It's Saturday!

Every Saturday morning when Kate wakes up Mike asks, "Kate, what day is it?" and Kate always responds with a huge grin on her face and the loudest voice she can find, "it's Saturday!" Kate is acutely aware that her daddy is home on Saturdays and that it usually means we have a fun family day ahead of us. So yesterday we loaded the bikes up and headed over to the river where we took our bikes and the bike trailer and rode for miles along the American River. I usually carry the bike trailer with the 50 some extra pounds of girls in the back for the extra workout. No more than 2 miles in to the bike ride I had to surrender. My lungs were burning! I guess I'm not used to lugging so much extra weight behind me. Good thing for a strong daddy. Kate quickly reminded me that "daddy goes faster than you mommy." Bless her heart. After Kara had conked out, we found a shady picnic bench and ate the lunch we packed. Mike and Kate hiked down to the river and spent time together throwing rocks in the water. Kate later told us that was the funnest part of the day. During our picnic lunch, Mike asked Kate how much she loved him and with a huge grin on her face, held up all ten fingers and said, "I love you this much daddy. Now Mommy, you ask me how much I love you." I thought I knew where this was going (and I did) so I asked her how much she loved me. Then with a smile on her face she proceeded to hold up only 3 fingers. I guess you can't win them all. We stopped for ice cream on our way back and went swimming when we got home. After all the fun stuff we did during the day, she still said the best part was throwing rocks in the river with her daddy. Oh, to be a kid again.



Kate and Mike throwing rocks in the river.

Kara's 18 months!

Kara turned 18 months old this week. It doesn't seem like much of a milestone, but for me it means I can actually enjoy and listen at church (well most of it anyway). With Mike being in the bishopric, I find that I get next to nothing out of the church meetings themselves. But now, I atleast get to attend two of the three hours. Sacrament still poses a problem for us. Her being the daddy's girl that she is, I have to keep a close watch on her because she bolts for the stand (where Mike is sitting) a couple times every sunday. I can usually keep her occupied with food, books, or singing the Cougar fight song, but today she almost made it to her dad. She was obviously watching me and when I looked away to help Kate she bolted down the aisle. She started at a slow trot and the second she saw me coming after her, she started into a sprint (which I must say is very impressive for her little legs). I ran after her right in the middle of the meeting, making a fool of myself, while she is obviously pleased with her performance and progress by the huge grin and cackle she let out. She sure keeps us on our toes.

This picture taken in Utah by her aunt Aria perfectly catches her personality. She is like this 80% of the time. She is such a blast.

This is how I usually leave her at lunch.

This is how I usually find her a few minutes later.

She's our little swimmer. She loves the water. She ends up having to sit out because of her tendancy to jump in when we're not near her. I swear this kid is going to give me an ulcer.

Lovin' Summer!!

We are having such a fun summer. Kara is doing a lot of firsts, and well actually, so is Kate. For those of you who know Kate you know what I mean. Kara is actually introducing Kate to the "wild side" of life. I tell you these girls are polar opposites. They don't come more cautious than Kate and I dare say that it would be hard to find some more daring and confident than Kara. We've been spending a lot of time at the pool these last few months. I spend most of the time in the pool, while Kate stands on the edge and points out all the leaves, worms, and small slivers of bark that will inevitably threaten her life. Kara on the other hand, is off somewhere, barefoot, exploring her surroundings in the bark and rose bushes (not always positive results). Regardless, we're keeping cool and having fun.


Nothing like ice cream on those warm summer nights.

And this is why we don't wear clothes. Mom is doing too much laundry these days.

Mom's helpers?

Kate absolutely loves to help in the kitchen. Kara on the other hand couldn't care less what we were doing as long as she is allowed up on the counter. I think the facination with the counter comes from her morning routines with her daddy. One of her favorite things to do is sit up on the bathroom counter and supervise her dad shaving, and brushing his teeth. All we hear all day is "up a counter...up a counter." Needless to say, we have to keep a close eye on her. Lucky for us, there are two moms in the house (me and Kate that is). Kate thinks she is anyway. One of the greatest things about being a mom of girls is that they LOVE to do things along with mom (although I must admit that half of the time it is a curse). With the hot weather recently, we've been cooped up inside so we've tested our hand in baking. Kate makes it, Kara tastes it.

What a Blast!

This past weekend we were invited to go rafting down the American River with some friends. My parents took the girls for the day (thank goodness for close grandparents!) and we spent a good part of the day out on the water. The trip totally exceeded my expectations, mostly because I stayed in the boat (being the rookie that I was, I was sure I was going to go for a swim). Luckily we had a great guide and just had the time of our lives.

All tuckered out!

Some of our favorite things to do as a family, once daddy gets home in the evenings, is either throw the girls in the stroller and go roller blading or take a family bike ride. It seems as though our activities are more strenuous for the girlies than they are for us.