Playing on the Beach - Owen!

This was my best year yet of having an awesome time at the beach!  I played in the sand, ran around with my friends, took naps and jumped the waves in the ocean all by myself!

Landon and I were digging a big hole!

The waves were chasing us - but we were faster!

We all helped Mr Sameer build a big pile of sand!

We played some baseball on the beach!

Of course I found some trucks to play with at the beach!

Landon and I were playing a game of keep-away!

Mom caught me when I was trying to sneak in a nap!

Here's my wave jumping in action!  Now you can see why the nap was necessary!  I had the best time!

Beach Trip!

We went on our annual beach trip to Destin, FL with our friends again this year (this was the 3rd year we've all gone).  10 grown ups and 8 kids make for a pretty fun time!

Our trip didn't start out so smoothly though... Dad was supposed to pick us up from school so we could drive halfway down to the beach. But the keys got locked in the car in the parking deck!  So while we waited for someone to come unlock the car, we had an unplanned dinner at Waffle House - Clara and I didn't mind!  That didn't work out so we ended up driving home (in Dad's truck) to get the extra key.  Finally we were on our way - only 3 hours delayed!

We spent the night in Alabama at a hotel.  The Chitnis family also stayed there.  In the morning before we left, we went for a dip in the pool! 

It was a good warm up for the days to come!

Finally we were on our way!

Here's the house we stayed in!  It was a different one from the house we stayed in the past two years.  We had a pool and were super close to the beach!

This was the kids room!  I didn't sleep in here any of the nights but this is where we played with our toys and watched movies.  Maybe next year I'll try sleeping in here!

And here was one of the kids' dinners!

I'm a Little Fish!

A couple of months ago, I started swim lessons at a new place.  There are more kids in my class so I have to wait my turn sometimes, but I've been learning a lot!  Emmaline was in my class with me in the spring but she didn't take any lessons this summer.

Mom didn't expect this one - I definitely surprised her! And I did a jump again the next week, too.  Lots of fun!

I surprised her again when I did this!  Dad got to see it, too when I did it again at the following lesson!

Bike Rider!

I got a bike with pedals for Christmas from Santa and I've been riding it great with training wheels!  I went to my friend Henry's house to play one weekend and he showed me the bike he rides - it didn't have any training wheels.  So when I got home, I asked Dad to take the training wheels off of my bike so I could try.  He helped me stay steady for a couple of times down the sidewalk, but it didn't take long and I was doing it all myself!  Now I can even ride all the way up our driveway (it's a hill) without stopping!

Singing a Tune!

I've become quite the singer lately!  My favorites are Jingle Bells and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  But I am pretty good at singing ABCs, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Wheels on the Bus!

Here's me singing Twinkle Twinkle in April!

And here I am singing it again 2 months later!  Singing at bedtime has become a favorite!

I'm pretty good at singing my ABCs!  And even counting to 20 - almost...

Jingle Bells is one of Owen's favorites, too!  Who said it's only a song for Christmas time?

Zoo Again!

Mom took her own little zoo animals to the zoo!  We had a fun time!

Here are her zoo animals!

I was in a very picture-taking mood so I had some fun with the gorilla statues!

And the giant bird's nest!

The train wasn't working but we got to go on the carousel.  Clara even went on an animal that went up and down this time.

Then we played on the playground!  I had to wait patiently for my turn on this because I wanted Clara to be able to go with me at the same time.

Can you find us or do we blend in with the statues?

Clara!

I'm getting to be a big girl these days.  I want to do everything myself and everything that Owen does!  But Dad says that big girls don't suck their fingers and I can't quite give that up yet, so I've still got some growing to do!

I see you! 

I modeled some of my favorite clothes for Mom - my track suit with pockets and my Minnie shirt (and socks)!

I also got some MInnie underwear!  I haven't worn them yet but I'll give them a try soon.  Right now I'm just fine with my pull ups!  When I got them, I wanted to lay them all out to get a better look!

Owen and I are still best buddies!  When we ate at a restaurant one night, Owen and I gave Mom and Dad a couple minutes of quiet while we looked at our books!

Sometimes I hurt Dad's feelings because I always want Mommy!

But I try not to because Dad gets me special treats sometimes - like this doughnut!

And he let me sleep in his bed when I woke up at midnight recently when Mom was out of town.  Owen gets to do that when Mom or Dad is gone, but it was a treat for me (not so much Dad though...)!

One of the things we have been learning at school is our letters.  I know all of the letters that my friends' names start with - L for Laura, G for Gabby, C for Clara.  And when I'm at home, I even have Owen to help me practice!

Strawberries!

We took a short trip to pick lots and lots of strawberries!  Our friends, the Chitnis family, came with us too!

Strawberries!

There were rows and rows of strawberries!

It didn't take long before I figured out the best part of picking strawberries!  But you don't eat the green stem part - it's not very good...

Look how many we (well, Mom and Dad) picked!

Don't let Owen fool you - he had his cheeks full of strawberries, too!

We had to take some pictures at the photo op!

Here we are with the Chitnis family!

Owen, Dylan and Landon wanted a group picture!

Another picture of the wild and crazy boys!

They let me in on this picture!

Dylan and I got a ride on our Dads' shoulders at the end of the day!

We were tired - time for a rest!  Shhhh....

Here I am eating a strawberry!  So good!