Playdates, Chickens, and Danger Babies... oh my!

I realize I'm a bit late to post these, but many of the following photos were all taken last weekend on the 4th of July. We started the day like so many others... with a nice bath. The girls LOVE taking baths together. Vita washes Anabelle's back, and Anabelle splashes her little heart out, grinning from ear to ear.


Once we were all clean, we sported red white and blue outfits.


After a nice morning at a local park, watching a small bike parade (which we'll participate in next year), we headed back home with no particular plans. We were thrilled to learn that one of Vita's friends, Maddie, was available for a play date. Vita was so excited at the notion of entertaining a guest. Here she is setting up a tea party.


Vita and Maddie had lots of fun with the tea party, and of course splashing in the kiddie pool.


There was even some interpreting dancing and synchronized swimming.


Ernie joined in the fun.


Anabelle and I spent a lot of time lounging in the shade.



We've been enjoying the chickens. Can you believe how big they are already? It's fun to let them "free range" in the backyard. Watching Vita chase the chickens could keep me amused all day, and you know what? She caught one! I wouldn't say our chickens are very affectionate, but they don't seem to mind being held and pet.


These days, Anabelle is so active. Most pictures I try to take of her end up like this... because when she sees the camera she heads towards it and tries to grab it and play with it. The pictures also end up blurry because the autofocus can't keep up with her.


Anabelle is also very curious, and crafty, and has a knack for finding the most dangerous thing in the room (and making a beeline for it). Her newest obsession are electrical outlets. We have outlet covers, but I think we might need better ones as she is getting close to out smarting and over powering them. She also tries to head over to the floor lamp to knock it over, or she heads over to Roomba (the robot vacuum) to turn him on. Throughout all of this, she'll always have a great big smile on her face... unless you dare to remove some kind of hazard that she wanted to play with.

So, we need to plan an entire level of babyproofing that exceeds anything we ever needed with Vita.


Who, me?

The best part of this time in our lives is watching the girls play with each other.  They really love each other, and it's such a joy to watch their relationship develop.  Here is just a glimpse of that... 17 seconds of sister time.  When Vita lavishes this kind of attention on Anabelle, she gets so happy that she seems like she's about to explode.