"Sleeping Beauty" by Brynlee

Brynlee is killing me lately. Four and a half has got to be the cutest age ever! I am giggling all day long at her ever-changing outfits and accessories, the funny little things she says, the notes she leaves all over the house, and her cute little drawings. Her new favorite thing to do is "make books". It is so cute! She just sits down at her desk and writes and illustrates simple "books" from stories she's heard or that she's made up on her own. Here is the first book she made. I didn't even know what she was working on - I assumed she was just coloring - until she showed me the finished product in her notebook....and I about died.

(I'll translate her words since her spelling is kind of wild).

"Sleeping Beauty by Brynlee"

"Sleeping Beauty"

(Bryn said "You know how books have a page at the beginning with the name of the book, but no pictures? Ya, that's what this page is!")

"Long ago there was a princess. She had 3 little fairies."

"But the witch stole her anyway."

(The angry witch and Sleeping Beauty crying on the left)

"Also, the witch killed the queen..."

"...and put her in jail."

 (The mad prince)

 (Sleeping Beauty being rescued by the prince)

"The prince saved Sleeping Beauty"

(Sleeping Beauty and the prince getting married.)

I love their side profiles with the half smiles and one eye. And the heart in between them! So great.

"And they lived happily ever after. The end."

Cute cute cute. I just had to document it because she goes in and out of stages so quickly that I don't know how long she'll be doing this book making thing. Hopefully she keeps at it for a while because her little drawings and misspelled words are so funny to me! Love ya, Bryn!

King Arthur Flour + Montshire Museum

Josh was locked in our office working for a lot of the time he was home, but when he wasn't working then we tried to fit in fun things. On Friday we finally did a couple things we've been wanting to check out in the area for a long time. First we tried out the cafe at the King Arthur Flour headquarters in Norwich, Vermont. We'd taken a cooking class there and shopped at their bakery store, but we'd never tried the cafe. It was great!  

 The King Arthur building is really cool. One of Bryn's favorite parts is the big window where you can watch the workers bake the different kinds of bread.

Right around the corner from King Arthur is the Montshire Science Museum. We have an annual pass and we go all the time, but we had never checked out the outdoor water exhibits (because of all the rain lately!) It was a really hot, muggy day so Bryn and Josh went straight to the outdoor exhibits, but Mya spent the first bit inside in her favorite toddler exhibits. 

It's so fun that she's getting old enough to explore and have a good time climbing around.

Meanwhile, Bryn was outside going nuts in the water. There are some really cool water activities and Bryn was in absolute heaven.

 I'll have to bring Mya's swimsuit next time because she was loving it, too.

 I loved Mya's sweaty hair :)

Fun day!

Fourth of July

We had such a fun 4th of July yesterday...especially since Josh had time off from work and came up from NYC to visit us! Our ward reserved a beautiful picnic area at Lake Sunapee and so we spent the day up there- swimming in the lake, going on boat rides, playing on the playground, hanging out with friends, and enjoying a delicious BBQ lunch.

 After the fun day at the lake we got together with a couple of our neighbors for another fun BBQ. We planned on watching the firework show from the field, but it started raining at 8 pm and so showed Bryn a few fireworks videos online and called it a night!

 Fun day! And extra fun since Josh was home!

June without Josh

This is a long, rambling post about what we've been up to while Josh has been Googling in New York...

We have lived at the park. It's been a really rainy few weeks, but there's usually been a window of clear skies at some point in each day and so we've rushed off to the park whenever we can. Even playing at a wet park is better than going stir crazy at home.

 Mya is having more and more fun at parks and it's adorable.

 I have a tiny painting in the back corner of the AVA Gallery's annual juried show, so Mya was my cute date for the opening reception. I wish I would have had time to whip up a nice, big painting for the show, but maybe next year.

(Awkward picture, I know. I think I was mid-sentence).

Lunch dates on the porch

 Playing at the river with Damon and Brixton

 New Hampshire is so pretty in the summer time.

 We've had weekly park days with the church ladies and it's been so fun to get together and check out lots of fun, new parks in the area.

 This was a big deal that needed to be documented: My first time doing a Walmart trip with two kids. Yikes.  I usually avoid errands with two kids, especially if it's a trip to our crazy, West Lebanon Walmart. But Josh was gone, I needed the essentials, and so I had no other choice but to pack up my girls (and the hand sanitizer) and head to Walmart. And we survived! I honestly felt pretty victorious. And the stars must have aligned because they had just put out brand new (clean!) carts, including this funky kind that sits two kids in front. Woot woot!

 Some rainy days we get so bored and tired of our regular toys that we pull out the glue and magazines and go to town. Bryn lives for this kind of stuff! She loves a good project, even if it's as random as this. 

 There is nothing cuter than watching these two play together. Saggy diaper bottom and saggy pajama bottom. Ha ha! 

Pool days with cute neighbors

 Also significant- first time ever grocery shopping with both girls at once. And we made it! 

I know. How did I go a year without ever grocery shopping with both kids? I love running errands on my own at night and zooming through the stores. But actually the girls have done great as I've dragged them along for errands these past couple weeks, so maybe my solo grocery trips are a thing of the past?

I love mom moments like this. Bryn didn't want Mya messing up things she set up in her bigger dollhouse, so she set up Mya with the smaller house and Mya was so excited about it.

 Bryn.

Oh my goodness, Bryn is just too much for me. She is still very much in the dress-up, make believe, change-her-outfit-15-times-a-day phase. I love this stage! She brings constant entertainment to our home, that's for sure.

When it's really hot and really humid and you don't have a pool or sprinklers, then your only choice is to put an ice cold cooler in the shade of the porch and hop right in. 

More park time. 

I love how most parks in New Hampshire are surrounded by big, beautiful trees and are nice and shady.

 Cute Mya, loving this new park we just discovered.

Bryn perfecting her pizza skills. She made this cute personal pizza as I made our regular one. Bryn was adamant about doing the whole thing without help, so she proofed her own yeast, stirred in all the ingredients, kneaded the dough, set the timer for it to rise, rolled it out into crust, added the sauce and toppings - all on her own. It was so cute and she couldn't have been prouder of her creation.

And one more cute park picture. 

We are trying hard to have fun even if Josh is gone and so far I think we've had a pretty good summer! Thank goodness for my two cute girls to keep me company and so many wonderful friends who have helped me out.