Birthday Preperations

In a last minute attempt to pull out the best birthday bask for Abby, I hit up Party City the week of her party. And I scored!!!! All the Lalaloopsy stuff was half off :) BONUS!!!!! So I went crazy (shocking, huh?)!

I brought the decorations home and planned to hide them from Abby and decorate the night before her party when she was sleeping. But she found the bags (I didn't really hide them well) before I even came downstairs the next morning and wanted to decorate immediately. So we did....

Setting the table :)

Making fabric lalaloopsy wreaths!

Shopping at Costco

Filling the Pinata

Relaxing after decorating her mantle :)

Balloon Blower

Small but mighty... this little one has a set of lungs on her!!!!

She blew up all the balloons for Abby's birthday party. Amazing!

WOW have they grown!

Here are comparison photos from the beginning of the school year to the end. WOW

First Family Afternoon at Pool

Today we spent several hours at the pool. We even had a picnic!

LOVE summer days!

With Emma

First t-ball and Coach Pitch Game

Anna had her first t-ball game Friday night and she loved it! She hit the ball well off the tee and even had some really good defenzive plays.

She had a second game Saturday and her coach surprised the team by doing coach pitch instead of batting off the tee. On Anna's third pitch she nails a line drive right over his head. It. Was. Awesome. And then the next couple times up at bat she hit the ball and hit it hard.

So much fun watching her smile and play a game I love. She is really loving it so far :)

Played her friend Lainey.

Saw this HUGE snapping turtle on the way to the second game in the middle of the balpark parking lot. HUGE.

Buddies!!!!

Batter Up!!!!!

After her first hit. Over the moon!

Was so excited to pass our snacks and drinks after the game :)

Alex's Lemonade Stand

This past Friday and Saturday we volunteered  (2 hours each day) at Alex's Lemonade Stand at our area Hy-Vee. We stood by an entrance and would ask, "Would you like to make a donation to help kids with Cancer?" to everyone who walked into the store. The girls did great. They started off shy and reserved but once the got going they had a blast! Ashley was the best to watch, she would walk up with the cutest smile and her little voice would win them all over. Anna would run up to them with so much excitement and her eyes so big that they couldn't deny her. I would probablt say 90% of people donated. Many people commented, "how can we not donate to these cuties" so the girls brought in probably $200 each day. One lady even bought them M&M's and gave them to the girls on their way out telling them how proud of them she is for spending their summer afternoon doing this. They couldn't believe it!

Abby was with us Friday and she pretty much climbed on me and the tables behind us.... she was not a fan of money collection :)

Anna woke up Saturday morning and the first thing she asked was, "When are we going back to get money for the sick kids?" So we headed back later that day with neighbors Lucy and Clare along side us.

Love that these girls are enjoying community service :)