Big Surf

Yesterday we surprised Gracie and Ella with a trip to Big Surf. We had attempted to go there during our vacation to the Lake of the Ozarks, but the weather didn't cooperate. Today was a perfect day. Gracie enjoyed the little kids pool and like spraying water at people when she pedaled the bike.

The wave pool looked a little intimidating to Gracie at first, but it soon became her favorite part of the water park.

Ella was trying to give big sis a hand squirting people.

This was a teeter totter that squirted water when you went up and down.

Ella's favorite part of the kiddie pool was this yellow stripe along the wall. She loved to step up and then back down. It fascinated her for some reason.

Guess what? Big Surf serves ice cream, so Gracie had ice cream for her snack. Go figure!

Ella sacked out for a nap on an empty lawn chair. Fortunately, it was very shaded and she took a decent nap. What a fun day we had. Gracie tried several water slides but needs to grow a few more inches in order to do some of the slides. She didn't mind too much, because there was still plenty to keep her busy.

The Tutu Girls

A friend gave both girls handmade tutu's. They are so adorable. Gracie was instantly smitten with hers and had to get her leotard and ballet slippers on to complete the outfit.

Ella liked hers also, but she didn't mind that her outfit didn't really coordinate. She will have to grow a bit to fill hers out.

This is Ella trying to rip the tutu off when she realized it was starting to tickle her legs. Maybe she'll get used to it. If not, Gracie will have 2 tutus.

One more pose from the queen of posing. Thank you for the tutus, Emily!

Mini Golfing

Tonight the junior high kids from church went mini-golfing, and they invited anyone interested to go with them. Gracie had been wanting to revisit Macon's miniature golf course, so we went. She really is a pretty good putter!

Gracie owned this hole! She got a hole-in-one and I missed taking a picture, so I asked her to pretend to do it again. Guess what? She actually did get a hole-in-one again, and it wasn't one of those rigged holes where it's automatic.

Little Miss Gracie with her famous hole-in-one ball.

Ella continues to be a fantastic cheerleader!

Brent must have had an off night, because I ended up being the big winner. That never happens! He told me to frame the scorecard because it wouldn't ever happen again. We'll see about that!

Ella enjoyed the water better than anything at the golf course. In fact, she almost went in once.

Gracie and Brent went golfing at LaPlata this afternoon and then came home and went miniature golfing, so they had a full day. Gracie loved it!

Oh, Ella. What a sweetie. She is so friendly and loves to smile and wave at people. She was making eyes at someone in this shot.

This is the "give me the camera" look that I get these days. Ella doesn't like to have her picture taken much. She would rather be behind the camera.

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Today was Nana's 65th birthday, so we headed to Moberly to take her out for supper and to eat cake!

What a great smile! The candles were trick candles and relit after she blew them out...well, with a little work they finally relit.

Gracie helped Nana blow the candles out the second time.

Ella decided to forgo the spoon and just pick up the ice cream with her hands. Very effective!

Nana Kaser and Ella did some bonding on the couch.

When did...?

When did Gracie get big enough to take a shower, dry herself off and get her pj's on all by herself? That's what happened in our house tonight. It has been a slow transition from bath to shower, and now here we are a few weeks later, and she can do the whole getting ready for bed routine herself. It's a good thing she got her ears pierced a while back and she needs me to change her earrings, or I wouldn't be needed much at all.

When did Gracie get big enough to read chapter books? Yes, that's what I said. She likes to read a few chapters a night with us. The only reason this doesn't make me incredibly sad is that she calls them "scrapter books." It's so adorable. I hope she never gets it right and is still saying "scrapter" when she is 10 years old!

When did Gracie get big enough to swim without her life jacket? That was one of this summer's accomplishments. She isn't a confident swimmer yet, but has come a long way from last year.

When did Gracie develop a golf swing that makes her mommy a little jealous?

When did Gracie get big enough to buckle her own seat belt?

When did all of this happen??? In the blink of an eye. I have always known that I needed to enjoy every moment with our girls, and that's what I continue to try to do. It's not always easy when there are things that need to be done haunting me, but then I just have to think about how fast these events are occurring and it doesn't take me long to reprioritize. It feels like I will blink my eyes and then I will be asking these same questions about Ella!

Our First Family Golf Outing

For church today I dressed the girls in a matching outfit that I bought on our vacation. They have one other matching outfit right now, and it is kind of fun to see them look so similar.

It's really hard to get a good picture of Ella right now, but I thought this one was kind of cute, even with her hand in her mouth.

After lunch, Brent decided to take Gracie golfing. He asked if Ella and I would like to go along, and since it was such a gorgeous day, I agreed. Hold on to your hat...since I don't golf, I was the official photographer. Feel free to skip the rest of this post as you will see many pics that might look the same, but I hated to leave them out.

Ella quickly decided to be the cheerleader for the day.

Ella was pretty quick to retrieve balls, and didn't always want to give them back.

Since Ella doesn't have any clubs (yet), she decided to use the flag from the putting green as her club and tried to hit a ball around.

Again, this is Ella with her make shift golf club.

Gracie was the most beautiful golfer on the course today.

The most difficult part of Gracie's golf game seems to be getting the ball to stay on the tee.

I liked this picture because it seemed like Brent was giving some advice to Gracie, and she appears to really be listening.

Ella still scoots down small hills instead of trying to walk down them. I'm OK with that. It makes for less boo-boo's.

When Brent would hit the ball with his driver, Ella would make this face. Every hole...same face. It surprised her every time.

Again, the tee was giving Gracie fits. She had to finally get a little help from a pro.

Ella stayed busy removing the tees from their holder and then putting them back in.

I saw a pretty group of flowers and wanted to take a picture. Of course, Ella wasn't about to comply with my request. First she scowled...

then she broke out her whine...

and finally...the glare.

Next thing I knew, she turned around and walked down the path from me.

She did have to turn around to make sure I was getting the attitude she was putting off.

Brent picked up the pouty princess and took her for a little ride.

Gracie is never one to turn down a chance to pose! I had such a great time watching her golf and really couldn't believe how much she has learned. Even seeing her tell Ella to whisper while other people were golfing was such a cute sight. It may be a while before Ella and I are invited to tag along again, so I'm glad I was able to take so many pictures to remember the fun.