Even though I'm not caught up to independence day we've had a fun few days celebrating other things. Because of the heat (whimpy NorCal folks thing 98 is hot!) we spend some part of almost every day in the pool. This time we joined Deanna and her family for a hospitable afternoon. The floaty mattress was a big hit with the twins. Easton was particularly fond of it because he pretended it was a pirate ship. Aaaarrrg!
For the next two days he called me Cubby, called Layla Izzie, and referred to himself as Jake. We happily played along as his Neverland pirate crew. On our way out the door from Deanna's I heard the most wonderful sound in all the world. The ice cream truck! My ears are finely tuned instruments which pick up on the faintest hint of the familiar jingle. And now you know where Easton gets his great hearing from.
I realized I didn't have enough cash to buy the ice cream truck just all the ice cream in it. We drove home quickly to avoid melting and then ran straight to the patio to share in the ice cream treats.
One free evening I spent shopping at Winco. I walked up and down every. single. isle. $2 boxes of cereal and $3 bags of chocolate covered raisins. I tore that place UP! I also picked up two tents. One for Easton and one for Layla. The intent was to provide a personal space where each of them can go as a retreat from the other sibling and/or parents if one so desires. I set them up on opposite sides of the house and when the twins came down stairs their eyes lit up.
Then they moved the tents right up against each other... so much for isolation chambers of peace. More like two peas in a huge pod.
The next day we joined in for two celebrations in one day. We were really pushing the envelope with our aggressive plans, but we're always up for adventures.
We spent the afternoon at the Cassani's house celebrating Brandon's graduation. Another set of three-year-old girl/girl twins showed up and Layla thought she was in heaven. She immediately asked if they would be her friends and then gave them each a pair of princess sticker earrings. Viola! instant friends.
Throw in Easton and Jessie for some male balance to the party and presto. A rockin' good time was had by all. By the way, Jessie, the 14 year old, was the ring bearer at our wedding 9 years ago!
Even in the middle of a party with many people and kids wandering around Easton and Layla still craved the cuddle time with Ouma on the couch. Not for long, but just enough to get a good reassurance hug and kiss then they were off and running again.
The twins swam their hearts out in the Cassani's backyard paradise overlooking the hills and valleys. Both of them worked up the courage to jump from the tall edge into the pool. It's about the same height as the hot tub at GAM's house, but they still needed time and bravery working up to this big jump. They learned some lessons in peer pressure today.
Then we drove from the graduation party to Isabella's birthday party. The birthday girl and Layla were inseparable. Just look at those two princesses! So sweet.
The inflatable pool was perfect for keeping the youngin' cool while the adults mingled and relaxed. I got a little wet from playing catch with the balls flying out of the pool. Jeremy got soaked as he batted the balls back into the pool. He taught Easton what the term "not in MY kitchen" means.
Layla relished every moment of sharing the spotlight with Isabella on her special day.
I've been to many birthday parties over the past 3 years, but Megan and Santiago know how to bring it! I enjoyed watching Kendra interact with her good friends and Layla interact with her friends. The similarities in their sparkly personalities is amazing.
Easton had fun with the other guys at the party, but he asked me to come play with him in Isabella's pretend house. Easton gave me the grand tour of the one room castle. He showed me the window and I asked if I could take a picture of him in his house. I didn't realize he would look like a coo-coo clock! Coo-coo!
Kendra was in her element surrounded by her friends. There is something special about being with people who have known you for a long time. Here's what that looks like.
We bought Isabella a stylist set just like Layla has. Isa enjoyed playing with Layla's set when they visited last year so Kendra knew it would be a big hit. The hair dryer blows air for real. Who'd have thought?
And of all the pictures taken this day I was happy to have one with me and twins together. You can see their batteries are already running on low by the low-energy smiles.
Then by the time 8:00 PM rolled around they were sacked out on the couch watching Bolt, the animated movie.
We had grand plans to keep them up until 10:30 watching the near-by fireworks display, but we agreed they would not stay awake long enough to enjoy them. Instead we gathered up our gear and twins and went home. We drug them up the stairs to bed and didn't hear a peep all night. Talk about sleeping in! Whooo hoo! Hooray for sleepin' in.
This is one other picture of the pretty friends which includes Adriane who showed up later to join the fun. Kendra has really great friends and I'm overjoyed she had the chance to spend time with them during the past few weeks.
Next up is the 4th of July! Coming to a blog near you... tomorrow.
See you soon!
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