A busy and fun July Week!

Hello Everyone!!!!  Happy Independence Day!!!

I hope everyone had a blessed and relaxing 4th of July. See any fireworks? Ours are actually tomorrow so I will post about that next time. I would just like to say how much I appreciate the freedoms we enjoy here in the USA!

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The record heat wave we experienced at the end of June finally ended after a storm or two. I captured it's arrival....

Brooklyn hid under a blanket during the thunder and lightening part of it all....lol!

 Bless her heart...she made it through just fine! So we had some gorgeous days but not much rain despite that quick storm. Our grass pretty much dried up and we've only been watering the garden daily to keep it going!

Let's see what else we did this week? Oh yes...our 6 month dentist visits were this week. I try to schedule us simultaneously so we don't have to make a bunch of individual trips. Good news....no cavities!!!!

 Sarah and Devon wait their turns....

 ...while Brooklyn gets hers counted and tickled with the spinning brush! They love to push the button to refill the cup! Then a few minutes later...all done! They get to pick prizes and stickers and get a new toothbrush!

The smartest thing I did was bring them from the time they were babies and sit them on my lap/legs while I got my teeth cleaned. They would ask questions the whole time and were able to see the instruments up close without having the actual exam. Now they think its totally fun to go to the dentist.

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The following day was the interview for Queen Maysea which is an annual event in Cape May for forever! This is the first year we actually participated and Devon was old enough to do it. We went with our friend, Tammy, and her daughter, Paige. I was so proud of Devon for trying out. They actually leave mom out in the hallway while they go in by themselves to a room with three judges. They ask a few simple questions. From all of the interviews, they pick a queen, several princesses and everyone else is in the queen's court. Later in the summer there will be a crowning ceremony and also a trip on a float in the Cape May Baby Parade. Brooklyn signed up to be a flowergirl and Sarah and her friend will both help out during the ceremony!

Devon all set to go...

 And waiting to go in...they talked and worked on puzzles in the hallway!

Yaaaa, job well done girls! My friend's daughter was picked to be a princess....yaaa! Thank you Tammy for driving and bringing us along!!!

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Later that day, my friend Alice called and we decided to head up to the zoo with everyone! It was a beautiful sunny warm but not humid type of summer day. Definitely wanted to be outside in it! Brook took a quick snooze on the ride up to the zoo...

 We arrived and took a few pics by the entrance! My friend arrived before us and was already inside. We met up with them....thank goodness for cell phones!

 We saw some tigers..... can you see him laying down by the fence?

 And we saw some wallaby...kinda like small kangaroos....

 We saw lots of reptiles and turtles and lizards and stuff .....

Here's a camel laying down....rough life huh?

 What is this thing? I think its a bisen? He was rolling around in the sand here...their heads are huge! We were on a walkway just above him. Fascinating!

  Then we made our way out of the zoo. We decided to take a little train ride....we had to wait for a bit....probably 20 minutes??? But it was a cute ride through the woods....

Here comes the train!!!!

And finally, the girls played on the swings and playground for a little while before calling it quits! What a fun day! Thanks for suggesting it Alice!!!!

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In between all this fun, I managed to sew up a few things. I made pillowcase dresses for the girls. They are not thrilled with the darker fabric but its all I had. I am almost done a pillowcase top for Sarah or myself to wear too. These are for our fireworks celebration on the 5th.

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We were also invited to my friend Leanne's pool and her sister Kim came too with her kids..so there were lots of children and fun on yet another gorgeous sunny day! We grabbed a quick lunch that day and we brought snacks and stuff for the kids for later.

What fun...we had all ages present and accounted for...isn't it nice when everyone can enjoy one activity!

 Here we are! It was so relaxing to sit and chat and watch the kiddos!

Later on the ice pops came out and the kids sat poolside to enjoy...the older girls were still in the pool!

Back to swimming!

Sarah was so excited to actually be old enough to go in the hot tub! It wasn't actually super duper hot or else she wouldn't have liked it...I love hot tubs too!!!!

 I believe we broke out the snacks at this point! Who loves cheese curls???? Well, my girls do...and you can't just eat one...which is why we never usually buy them. They are such a treat! Eventually we had to cut Brooklyn off.....a cheese-curl intervention was required!!!! LOL!!!

Notice the water balloon....I think Brooklyn was guarding it! hahahahaha. Hey go jump in the pool and wash off girlfriend!

No trip to my friend's house would be complete without a  GC ride (golf cart). And with Kaylie driving....it was a wild ride indeed!

 Good luck girls....hold on!!!! (notice the pink water balloon!!!! hahahahahaha).

Thanks again Le for such a great swimming day!!! We love you guys!!!

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 We have some great neighbors next to us that come down (they live in PA). Their son brought a friend  with them and all of the kids have been enjoying playing whiffle ball and running around chasing each other. What a blast!. Well, I decided that we should finally see Toy Story 3 and invited the "boys" along. What sweet well-behaved young men. They must have thanked me a hundred times. So, Brooklyn put on her TS3 outfit and off we went. We loved it! I tried not to cry at the end but did anyways. It was pretty intense but I loved it and what a great ending! Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

Here's more pics of the tag game they had going after the movie....and then the water guns were broken out...hahahahaha....they all got drenched! It looks like our lawn needs some drenching too!

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We were invited to my friend Karen's son's first birthday pool party! She went all out! What a great party! Winnie the Pooh themed and the little boy is just adorable! Here he is during the cake and birthday singing.....so smiley!

We enjoyed some yummy food and the girls....................wait for it..............................went swimming again!!!

Fun on the rafts!

There was also a baby pool and Brooklyn climbed in to play with my other friend's cute daughter!!!

Thanks Karen for the awesome party!!! And Happy 1st Birthday to MJ!

Oh yeah I almost forgot. I didn't quite finish one of MJ's presents....I needed some size advice first...but here's a sneak peak at part of the outfit. I am making a coordinating top to go with it! We all love Disney around here!!!!

Woody the cowboy is an applique from Bow's and Cloth's!  Buzz and the Toystory are actually cut-outs from fabric. Hope he likes it! It will be perfect for their next trip to Disney!

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We finished up the week with a trip to the beach....along with every other human in the vicinity. We actually went to the Bay...not even the real ocean and it was still packed! And hot! We took shelter under the umbrella!

We packed a picnic lunch and sat with friends! They brought their wave runner too and Sarah and Devon got to go out for a ride!

Off they go....  hold on tight!!!

 ...and back in one piece!!! Thanks Bob!!!

Did I mention it  was hot and crowded? The girls didn't even want to build castles or swim much!

So finally around 3 pm we packed up and headed home. I think they liked the outdoor shower the most!! We all took naps after that! LOL! 

We ate a late dinner. While it was cooking, the ice cream man came ringing through the neighborhood, so the girls ran out to pick out what they wanted for dessert! We all enjoyed the yumminess outside! A nice way to end the day!

I was there too...but behind the camera!!! I had a chipwich.....delish! Then the girls ran around shooting each other again!

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Oh and I found one more thing to show you! I ordered a very inexpensive dress for Brooklyn to wear for Queen Maysea. My friend Tammy also lent us a beautiful blue dress. Well, the dress already arrived...it only took like 3 days to get here. I was shocked! So they each tried on both dresses....

A sweet sisterly kiss!

And then they switched....

Stay tuned to see who gets which dress!!! The event isn't till August actually.

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Since we got out of schools so late, we are taking each day as it comes and living summer life fully. I am really enjoying the warm weather and the girls and friends and family!!! Very Very Very blessed! I have actually gotten to read a few books...right now I am reading CS Lewis "Mere Christianity"....amazing! And about that quilt...ya....I've really got to get to gettin on that! And that's about it for the week. 

Happy 4th of July.....hope you have off for Monday! Enjoy the week...be back for more soon!!!

~Cathy