Whirlwind!

It's been a busy week filled with adventure and a tad too much excitement for a certain three-year-old and her baby sis! We spent last Wednesday at a beautiful farm with our good friends Kelly and Ted. Maia and Ted had a blast running around... and checking out the animals. The highlight for everyone was seeing a calf that had to have been no more than twenty minutes old. Here's Maia checking it out (and yet managing to look right at the camera-- amazing!):


And here is the baby and the Mama:

A photo of me and the girls:

We spent Thursday exploring a new playground with our good buds Doug and Colin. Maia loved climbing, even ventured down a big slide, and generally wore herself out. Sadly, my camera wasn't accesible when she decided to tackle Colin-- repeatedly. Gotta love that Daddy taught her how to sack! Here's a photo, though, of her climbing across a swinging bridge:

The weekend brought much celebration of the end of the summer. We spent Saturday afternoon/evening at Abby and Lizzy's house. We had a such a great time! Sadly, I completely neglected to capture a moment of it due to my camera sitting at home in my everyday diaper bag, rather than the one I break out for fun evenings on the town. The food was fabulous, the company delightful, and Maia thoroughly wore herself out-- she slept in her own bed until 5:45 the next morning. Hallelujah! The highlight was Abby's bouncy house. Maia couldn't have been happier to jump, and jump, and jump. After the fabulous night of sleep, I begged Daddy to get us our own bouncy house... Sadly, he hit the big veto button. Ah well, many more visits to Abby and Lizzy in our future!

Sunday found us heading over to Nathaniel and Anabelle's house for another end of summer cookout. An equally fabulous time was had by all. I remembered my camera this time, though I had too much fun to catch much of it! Anabelle and Cec are only three weeks apart, and we can't wait to see what kind of mischief they'll get into as they grow up together! Here's a cute shot of them spending some quality time checking out the sky, trees, siblings running around, Daddies drinking too many margaritas...

And here are their big siblings:

We had such a good time both evenings-- it reminded us how incredibly lucky we are to have such wonderful friends!

Labor Day found Maia chasing after the big kids in the hood, and truly getting in on the action. She spent much of the day trying to assist them in their various moneymaking schemes. There was a yard sale, followed by a car wash, followed by a request for donations... here's Maia getting into the car wash:

And what would Labor Day weekend be without a third BBQ? The wonderful street we live on rallied for one last celebration. We pulled out our lawn furniture, grills, etc., and made the most of a gorgeous evening. Here's Maia enjoying some delicious food after a day of hard work!

It's been an incredible summer. Maia and Cecily have both grown and changed so much, and have given us so much joy. Thank you to all our family and friends for so many delightful adventures. We can't wait for more!