Kick-off To Summer!

Here we are, almost halfway through June already!  This has been a very busy month for us, but it has been a really fun start to our summer!  Hope everyone else is enjoying the great weather this year and getting out and about with family.

We have been frequenting the Willmar Stingers baseball games (we have Season tickets since Nick is the Official Stingers Dentist!), and we realize that with the arrival of Babe #3 not far off, we need to hit the games while we can.  Thankfully, Ellie is a big fan of attending the games (of course, I'm sure the hotdogs, treats, and watching the new Stingers mascot, Barry the Bear, have added to her enjoyment of hanging out with her parents at the games!).  Victoria does not last nearly as long at the games as she's far too interested in climbing around on everything, but we try to stay as long as we can, even if it only means a few innings before we have to head home and put her to bed.

The Kandi Mall hosted a carnival to celebrate the end of the school year for kids, so we were able to check that out with Grammy and Papa one day as well.  Both girls have no reservations about rides, so we are thinking that a trip to Valleyfair at the end of summer will be imminent.  In fact, both girls rode the carousel 3 times and cried each time they had to get off!  Ellie was even adventurous enough to try a mini-rollercoaster with her dad.  She, of course, picked the front seat of the coaster, and despite a very serious look on her face during the ride, she had a lot of fun and wanted to go again.

Nick and Eliana on the crocodile rollercoaster.

Ellie enjoyed the motorcycles.

Ellie took Victoria for a little drive in the cars and once V loosened her grip on the car, she had lots of fun "steering"!

Grammy, Ellie, Daddy, and Tors on the carousel.

We started Ellie on the most boring ride (a train) to see how she'd handle the rides.  She wasn't impressed, but was begging to go on more!

We've still been taking many walks around the neighborhood these days, though I have been more hesitant to go with so many contractions happening.  But if we do all go, we've been very fortunate to see many of the turtles from our marsh laying their eggs.  It's been an interesting science lesson of life for Eliana.  She has no hesitation about going right up to the turtles and "petting" them, but we also have many snapping turtles in our area and have had to remind her that she is not allowed to touch them unless mommy or daddy are with her and say it's okay.  While on our walks, Victoria has recently started ditching her car in favor of walking/running after her sister.  While it brings a smile to our faces that she loves and looks up to her sister so much, chasing after her is almost a losing battle for me these days!  Thankfully, Nick has been great help with the girls and I can count on him to race after one (or both) of them if they get too near something they shouldn't.

Victoria loves being chased and I was thankful her Daddy was able to catch her!

Ellie watching one of the painted turtles laying its eggs.

Mommy and the girls out for an evening stroll.

Lastly, both Eliana and Victoria started swimming lessons this month!  They attend two nights a week at the YMCA.  Ellie, our little waterbug, LOVES her lessons and is always looking forward to them.  She has a hard time getting out of the pool at the end of class.  Her one downfall with the lessons is that she has needed several reminders from her teachers that there are times when she's not allowed to get into the pool - there are 6 kids in her class and though she isn't the smallest, she is the youngest and sometimes the bigger kids are allowed to slide into the pool and hold onto the edge while the teachers are working one-on-one with other students.  Of course Ellie feels the urge to follow (and thank goodness she can climb in and out of the pool easily!), but she is instructed the she's supposed to sit on the edge until the teacher comes back to her.  We are working on that, but we are just so thankful that she loves the water so much!

Eliana (white swimsuit) at her first swimming lesson.

Victoria is in the Mommy/Daddy/Me class, so Nick gets to swim with her while the teacher instructs them on different ways to get the kids comfortable with the water and to trust whoever is holding them.  Her first class wasn't the best experience as she screamed the first half, but to be fair, she was still recovering from Hand/Foot/Mouth Disease and wasn't feeling 100% yet.  Her last few classes have gone MUCH better, though, and she really seems to enjoy being in the water, though I doubt she will ever be as much of a waterbug as our Eliana!