Dancing Queen!

Today was Charlotte's FOURTH dance recital!  She was so excited.  She kept telling Mommy that she couldn't wait to be on stage again.  She performed a tap routine to "76 Trombones."  She led the whole class out onto the stage - a very important and stressful job!  I think she looked adorable in her costume.

                                                               

Her ballet routine was set to "I Don't Want to Grow Up" from Peter Pan.  She was so graceful and had a huge smile on her face the entire time.   She was flawless!

Here are some of the girls keeping busy backstage before the show.  Aren't their wings adorable?

Everyone who came was so proud of Charlotte.  All of those hours in the studio paid off :)

As always, I was so happy for Charlotte.  I am also very happy because in the fall, I FINALLY get to join her as a dancer at Encore Dance Center.  Next year our family will have TWO dancing queens!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Father's Day to our awesome daddy!  Our car and sports loving daddy is surrounded by pink, jewelry, shoes, dolls and art supplies everyday, but he loves us all the same :)

                                        
When Daddy woke up this morning, he was presented with this Father's Day Room Service form.  We gave him some yummy breakfast choices, but being the silly daddy that he is, he requested eggs benedict.  Since Mommy doesn't know how to make those, he chose french toast, bacon and coffee.

 

 We made the bacon with a little extra love this morning :)

Charlotte and I filled out questionnaires to see how well we know Daddy (well, Charlotte filled hers out, Mommy had to ask me the questions and then she wrote down my answers.)  For some reason Mommy laughed when Charlotte said that Daddy is 6" 5" tall and weighs 76 pounds.  I think that sounds right!

 

 Of course we had to give Daddy his presents before going downstairs for breakfast.  Charlotte and I put together a car wash kit for Daddy.  Sissy and I love to help Daddy wash his cars, so we thought it was the perfect gift.  So did Daddy :) 
Mommy bought Daddy tickets to see a Philadelphia Freedoms World Team Tennis match in July (Daddy was quite excited about the fact that a boy named John McEnroe and a girl named Martina Hingis would be playing in that match.  Never heard of them, but they must be good...)

 
 After a yummy breakfast and some quiet time at home, Daddy had to leave for a little while to play in a tennis match.  Charlotte and I created a little bit of driveway art to welcome him home.

 

We are very lucky girls - Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Family Farm Days again!

When school lets out for the summer, that means it's time for the Oregon Dairy Family Farm Days!!  Aunt Amy, Drew and Reed always come with us to tour the farm, visit some animals and enjoy all of the activities they have to offer.  We couldn't wait to get started!

                                       

We take a tractor pulled wagon ride to the farm.  I am always surprised when the smell hits!  You'd think that growing up in Lancaster County would make me used to the smell, but it is extra smelly when we enter the cow stalls.

Daddy's tractors are always present, so of course we have to start off with a photo in front of one of his combines.  Those things are ginormous!!

                                        

 There are always one or two of those green tractors sitting around, but we only ride the blue, yellow or red ones!

 A visit to the Family Farms Days wouldn't be complete without the corn bin :)

Charlotte LOVES to hold the baby chicks.  Me - not so much.  I'll just look at hers.

A good Lancaster County girl knows how to milk a cow!

Mommy's favorite - alpacas, or as I like to call them, 'papacas.'

Hi, baby calf.  Since you are behind a gate, I will pet you.

Obligatory cup of the famous Oregon Dairy chocolate milk!  SOOOO yummy!

As usual, we all had a blast at Family Farm Days!

Water Bombs!

Just a few days into summer vacation, Charlotte and I decided we needed to have some fun with water.  Mommy helped us make these awesome water bombs.

What is a water bomb?  It it's just two sponges cut up into 8 pieces and tied together with a cable tie.  Easy peasy!

Just dunk the bombs into water and...

...launch them into the air (or at your sister!)

 

Charlotte the Brave

There is a new Disney movie coming out called "Brave."  I think the movie should be about my sister, Charlotte.  She has never been one to take risks and she is afraid of a lot of things.  Something happened at Family Fun Day at Daddy's work, however, that changed all of that.  Charlotte did quite a few things that we never imagined she would do!

We've been to lots of carnivals that offer pony rides.  Charlotte has always enjoyed watching the ponies but has always been to afraid to ride one.  Today, though, Sissy ran right into the line, mounted her pony and rode two laps around the circle like a pro.  She looked like a natural!!

Charlotte also decided to go down the large bouncy slide multiple times.  She even bounced down it - she is so brave!!  I wouldn't go near that big thing.

I was so proud of my big sister all day long :)

 Not only was Charlotte brave, but she also was very patient with me.  I took over the "scaredy cat" role in the family today and was a bit anxious about a lot of the rides and activities.  Charlotte took my hand and led me through the Playtona Speedway.

Charlotte seemed to enjoy the Nasbar barrel cars.  I wouldn't go near it.

 The most amazing part of the day came when Sissy decided to climb the climbing tower.  None of us thought she would actually go through with it - it was REALLY, REALLY tall.  She kept begging and begging to try it, so finally Mommy and Daddy walked her to the line.  They suited her up in the harness, and off she went.  We are still in awe of the fact that she did it (and she did it so well!), so I will just stay quiet for a moment as you look through the photos.

 When Sissy got to the top, she turned around, LOOKED DOWN for Mommy and excitedly yelled to us that she was about to hit the buzzer.  She hit the buzzer and then came back down like it was nothing.  Mommy, Daddy and I were SOOOO proud of her.  Way to go, Charlotte!!

After the tower, Charlotte decided she wanted to ride the ferris wheel with Daddy.   They really wanted me to ride with them, but I let Charlotte the Brave enjoy it without me.

Mommy and I were happy when Charlotte and Daddy were back down on solid ground.

After watching Charlotte be brave all afternoon, I decided to give it a shot.  I let Mommy put a bunny into my lap.  Luckily Mommy took the photo the moment the bunny sat down on me, because one second later I was no longer feeling brave.  The bunny twitched and I panicked.  Mommy quickly grabbed the bunny and saved me.   

I'll let Charlotte be the brave one for now.

This nice teenager offered to let me sit with this piggy, but I decided to pet it from a distance instead.  Mommy just finished reading "Charlotte's Web" to us recently - I was so excited to meet a relative of Wilbur's!

 Well, hello, three day old baby calf.   You look sleepy.

Charlotte the Brave wanted to take the chinchilla home with her!

Daddy is always brave, but he also showed us today that he is strong.  He hit the bell on his second try!

After Family Fun Day was finished, we made a quick visit to Daddy's office.  His chair is quite comfy!

 Daddy, I was thinking about that combine after-treatment design.   Here's what you should do...

It was an exhausting but fun day at Daddy's work.  Charlotte the Brave especially had a great time!!  I think that Disney should make a movie about my sister next!