More end of summer....

Outside playing in a warm rain shower...

Catching rain falling from the gutters...

Clara and Eliza spending some sister time on the couch....

Aunt Julie and T came to visit for a week, and Hannah LOVED having her best friend around...Hannah's favorite thing is to put T's leash on and order her around. Hannah thinks of her as a friend to play with and took her outside in the yard to play one afternoon. Here they go through the tunnel....

T's turn!!

Now down the slide....

Best Friends!!!

The girls put on frequent "shows" and dance parties for us. Their favorite background music right now is the Mama Mia soundtrack. I think this performance was to "Dancing Queen"!

Clara made them all microphones from the bristle blocks. Clara is all about the big dance moves and Hannah really gets into the songs! I love how Eliza just looks on adoringly at Hannah...she just loves being part of the group!

More snuggles with Clara...

A day at the fair...

I realized that I still have some end of summer pictures to catch up on now that we are definitely into fall! We spent a fun day at the fair, and the girls wasted no time in getting to the huge slide! This is always a favorite of theirs, and I LOVE Clara's expression-she was like that the whole way down!!

I think Clara is saying "Let's go again!!"
The height requirements on the rides were pretty ridiculous....Clara was too tall for some of the kid rides, and Eliza was way too short for all of them except the carousel. It made for a pretty disappointed 1 year old :( Eliza loves to go on the rides, and even rode a kid-sized roller coaster earlier in the summer at a neighborhood carnival, but they said she was too small for this barely-moving ride, so Hannah had to ride alone....

The petting zoo was awesome, with baby pigs....the girls had just climbed out of the pen with the baby pigs.....

an adorable calf (who wouldn't turn his head for a picture!)

Huge chickens.....

There is NO WAY you could get me to hold one of these, but the girls loved it!

and lots of baby goats!

Hannah insisted on a ride on the ferris wheel (another thing that Mommy DOES NOT do at the fair!!!), so she waited in a long line with Daddy for her ride. She actually fell asleep on his shoulder in line, but woke up happy for her turn!

The wood statues provided lots of entertainment for our little animal lovers...

Eliza was excited to find this dog's tongue and show me that she had one too!!

We finished up the day watching pig races and eating lots of warm scones and deep-fried sweet onion! We love the fair!!

It's a.....

I think we are all still a little shocked!!! The girls can't wait, and they were already out buying outfits with Nana and Aunt Julie this afternoon. I have to say, I am kind of excited about all this blue, brown, green and orange after 5 years of pink!

And finally, a little boy to wear this "dinosaur suit" (as Clara named it) that all 3 of our sweet little girls have worn through a winter!

Funny girls...

Clara wore this apron that she made around all morning....

Maybe she has a future in fashion design!
This is what happens when you have two little girls who ADORE all living creatures, and you refuse to have a pet in your home.....They create a "creepy, crawly, creature farm"! Clara came up with this last week, and Hannah was quick to join in with her own farm. They rolled up pieces of paper towel into a "worm", and keep their little guy, named "Slimey", all nice and slimey by spitting on him several times a day! yuck!!! Clara's worm even has his own blanket for sleeping and all kinds of small friends to play with!

Clara learned to blow bubbles with her gum this week! She has been practicing so hard, and has a very interesting method that involves taking the gum out of her mouth several times to achieve a bubble! She is so excited that she can finally do it, and usually lets Eliza do the honor of popping the bubble :)

Clara, with her masterpiece bubble!!

We took the girls to get ice cream this weekend, and Clara had been practicing blowing bubbles in the car the whole way there. She finished her ice cream cone, and then I heard her let out a wail! I looked over to see what had happened, and she was staring with disbelief at the pocket of her shorts. "Mom, you didn't tell me it was STICKY!!!" The sweet thing had put her gum in her pocket to save it for after she ate her ice cream, and it was a gooey mess!! I guess I thought it went without saying that gum is STICKY!!! At least we didn't learn that lesson with her hair!

A happy picture of our Hannah (I think she was trying to tickle someone at the time!)

And Eliza has started the "two-year-old smile" a bit early....

This is what I get now when I ask for a smile....