Summer cuts & FestivALL

We are having a fun-filled summer. Mommy is trying to keep us busy with activities (so we have some structure to our days, she says.) So I'm taking swimming lessons and reading class. Lilly is too young for both. Next month, though, Mommy said we'll both attend VBS.

After swimming on Thursday, Mommy took us to get summer haircuts. Everyone says I look so much older with my hair cut. I like it because it doesn't take as long to dry. Lilly's never takes long to dry!

This is one of the most fun weeks in Charleston -- when we have FestivALL. We've attended a lot of fun things. Last night, we went to a movie (Sound of Music.) We got to bark and yell at the movie and sing along with them . It was fun until Lilly chewed on her glow stick and got yellow all over her. She was glowing! I told her on the way to Live on the Levee that she can never, ever do that again because she would vomit. And maybe she'd vomit on the street and then other peole would see it and vomit. She said, yeah.

Today we went to Mommy's work for the Street Fair. It's a lot of fun. We played in the sand and the water fountain. Got balloons and tattoos. We had birthday cake because the newseum, I mean the Library, had a birthday. It's 100. But we eventually had to leave because Mommy said we were too cranky. She tried to get us to take a nap, but we didn't go to sleep. Then we played in our swimming pool for a little bit... until I dumped the water out and Mommy made us come back inside.

I told her I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow.

First Catch

We went fishing this weekend and caught our first fish! It was a lot of fun. We had to drive to the cabin Friday night to sleep so we could get up early Saturday. Then we had to drive far, far away to the pond to fish. We rode in Grandpa and Grandma's car and sang, "Country Roads" a lot on the way.

When we arrived at the Derby, there were lots of kids catching fish. Some of them left with the fish in a bag as we came into the fish hatchery. Belle said she wanted to bring one home with her too. But Mommy said no we had to put them back. But we didn't have to put any back becuase we didn't catch any at first. Belle didn't like waiting for the fish to get on her line. I didn't like fishing very well so I just played with Grandpa's tools. Then Mommy, Grandma and me walked to the car to get our chairs. When we were gone Belle caught her first fish, but it didn't stay on her line. She was upset that she couldn't keep it.

After we got something to drink and eat, we tried again. This time, Mommy said we'd try the catch and keep pond. We went to the pond, with lots of people. We put this orange stuff on our hook and caught a fish within the first two minutes of having our line in the water. Mine was bigger than Belle's. Mommy said my fish was almost as big as me! I didn't like it when Belle caught hers. It was red (with blood on it. Mommy said I was traumatized for life! But I took my rod and fished with Grandpa anyway. I caught a fish next and it was real heavy. It was too hard for me to reel in so Grandpa had to help me.

After we got our fish, we had to take them to a table to be fileted. Whatever that means. Belle kept asking them what they were doing. She wanted to take our fish home. She didn't know that Daddy and Grandpa were going to eat him!

Later that night, Daddy found a turtle along the road and brought it to the cabin for us. We played with him and then brought him home to be our pet! We haven't named him yet. Do you have any suggestions?

Swim lessons

Belle had her first swimming lessons today. Typical Belle, she thinks she's a big girl now and just wanted to jump right into the deep end. I had to tell her to stop and wait for her instructor, Sarah. Then she kept asking me if she could just get in while she was helping the other student. She did very well with her kicking and blowing bubbles. She didn't like floating on her back too well. The photos aren't the best quality because they were taken with my iPhone.

Photo gallery of Belle's birthday

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=934747007/a=34153457_34153457/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Happy 4th Birthday Belle!

Belle celebrated her 4th birthday with her friends from Growing Place and other playmates. They had a wonderful time exploring all the exhibits at the Clay Center, but the highlight was the science demo. Belle was happy to have such a good time with her friends.