started we still find plenty of time to have fun at home!

Nana came to visit and we played swim lessons A LOT!  of course she was always the student and Emmerson was always Miss Lauren.

Here is Nana practicing floating on her back with her kick board.

Now on to practicing her kicking with her kick board. ( good thing Nana is a good sport).

We set up our cot to play one day and it was a hit!

Emmerson has taught Claire how to push her in the baby stroller.  

One day Mom went in to make lunch and when she came out this is what she found...two happy girls squeezed into one little car!

Daddy tried to go on a bike ride the other night and this is what happened!  This is why the poor guy never gets to ride.   He is very popular in the evenings so they didn't want him to go. 

We are very into headbands at our house right now. 

Claire is CRAZY over Bella right now.  She even reads her books while she eats her breakfast.  

First day of school 2012

Tuesday was our first day of school.  Emmerson was so excited!  It was all she talked about for days!  She has the same teacher as last year but she moved upstairs to the preschool.  Claire started the mothers day out program.

Emmerson told us, "Mommy if I hear Baby cry I will go to her room and remind her that Mamas always come back".  Such a sweet big sister. 

Emmerson was also set on wearing matching outfits...she kept saying that way everyone will know we are sisters.  Who could say no to that? 

Best part of going to school = lunch boxes.  They double as our purses!

Already to go in!

Emmerson in her classroom.  She had homework.  This is her E she had to decorate for the wall.  She marched right in with a huge smile!  She LOVES school!

Claire has seen her sister put her lunch box away when she gets to school so she was excited to do the same.  Such a big girl!

Not sure Claire knew what she was getting into.  She walked right in and started playing.  Of course that was with Mom and Dad with her.  She only fussed a bit when we left and over all they said she did pretty well.  They said she was "weepy" at times.  Better than we thought knowing she really hasn't been away from us.  I think she missed Emmerson more than us.  She was SO excited to see her.  She literally jumped into her arms.  She kept hugging her and smiling while saying Emme!  Emmerson's teacher and I couldn't believe it!  As hard as it is to leave her we know this is the right thing for her to gain some independence.  We will see how day two goes...

SO happy to be back together!

The state fair

The weather this weekend was great so we decided to go to the fair. 

The girls loved seeing all the animals.  Claire kept yelling all the animal sounds she knows!  Emmerson liked feeding them too!

We rode the tractors in the kids area.

Check out our aprons and baskets.  We loved it!

Emme milked a cow! (only in Indiana would they have fake cows to milk) 

The best part of the day was Emmerson got to ride a pony!  She thought it was so fun!

Must have been a fun day...this is what we found when we got back to the car to head home.  

A day at the lake

Our friends, the Doyles, invited us to spend time at their lake this weekend.  We have heard so much about their time up there it was fun to visit!

They brought there bounce house with them.  The girls LOVE it!

Taking a little rest.  

Claire loves baby Caroline.

We did so many fun things!  We went on golf cart rides.

Played in the sand. 

Ran around in the grass like crazy!

Jumped off the dock. 

Sat and looked at the boats. 

We tried out the "little boat" as Emme called it. 

Did some swimming with Katie.

Got her own corn ready to cook. 

Cooked our own hot dogs. 

Claire was tired!  She found a place to rest on the bounce house...minus the bounce!