Caterpillars

We got one of the coolest gifts for Reagan in the mail one day - Caterpillars! Reagan and I opened the box and in no time we were both giggling in excitement. Seriously, there were 10 caterpillars inside. How cool is this!

Each container has 5 caterpillars along with their food. They are just going to hang out in there until they form their cocoons. We wait patiently..........

Sylvan Beach Triathlon

As far as triathlons go this one was laid out quite well for us as spectators. We got there in time to be able to see Dad before he took off!

 As the sun rose the swimmers took off.

The girls ate their cereal (and were not in the best of moods)

We were right there to see Dad come out of the water:

And close enough to be able to see him in transition:

And even see him leave on the bike:

Then we hung out for a bit. There was music playing so the girls danced. Reagan's commentary on what the announcer was saying and about bikes going by brought smirks and snickers to those around us.

And then I saw him coming:

We headed over to the Finish to wait:

We had more snacks too. The girls were running on gas at this point:

I was keeping an eye out even though it was early and look who I saw to my surprise:

It was a quick race which in the heat with cranky girls I was quite happy about. Dad did a great job though, especially with his super speedy run.

Sylvan Beach

Dad signed up for a triathlon in La Porte, TX. We decided to take advantage and take the kids down to see the beach and stay the night. Reagan has been going on and on about going on vacation to the beach so we had to make her dream come true. The excitement in their eyes when we got there was awesome. They loved everything about it from the waves hitting them in the face to playing in the sand. I can't wait to take them to a real beach one day. I can't imagine the giggles if they could see their feet in the water..................

Guess who decided to move out of the crib.............

We had moved Reagan's old toddler bed to Abby's room for Reagan to sleep in while the Garouttes were sleeping in her room. Abby immediately starting asking to sleep in it once everyone left. We gave it a go for a nap and she hasn't looked back since.

Well, this was 1 of 3 things we hoped to accomplish this summer. Here's hoping that potty training can go as smoothly.

Swim Lessons

We looked and looked at where to take the girls for swim lessons and decided to go with the company that our neighborhood pool uses. We lucked in to being accepted into the first round of lessons and they didn't quite have enough kids for a small group so we ended up with semi-private lessons for just Reagan & Abby together. It has worked out quite well and the girls are quite excited when it's time to go see their teacher, Emily. Here are a few pictures of their 2nd lesson:

Family Weekend - the End : (

The time flew by so fast! We had a lot going on in a small amount of time. Everyday there was time spent outside and more often then not there was a lot of time spent playing baseball with Grandpa. I got a few pictures and sadly we had a mishap in transferring them to the computer. It was a good time! 

**If you get grossed out stop reading now. Or at least jump to pictures below.

The last night we went out to eat. Apparently this was not a good idea. We get there and get settled and Reagan started whining and crying at the table. Completely unusual for her. She doesn't want to eat. Then I believe that Matthew threw up everywhere. While he is getting cleaned up Abby knocked over a full cup of milk everywhere and Reagan starts crying because she wants to lay down and go to sleep. I'm pretty sure we ate as fast as humanly possible. I have to say that we had to most wonderful waitress! She took everything in stride and was completely wonderful. We were absolutely "that table" that night that I never want to be. Sadly it didn't stop there as when we got home Reagan had the accident of all accidents and I found out that she had actually thrown up a bit at dinner as well. It was a whirlwind to say the least and not exactly how you want to end a visit. I'm happy to report none of the kids were sick the next day. Just a fluke of course that it happened all at once. I now think back and laugh to admittedly I'm pretty sure we were laughing then too.

Last morning - I had to go in to work so I asked Dad to try and get a pic of the kiddos all together that morning. Not much luck but they are still all so cute.

As always we wish we had longer with everyone. The girls are old enough now to understand and while it has been a few weeks since everyone left they are still asking for everyone. No one goes unnamed. Abby even asks where the baby is as she never would call Matthew by name. Even looking at the professional pictures she smiled sweetly and pointed to the screen and said, "There's baby!". Hopefully it will not be another 18 months before we can all get together again.

Family Photos

We were very fortunate to have Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Craig, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Jonathan & Matthew come in for the weekend of Reagan's birthday. It had been about 18 months since we were all together at the same time. We took advantage and got together with Kristine of Kristine Noel and took some family photos. Needless to say we were very pleased and would recommend her to anyone! Even with the wind, cranky kids (notice Abby hardly crack a smile), and the fact we couldn't get one pic with the 3 kiddos we still got some beautiful pictures. Enjoy!