Catch Up

It has been almost a week since I have blogged so I have a bit of catching up to do. Last week was very uneventful and seemed to fly by. However we had a very busy weekend. We kept our friends James and Kelly's little girl Maggie who is 2 1/2. You have probably all seen pictures of her on here in the past because she is Grace's very best friend (and they are our very best friends too!). They wanted to have a little get-away to celebrate their anniversary before "Little Sister" makes her appearance next month so we agreed to keep Maggie for 2 nights!

Grace was SO excited to see Maggie on Friday evening. She was just finishing up dinner when Maggie got here and since we had the patio door open we could hear them and Grace decided she HAD to be done right then because Maggie was here. So they played and Maggie ate and then they played a little more before we put on our jammies and read a few bedtime stories.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and they played some more.

Around 8:45 we left for the beach and the playground. We went to Araha beach, which we have not been to in about 2 years! They have a neat pirate ship that was fun to play on. It was a little scary too once you got to the top!

The girls enjoyed the little pirate ship (or as Maggie decided to call it "Sail Boat") a little more than the big one!

In the next two pictures you can see the BIG pirate ship! There was a zip-line on the other side that the girls got to swing on.

And then we went back to the "sail boat"

We let the girls walk down to the beach and play in the sand and get their feet wet. They, of course, loved it!

Then we decided that maybe it was time to go buy Grace a pool for this year. The one she had last year got a hole in the bottom and it is too small for her this year. So we had to find a place to clean off our feet so we could load up in my school bus and go buy a pool and ice cream making stuff.

We had carried Grace and Maggie up from the beach and so we put Maggie in the stroller since she is heavier and they were both barefoot. Then Grace wanted to ride! Maggie said it was uncomfortable so we ended up putting Maggie's shoes on so she could walk.

When we got home it was time to make homemade bread! The girls had a good time stirring the dough and Maggie is such a good helper in the kitchen. She poured in ALL of the ingredients until it was time for the flour and I let the stand mixer do the work.

But after it was all mixed up Grace and Maggie each got their own dough to knead and then we put it in a bowl to rise. While we waited for it to rise we all ate lunch. After lunch we put the bread in the pans. The girls each got to make their very own little loaf and then we made a dozen rolls and another loaf of bread.

While the girls napped we set up the new pool! They had to wait to get in so we could put hot water from the sink in it to warm it up.

Once they got in they stayed in for probably an hour! We had to finally make them get out because Grace was starting to shiver.

They had so much fun that we let them get back in the pool on Sunday morning! And it just so happened that I mistakenly bought 2 bathing suits that were matching when they were on clearance for $1 last year. They just so happened to fit Grace and Maggie this year!

After we were done swimming the girls played while Dustin and I made dinner. Dustin grilled and after dinner we made ice cream! James and Kelly called to talk to Maggie while we were making ice cream and she kept saying "we are making ice cream" over and over.

Sunday morning we let them swim again but spent the rest of the day at home. They got to watch Dora and eat their snack which they thought was pretty cool.

Maggie went home around 2:30 and then we ended up just going to the PX to get a cover for the pool and decided to just eat out so we wouldn't have to spend any more time in the kitchen. Between picking up the toys, cleaning the kitchen, making bread and ice cream plus several meals, all while entertaining two toddlers was exhausting. It definitely makes me want to sort through the toys and either get rid of some or hide some to rotate out... maybe both!

Grace enjoyed having Maggie over but I think she was glad to not have to share her Mommy and Daddy once Maggie went home!