Happy 2nd birthday Emme!

Allison had a great time tonight wishing Emme a happy 2nd birthday!

Brrr

First cold day, 28 degrees when I woke up this morning. Allison is ready for it, with the Hello Kitty hat and gloves!

Today ally and I enjoyed this ride!

Pumpkin 2013

Allison may want to reconsider her personal conviction that we can not buy a pumpkin if she can't lift it.

Birthday present

One of Ally's 5th birthday presents was for her play set. Once we got it adjusted to the right height, she  was pretty excited to give it a try.

Oh yes, that is much better!

What's that?  Dinner is ready?  I don't know how to get down yet!

Kindergarten Here I Come!

Look out Windsor school, Allison Waters is on her way!

Ok, Mom and Dad, enough pictures already! Is the bus here?

Is the bus here yet?  This backpack is pretty heavy!

I hope you're not crying, Mom!  Because I'm sure not!

Kinder Dance

Today Allison started her third year of dance class. She has been excited all summer for dance to start. Even after a full day of school, she had the energy to dance and enjoyed meeting new friends and seeing a few school friends.

Pre-Kindergarten haircut and breakfast

Allison just had her hair trimmed and is officially ready for Kindergarten. Now we are enjoying the beautiful day with a mother daughter breakfast outside at Panera. I may have made a mistake by trying to explain "people watching" to a 5 year old.

First morning of "Discover Kindergarten" camp!

Ready for Water Play Wednesday!

BBQ at Petra's

The Waters Family was invited to a post Independence Day BBQ at the Berkhout's.  As soon as we arrived Allison and Petra disappeared to play, not to be seen again for over 2 hours.  One by one each adult checked on them and found them to be having a blast, albeit a messy one!  I think you can see these two are up to trouble....

After some delicious fajitas made on the grill, the girls decided to give the trampoline a try.  My pictures are a bit out of focus, but trust me those girls were flying!  Allison made Arnold and I both very nervous, as she tended to get way too close to the edge!

 I just had to dig out a picture from the last time these two were on a trampoline together...

Arnold gave a tour of his garden, and the girls picked bouquets of flowers.

We had a great time visiting, and the fireflies were just coming out,  but we decided it was time to get Allison home to bed, she's had a few back to back fun filled days!

Playing and Swimming with Elliana

My good friend Carla has been home visiting from Los Angeles for a few weeks and we were able to get the girls together a few times.  I wish we lived closer, but I feel so lucky that both Carla and I were blessed with little girls, just six months apart!

A few weeks ago we got together to play and learn to really use the glider! 

Today we went over and swam with Elliana in her cousin's beautiful pool.  Allison had been talking about doing a cannonball off the side, but she was really excited to be able to try the diving board!

The girls had a great time and we were so sad to say goodbye to Elliana and her mom!  Allison made them matching necklaces! 

Museum of Natural History trip

First trip to the pool - Summer 2013

After a bit of a slow start to the summer, we have finally made it to the pool!  This year we decided to try WaterWorks in West Windsor, and wow is it great.  There are actually 4 pools, one lap pool we'll probably never see up close, a pool for the water slide we are not tall enough for yet, a huge baby pool with sprinklers and seals that are fountains, and a huge walk in pool where Ally can touch bottom in most places.  

I was a little disappointed that all of her swimming lessons didn't come back to her.  She really can't tread water and doesn't seem to like to do strokes with her arms.  What she does like to do is put her face in the water and swim until she runs out of breath.  Her friend Mac was able to swim out to the big mushroom fountain with no problem, so she was determined to do it.  We talked about getting a good push off the wall, and taking a breath and then swimming some more, and she did it!  I was so proud of her, and she was proud too- she stood up under the fountain to give me a double thumbs up.  Then she did it about 5 more times!  The pool is great, but being able to go to the pool with great friends is even better!

Happy birthday Uncle Bill