Insta-July

August is here! I woke up this morning and said, "shoot! It's August 1st?" I meant to get my insta wrap up while the month of July was still here but oh well, I guess that is life. We are full on to school countdown now with the girls starting daycare in 17 days, me starting school in 19 days and Michael starting in 31 days (lucky!). This is it for the last of summer! 

July has been busy! Here's what we've been up to on instagram!

Super Hero party at the library! This was a cute party for kids which featured a superhero obstacle course, celebrity super heroes, and make your own costume. It was cute and a good way to get out of the house for the morning! 

We've also been spending lots of time just playing at home and settling in to our routine. The girls are so cute to watch play so they keep us plenty busy. 

Twice as cute in the grocery cart! We usually get the most comments when we are at the store...I think it is something about how cute and little they look in the front of the cart. We snuck out to this HyVee while Michael was at VBS. I heard this store had double carts and it was very helpful-not every store does and it makes a difference! 

Michael did a great job at VBS this year and I was so proud of him for being such a big guy every day. We were so excited to get a CD of all the bible school songs so now we can listen to them all the time! 

Up early with the sun! Good thing the girls have such nice smiles at six a.m. 

Lunch Bunch! We're finally in the groove of feeding the girls two or three meals a day. Usually at lunch time I choose foods that are the least messy so I can just wipe them off afterwards. Clean up time after twins is no joke! Mealtime is also nice because they will stay in the chairs for a little bit so I can get a few things done like empty the dishwasher without little hands getting in the way. 

We've been trying to visit the farmer's market in Johnston each week and I splurged on a nice bouquet of flowers. The lady said she sells them for $10 at the downtown market but only for $6 at the Johnston one! Win! 

We had a fun trip to the zoo on a Saturday morning with Scott this month. We went early and had a nice few hours of cool weather with light crowds. Michael was happy Scott was along because we could do fun things like the carousel and train which we can't do by ourselves because of the babies. I am happy we renewed our membership this summer! 

Michael also had his Bam-Bam baseball season this month. He did a great job playing and was a great slugger and thrower. He was a little unfocused while fielding and waiting to bat but I guess it can get a little boring at times. I think we can transition to real t-ball next summer- he seems to like it and does a good job!

Boating has been going well in July as well. We've put it in several times and even taken some friends out which has been fun to have company. I've had a streak of bad runs on the wakeboard but the last time we went out I think I had my best run ever- so fun! We've been loving the warm water and beautiful sunsets on the water. 

I've been wanting to try to take the kids to a drive in movie since I thought the girls would sleep and we could all enjoy the double feature. So when I saw Minions and Jurassic World advertised we made a go for it. It was a busy, busy night and we didn't get to park by our friends but it worked out well in the end. The girls fell asleep and we all enjoyed Minions. We let Michael watch the beginning of Jurassic World and he loved it. It was a win-win! Hopefully we can sneak back again before summer is over. 

I think that's it for us! I hope you all had a great July as well! 

Ordinary Days

It always seems like we are so busy around here but the truth is we are usually just at home, hanging out. Even that is busy as the girls are everywhere and into everything! And plus they are just so fun it is hard to get anything done. :o) Here are a few photos from our days at home together! 

Brynn, Anna...always looking for something to put in their mouth! Lord knows where they find the tiniest specks of things to eat. 

Anna, looking so sweet after waking up from naptime! 

Brynn

I love this age where the girls stand and wait for me to come and get them up from nap. They are still warm and snuggly and squishy. They are so busy they usually don't let me snuggle with them but I can sometimes sneak a few in after rest time! They are still little babies but getting bigger every day and I love the way these photos capture them just the way they are. 

10 months

Anna & Brynn are 10 months old this month! Double digits! 

If I had one word to describe them it would be: busy! They are always on the move and always curious to what is going on around them. 

The girls are pros at pulling up and standing on their own. They have started cruising along furniture and will walk while pushing a toy or little chair. They think they are pretty big stuff! Anna has discovered bouncing on her bed and on Michael's little trampoline (sitting down, of course) while Brynn loves to climb her little feet on anything she can. 

The girls are full of vocalizations and chat the day away. They are making lots of different sounds: mamamama,  dadad, Ahnahnahn (I think trying to say Anna), baa, plus other gurples and squeals. I've been trying to test them to see if they respond to their own name but usually they both respond to either and the most popular response is to "sister". 

They are getting better at eating and I'm trying to feed them a variety of foods. This week their favorite is Cheerios, mostly because our pantry is bare after a forgetful trip to the store this week! They love all sorts of fruits, meat, meat, cheese and crackers.  Drinking out of a sippy cup is coming along also-we are trying to get prepared to be big girls when we head to daycare in a month! 

Brynn

Anna

Anna 

Brynn 

Brynn- stinker face!

We still are getting lots of comments when we take the girls out. Scott visited the farmers market with me and he said something about why so many random people stopped to talk to the girls....uh, yeah! That happens all the time! It's cute and I don't mind it as I'm glad the girls are bringing some joy to people's days. 

The girls have a lot of personality and it is fun to see them interact with each other. They love to always be where the other one is and love stealing each others toys and binkies. I can also see that two heads are better than one when thinking of naughty ideas! I love to peek in on them in the morning when they are both standing at the end of their beds, chatting and playing games with each other like throwing toys from crib to crib. 

No smiles, but at least both sitting by each other and looking at the camera! It's harder than you would think! 

We can't believe one is right around the corner. Their first magical year of life is flying by!

 We love you, Anna & Brynn! 

July Days

July is off to a busy start and we are sure enjoying it! Michael has been busy with swimming lessons for the past two weeks which has been a welcome change in our schedule as it has been getting out of the house every morning for a bit. He seems like he is having fun and hopefully learning a little bit along the way also. He is in a group class but two kids are no shows so it has just been him and one other kid for the majority of days...pretty cool! 

We had a brave adventure earlier this week where we kept our swimming suits on after lessons, stopped for a happy meal, and then had a picnic at a favorite park and continued swimming. The girls had some time to explore the splash area at the park and they LOVED it! I let them crawl around the sprayers as there was no standing water and they were beside themselves with joy. I tried to get them in the water area but they just wanted to crawl away from me into the water so that didn't last too long. I was definitely sore after this day from bending down to scoop up little babies! 

The first few days of swimming lessons were very cool followed the hottest days of the summer so far. Iowa weather never ceases to amaze me! The girls have done so well with keeping entertained during Michael's lessons- usually they drink their bottle and watch the kids splashing around. The first day I brought my book thinking I could really relax for a bit- ha, wishful thinking!! So usually I drink my coffee, watch Michael, and play with the girls. We've been working on waving, clapping our hands, and playing their favorite game of dropping a toy and grabbing it back from mommy. Their little smiles are so sweet. Overall it has been a good experience. 

Our back patio gets nice shade in the afternoon so we've spent some time out there as well. My parents got this cute playhouse for the girls and they LOVE IT!! They can entertain themselves for quite a while by scooting around in there, peeking out all the windows, watching Michael and trying to eat the pretend food. I would have never thought of this idea so we are so thankful for my parent's foresight. The girls are contained but can still play and that is perfect for them at this age!

I love these photos of Michael! He was having fun making big splashes in his little pool and playing with a ball. It made for some good energy busting activity! 

And finally, my stargazers are in bloom. I've been waiting for them and then just this week they all popped open. Even more lovely than the way they look is the way they SMELL! If only the internet had smell-o-vision, right? I will have to clip a few of these to bring inside and enjoy all day.