Happy Birthday Papa!

                                                                 Don had an early start on his birthday! The girls greeting him with their handmade presents bright and early.

 It was hard enough to hold back their gifts for the days prior to his birthday. So when Friday hit, they were up at the crack of dawn!

After breakfast, the girls and I took Don out to Fairfield for miniature golf; a surprise outing all of the girl's making. They know their father loves to golf. What they didn't know was that miniature golf and 'real' golfing are two very different things. But Don is always a good sport and loved all that his daughter's planned for him.

 Miniature golf turned out to be a lot of fun. We didn't often get the ball in the hole but we got alot of laughs at the girls maneuvers and attempts.

 Amara got a bit frustrated so I tried to give her a few lessons. While Havana came up with a new golf swing called the Booty Swing!

 After golfing became "too boring", we headed over the race track and water bumper cars to spice things up. We ended the morning in the too loud, overstimulating arcade before we all came home and took a nice long nap in preparation for an evening with some friends for dinner and cake.

I was pretty sure Don might have wanted to do other things for his birthday so over the course of the weekend, the girls and I made sure to give him time for himself. But we were so happy to have a family day celebrating the most important man in our lives.

Tree Climbers

 

 Amara is no stranger to climbing. Her nickname, 'Monkey' is more than a good fit for her.  The other evening, at an impromptu park outting, Amara and her buddy Alex decided to scale a a tree. Unfortunately,  I did not have my camera. Fortunately, I had my phone to capture a few shots.

Havana took a go at it.

Psstttt!

Happy Birthday Liam!

This weekend our family celebrated our favorite little guys birthday. Liam is the closest thing to a brother the girls will have and they just adore him (as do Don and I!) Amara and Havana both love to play with their LiLi. Amara gets all big sisterly like and tends to look out for him. While Havana enjoys sharing toys and running around with "My Lili". All three couldn't wait till Liam's party so they could see each other again. They are so sweet and tender together; it makes my heart mushy!

With Mom & Dad

Asa and Havana; another one of our favorite not so little anymore, guys!

Surprise appearance from Elmo which spooked Liam. Amara knew it was someone dressed up, "I see his mustache" but she and Havana got a kick out of him despite that reality!

 

 

Happy Birthday to Liam!

Cannon Ball

Ready...

Set......

Go!!!

Amara has always been an adventurous monkey so it comes to no surprise that her dare devil tendencies apply to pool time as well! (notice Havana calmly by the side of the pool, jut taking it all in!)

Different pool, same Amara! She will jump again and again and again and....!!!

A Swimmin Summer

 We have had a fair share of pool time this summer. From swim lessons (which didn't go over that well for Havana and Amara barely tolerating), to pool parties, swim time at family and friends houses and even some splashing around at the Claremont Hotel's pools when we spent the night and at the hotel during our holiday at Disneyland.  The girls had more than their fair share of time in their bathing suits this summer (and we still have another month to go!)

Unfortunately, Havana is still not too keen on learning to swim. She instead prefers to hang out near the pool steps where she feels safest. But I am confident in her own time she will start to feel more comfortable in the water. Amara on the other hand, has been almost obsessed with swimming. She has come a long way from the little girl who wouldn't put her face in the water despite almost a half a year (total) and a pretty penny of lessons over the past few years. She still has much to learn but has made significant progress which has left her father and I feeling more at ease about her ability to be safe in the water.

We will hopefully have a bunch more practice sessions before Fall starts in late September but for now it's been a blast so far.