Playing with Leyla

 

 

 

 

 

Leyla, from the apt above ours, came downstairs to play with the girls.  She's a year older than Mena.  The three of them enjoyed doll house and barbies.

Singing in Church

 

 

The kids from VBS sang in church Sunday morning.  This was Maggie's first time singing in church and she enjoyed it.  Mena and Maggie moved to the side from the rest of their choir so that they were directly in front of me!  Maggie stopped singing at one time to tell me to take a picture; the people around me chuckled.

All the kids then went upstairs and we watched the movie from VBS during Sunday School.

Henry Doorly Zoo with Cousins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls enjoyed a great day at the zoo with their cousins Peyton and Tyler.  Henry Doorly Zoo is so big that there is no way a person could see it all in one day.  We saw the Desert Dome and Kingdom of the Night.  Mena was too scared to get into the "cave" with Maggie since it was so dark in the Kingdom of the Night.  After that we visited the orangatan and gorillas.

We found a table to eat lunch at in the shade.  I stayed with the kids while Beth stood in line for hot dogs for the kids.  Then Beth sat with the kids while I stood in line to get she and I sandwiches.  It was too much for one person to carry and way too long of a line for the kids to stand in.

The kids kept asking when we could go on the train so we did that after lunch.  The girls and I sat two seats behind the engine so it was noisy with the engine and whistle.  Even with all the noise, Maggie fell asleep on my lap on the second half of the round-trip ride.  She went right back to sleep when I laid her in the stroller.

We have a picture of Mena and Peyton on a Turtle statue and wanted to replicate the picture, but we couldn't find the turtle.  The gorilla was in the place we thought the turtle should have been so we took pictures on it instead.  By the time we found it, Ty had fallen asleep, too!

Mena's favorite animal is the giraffe.  After seeing the live ones we found the little statue.  Peyton and Mena got their picture taken while the younger two continued to sleep.

VBS Carnival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the VBS program, there was a carnival for the kids.  The girls enjoyed the games and prizes.  Then they went home with their dad.  They were starting to look tired after being up late every night this week.  Most nights of VBS the girls were in bed by 9 pm, but Wednesday night I didn't get them into bed until 10 pm.  I locked my keys in the truck.  We called a locksmith and my friend Cathy with her two daughters waited with us until I was in my truck and able to go home.  I've lost track as to how many times I've locked myself out of my vehicle over the years!

Mena Singing and Dancing

Last song in the program.  Maggie is still with her dad.  Mena is on stage singing and dancing.

Mena Starts Singing

Maggie was losing interest and Mena was just getting warmed up!  Here she is starting to sing and do actions rather than just absorbing everything going on around her.  They are singing "Here is Our King!"

Maggie sees Daddy

Maggie is somewhat singing this song, but you can tell she's had about enough of this.  We practiced right before the program so she'd already done all the songs at least once.  Then she realizes her dad and Jessie are there.  She is so excited to see them!  She quit singing and just kept yelling, "Hi!" so I ended up taking her off the stage and sending her back to her dad!  Everyone in the church was chuckling at her because her enthusiasm is so cute!

Maggie says, "Hi, Mom" while Singing

Maggie wasn't getting into this song as much as she did during the week at VBS.  She is more interested in telling me, "hi!"

Maggie's Favorite Song at VBS

Maggie's favorite part is giving High 5s!  She also got pretty good at rolling her arms during the "oh oh oh."  I just think she is so darn cute!

VBS Program

 

I was the shepherd for the 6 year old group.  In these pictures Maggie is standing next to her new friend Maggie.  I think they connected because they share the same name. :)

 

 

 

Here are pictures of Maggie and Mena doing the actions in the songs.

Maggie at VBS

Our church has VBS this week.  Mena is in the preschool class and I am helping with the 6 year olds.  Maggie is technically too young to be in VBS but she is allowed to participate by being with me the whole evening.  Her favorite time of VBS is music.  Here are two clips of her dancing to one of the songs we're learning.  The girl in the grey tank top is also named Maggie and the two of them tend to sit together at each station.  I tried to get a video of Mena when the whole group is singing together at opening or closing, but Mena insists on being near enough to touch me and she won't dance when I move away from her.  Her teacher says she does the movements when their class is at music time and I'm not there so that's good.  The girls will be in the Thursday evening program and will sing in church on Sunday.

Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Nap Time

 

Thursday, I didn't make Maggie take a nap and she crashed as soon as we went to bed.  Friday and Saturday, I put the girls in the stroller in the late afternoon.  I walked for 45 minutes while the girls fell asleep.  When we got back to our tent, Maggie continued to sleep while Mena and I played croquet.

Saturday morning it was sprinkling.  Mena yelled, "Mom, it's raining" to wake me up!  We moved everything inside or under the awning.  Maggie declared, "This is very fun" when she sat in her lawn chair in the tent.  I cooked our pancakes under the awning and it had stopped raining so we were able to eat at the picnic table.  After breakfast it continued to sprinkle off and on, so we went shopping in the craft shops in Louisville.

I didn't light a fire any of the nights we were there because Maggie is so young.  Mena kept asking why I wasn't lighting a fire and then asked when I was going to learn.  I told her when Maggie was 3 years old, then I'd learn to light a fire.  She was so disappointed that we couldn't roast marshmallows that I texted my mom to ask what she and dad were doing Saturday night.  They brought all the fixings for smores and dad showed me how to light a fire since it's been so long since I've done it.

Camping at Louisville SRA, July 11-14, Visit to Schramm SRA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the playground we drove into Walmart to get Mena some cream for her bug bites and to buy a table to set up as my kitchen area by the tent.  We ate a snack and then stopped back at Schramm SRA to visit the aquarium.  Maggie was excited to show me the turkey leg in the hands-on room. 

The girls enjoyed looking at all the fish in the aquariums.  The turtle seemed to facinate them both.  When the turtle started climbing a rock, Maggie got worried and said, "He's going to fall!"  I told Maggie to stand by the turtle so I could take a picture, and she adamantly told me, "NO!"  Mena said she would stand there, but then she moved away real quick when the turtle swam to her side of the aquarium!!

We used binoculars to look out the window at birds.  Mena was able to see things outside.  Look at the pictures of Maggie, and you can see that she has the binoculars backwards and on the outside of her eyes so she's not looking at anything!